Local plan a major threat to Cheshire Gateway business

The company behind plans to build a science and technology park on the border between Cheshire and Trafford fears the scheme will be left out of the final Cheshire East Council’s Local Plan, scuppering £150m of investment in the local economy.

Tatton Estates Management Property (TEM) says the omission of the Cheshire Gateway – proposed for land near the under-construction A556 relief road – could be a “major threat” to business in the area.

Currently, the council has designated the land Green Belt, which would block any plan for the advanced manufacturing site.

TEM managing director Henry Brooks said that, despite this, the Cheshire Gateway is being backed by former chancellor George Osborne, who is also MP for Tatton and Queen’s Award-winning wound care company Crawford Healthcare, and other policital leaders.

Brooks said the business community including local Chambers of Commerce had strongly encouraged Cheshire East Council to keep Cheshire Gateway in its Local Plan, believing it to be a fantastic opportunity to attract investment and jobs as part of the wider Northern Powerhouse proposals.

He added that the Gateway would directly create more 2,500 new high value jobs and thousands more indirectly, helping both local people and the wider region’s graduates, world class research and manufacturing opportunities.

Now Brooks is appealing to anyone “concerned about the risk to jobs, the economy and the region’s science future” to contact Cheshire East Council leader Cllr Rachel Bailey  by email at rachel.bailey@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Brooks said: “Naturally after years of work and consultation we are extremely disappointed that the council which professes to be pro businesses and have a science, jobs-lead plan is giving companies nowhere to go.

“If innovative developments like Cheshire Gateway are not included within the Cheshire East Local Plan it calls into question the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse ambitions and if and how they will deliver these or help the region to flourish, or narrow the productivity, health and skills divide.

“The plans would have further worked hand in hand with existing science provision across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, including Citylabs, Cheshire Science Corridor and the Alderley Science Park which in the last year alone has shown how much demand there is and  is fast running out of space.

“Increasing the science and technology provision would only boost our region and I look forward to continuing to liaise with the Council ahead of the finalisation of its Local Plan.”

Cheshire East Council’s Local Plan has been the subject of three years of consultation, with Planning Inspector Stephen Pratt responding to the latest draft in late December. A six-week consultation on the response has begun this month, with the Plan expected to be adopted later this year.

TEM’s plan has drawn opposition from National Trust bosses who are worried about the possible adverse effects on the nearby Dunham Massey Estate.

A spokesperson for National Trust said: “It is the view of the National Trust that the site being promoted as the Cheshire Gateway should be retained as Green Belt. The trust considers that the Cheshire Gateway proposals have failed to recognise the implications and significances of the nearby Dunham Massey Estate.

“It is particularly of concern that consideration has not been given to the impact of the proposals upon heritage assets and especially the wider setting of Dunham.

“The land put forward for allocation forms part of the wider setting of the Dunham Massey Estate which is held by the trust ‘forever, for everyone’ and its removal from the Green Belt would be a threat to the special significances of the land that it manages on behalf of the nation.”

The Stop the Cheshire Gateway Group (SCG) wants to see the plans scrapped.
Ged Mann, on behalf of SCG, said: “Just down the road from this site we have Alderley Park, a well-established science park which has spare capacity which cannot be filled.

“Mr Brooks’ scheme will totally decimate the unique character of this area. He will benefit hugely, but it will cost the nation part of its heritage. It is the wrong development in the wrong place.”