Neighbourhood plan at centre of legal action gets backing of residents
Residents of a Cheshire village have backed a neighbourhood plan that is at the centre of a dispute between the local council and developers.
Cheshire West and Chester Council last week struck a deal with three developers – Taylor Wimpey, Wainhomes and Barratt Homes – that allowed the referendum over the Tattenhall neighbourhood plan to go ahead.
The three developers had applied to obtain an injunction against the local authority and its chief executive to prevent the referendum from being held.
However, the companies agreed to withdraw their application in return for Cheshire West agreeing that it would not oppose a High Court order requiring it not to ‘make’ the plan until judicial review proceedings are finally determined by the High Court or the until the court orders otherwise.
Residents backed the plan by 905 votes to 38 on a 51.86% turnout.
The plan, the fourth in England so far, said that “large scale, inappropriate development along existing village boundaries will not be supported by the community”. It suggested that future development should be limited to housing groups of no more than 30.
Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Homes and Wainhomes are respectively seeking to build sites with 110, 137 and 68 homes.
They are challenging the neighbourhood plan on a number of grounds, including apparent bias on behalf of the independent examiner appointed by Cheshire West. The council has rejected the claims.
Cllr Mike Jones, Leader of Cheshire West, said: “[This] result is a ringing endorsement of the tremendous work and commitment shown by the local community.
“The legal challenge is extremely disappointing but the authority will strongly contest the claimant’s allegations which, we believe, are without foundation.”
Carol Weaver, chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, said: “I’m delighted and very proud that we have achieved a national record turnout and I want to thank everyone involved who have worked so tremendously hard for this moment.”
