CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to build 225 homes on a ‘treasured wildlife site’ in Knutsford are urging locals to object again to the proposal before the September 3 deadline.

Cheshire East’s strategic planning board voted unanimously in December to turn down the controversial application from Dewscope Ltd to build on the land east of Longridge, even though most of it is allocated for development in the local plan.

Dewscope, which owns the land, has now appealed against the refusal, meaning a public inquiry will be held in November.

A major bone of contention is access to the site.

A covenant prevents building on a strip of land needed for access, which means access can only be obtained by intruding into the green belt.

This means, unless the covenant is discharged, anyone wanting to build on the site will have to plough through the playing fields, which are owned by Cheshire East Council.

Objectors say this is unacceptable and the playing fields are a community asset and not surplus to requirement.

Campaigner Debbie Jamison, of Knutsford Residents Over Ward (KROW), told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week: "At no point was the covenant on the Longridge Road declared publicly during the consultation and examination of the Local Plan adopted in 2017.

“I don't believe that the inspector knew of it.”

Cllr Stewart GardinerCllr Stewart Gardiner (Image: Cheshire East Council)

Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner (Con), who is vice chair of the strategic planning board which refused the application, said at that December meeting: “If the [local plan] inspector knew that you could not get access to this site at the time it was put forward, he would not have allocated this site.”

The proposal is controversial as Knutsford residents say the land has become a re-wilded meadow after not being farmed for 50 years and is now home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna, birds and insects.

In 2022 the Longridge land was designated a Local Wildlife Site (LWS) and part of it is also now officially Designated Ancient Woodland.

Hundreds of local residents wrote to Cheshire East Council opposing the application between its submission in 2021 and the planning meeting in December 2023.

The council’s planning officers had recommended the scheme, which included 30 per cent affordable homes, be approved.

But councillors refused the scheme at the end of last year on the grounds it would represent inappropriate development in the green belt as a result of the impact of the access arrangements upon its openness, also resulting in encroachment, and it would have adverse impact on ecology and the LWS.

The planning board also said the proposal would fail to deliver an effective integrated scheme due to the lack of visual and physical connections and accessibility with the existing development on Longridge.

John Finnan, of Save Longridge Greenbelt, is encouraging residents who object to the proposal to let the planning inspector know of their concerns.

Anyone who wishes to make representations about this appeal can do so on the planning inspectorate website by clicking on 'search for a case' and entering the number 3347883.

The LDRS has approached the appellant's representatives for a comment.