Redrow wins appeal over Cheshire West for 258 Hartford homes

The major housebuilder took Cheshire West and Chester Council to appeal over its decision to reject plans to expand the Weaver Park development – formerly known as The Hollies – off School Lane.

At a public inquiry in July, CWAC insisted that the roads around Hartford are ‘already at breaking point’ – while residents and councillors spoke out against the proposal.

But Redrow insisted that the scheme would only cause a ‘little bit of additional peak hour delay’ – and planning inspector Andrew Dawe has agreed with that view.

In his decision letter, Mr Dawe said: “I consider that the proposal would not cause severe residual cumulative impacts on the road network.

“Therefore, the traffic generated by the proposed development would be adequately accommodated on the local highway network taking account of its capacity and levels of congestion.

“The proposed development would have the benefit of providing a significant amount of new housing, including needed affordable housing, despite the council’s position in terms of currently meeting its minimum housing land supply and delivery requirements.

“This is in light of the Government’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes and that the local plan housing targets are a minimum rather than maximum.”

Mr Dawe added that while other new homes have added to traffic on Hartford’s roads, the closure of the village’s Warrington and Vale Royal College campus is ‘likely to have reduced traffic’.

Redrow had already built 279 homes at Weaver Park from its original planning appeal victory in 2013, and the firm is building up to 300 properties at the nearby Hartford Grange site.

Cllr Phil Herbert, independent CWAC member for Hartford and Greenbank, was one of the members of the public to speak out against the plans at July’s inquiry.

He said: “This was a huge disappointment to the borough councillors, parish council, and residents who had opposed the development and who were hoping that common sense would at last prevail.

“It would appear that the inspectorate choose to ignore the cumulative effect of all the development taking place in the surrounding district – a further 164 houses were approved for Winnington on Thursday and there are many more to come.

“Applications are coming in piecemeal and it seems that the cumulative effect is being ignored. The Northwich transport strategy identifies pinch points that lead to traffic build up in many areas and, in this case, the centre of Hartford.

“Presumably, the planning inspector considered that 258 homes, and associated vehicles, would have little impact on the problems we are already experiencing, nor the ongoing development of Winnington Village and other sites.

“This disappointment should not be a reflection on the occupants of the new homes and I hope we all extend the usual Hartford welcome to them.”

Cllr Patricia Parkes, Conservative CWAC member for Hartford and Greenbank, spoke out against the plans when they were considered by CWAC last November.

She said: “It’s just heartbreaking for the community – it’s not what we wanted, it’s not what we needed.

“We are devastated it has gone through as Hartford is getting bigger and it is just putting more and more pressure on our services – we need more infrastructure.

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“We welcome the people who are moving into Hartford, they are forming a lovely community and are taking part in activities in the village, but even they do not have access to the services they need.”