Agenda item

To consider the application to extinguish part of Public Footpath No.14 in the parish of Sandbach.

The Committee considered a report which detailed an application from Persimmon Homes (North West) Ltd, requesting the Council to make an Order under section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to extinguish part of Public Footpath No.14 in the parish of Sandbach.

In accordance with Section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by Section 12 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, a competent authority may by order authorise the stopping up or diversion of any footpath, bridleway or restricted byway if they were satisfied that it was necessary to do so in order to enable development to be carried out in accordance with planning permission granted.

Trevor Boxer, Chairman of Sandbach Footpath Group spoke in objection to the extinguishment application and said that Public Footpath No.14 Sandbach was an important footpath as it was a link to the wider footpath network and open countryside and stated that the line of the footpath should have been incorporated into the development landscape rather than being extinguished.  As planning permission had been granted several years ago and work started on the site, the application appeared to be retrospective.

Adele Jacques, Persimmons, spoke to support the application.  The section of Public Footpath No.14 to be extinguished was in the centre of the site and extinguishment was required to enable development to be carried out.  The two cul-de-sac ends of the footpath would be linked by adopted highway – a section 38 document was with the Council for signing.  Areas of open space and new footpaths were being created in the development and it had not been possible for the application to be submitted until negotiations with the landowner had been completed.

It was reported in paragraphs 5.5, 7 and 8.2 of the Report that ‘Mill Lane’ should read ‘Church Lane’.

Planning permission had been granted in November 2013 for outline application for residential development – planning reference 12/4874C.  A reserve matters application for the first development phase was granted in July 2015 – planning reference 13/5239C.  A full planning application for the second phase was granted in October 2017 – planning reference 13/5242C.

A section of Public Footpath No.14 Sandbach would be obstructed by the proposed residential development – between points A and B as shown on Plan No.TCPA/055.  An application had been made to extinguish this section of the Public Footpath.  This would result in two cul-de-sac paths running between point A and Hawthorn Drive and between point B and Church Lane.  The two paths would be legally connected in due course by a section of new estate road, Larch Drive, once it was formally adopted by the Council.

The objections and comments from the Ward Councillor S Corcoran, Sandbach Town Council and the Open Spaces Society were set out in the report, along with the PROW Officer’s response.  The objections and comments from Sandbach Footpath Group were circulated at the meeting.

It was reported that the concrete foundations set in place on the line of Public Footpath No.14 had been investigated by the Public Rights of Way team and were found not to be an obstruction - as long as the building was not built upwards it was not considered as an obstruction.

Whilst it was noted that the impact on the footpath by the development, and any mitigation action taken to include the footpath within the development, could not be considered against the current proposal to extinguish the section of footpath to enable the development to go ahead as these matters had been for resolution when the planning application was determined, the Committee was sympathetic to the views of the Sandbach Footpath Group and were disappointed that the developer had not provided a more satisfactory solution to the matter earlier on. 

The Committee concluded that it was necessary to extinguish part of Public Footpath No.14 Sandbach to allow for the residential development, as detailed within planning references: 12/4874C and 13/5239C.  It was considered that the legal test for the making and confirming of an Extinguishment Order under section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 were satisfied.

The Committee unanimously

RESOLVED:  That

1          That an Order be made under Section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to extinguish part of Public Footpath No.14 in the parish of Sandbach, between points A and B as illustrated on Plan No.TCPA/055, on the grounds that the Borough Council is satisfied that it is necessary to do so to allow development to take place.

2          Public Notice of the making of the Order be given and in the event of there being no objections within the period specified, the Order be confirmed in the exercise of the powers conferred on the Council by the said Acts.

3          In the event of objections to the Order being received, Cheshire East Borough Council be responsible for the conduct of any hearing or public inquiry.