The same document, prepared by Broadway Malyan, confidently proclaims that "There are very few brownfield sites within Wilmslow..." The document identifies not a single Brownfield site for potential housing development. Should we take it from this that there are no Brownfield sites in Wilmslow? Absolutely not! Friends of Dean Row has reviewed Cheshire East's Handforth and Wilmslow Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2011 and found that there are in fact 24 identified sites which are either Brownfield or mixed! A list of these sites is shown below, and the vast majority aren't in Green Belt. Even those that are in Green Belt, surely such Brownfield sites should be prioritised over the Greenfield sites in Green Belt, which account for virtually all of the sites in the draft Wilmslow Vision?
The total housing potential on these Brownfield sites is 1,164! Or to put it another way, roughly DOUBLE the number of new Wilmslow houses required under Cheshire East's favoured Spatial Option of 480 - 640 houses!
In addition to the 1,164 in Brownfield sites, there is a further site (ref 3149) with space for 281 houses which is Greenfield, but not Green Belt.
So why on earth have not a single one of these 1,445 sites not been considered for potential housing development in the draft Wilmslow Vision?
Friends of Dean Row believes that it's down to two reasons. First is laziness. Brownfield sites are generally smaller and more difficult to identify and develop than pointing to a nice big Greenfield site and sending in the bulldozers. That is not an excuse not to do the work necessary to develop such sites, and indeed one of the key purposes of Green Belt to encourage / enforce the redevelopment of Brownfield sites. Second is money. Again, because Brownfield sites are smaller and more difficult to develop, they tend not to be speculatively snapped up by developers and then aggressively proposed to planners for development.
Another important point is that additional new Brownfield sites will become available during the period of the Local Plan, ie between now and 2030. Local planners are able to take an estimate of such "windfalls" into account when assessing how to reach the target of new houses for Wilmslow. Friends of Dean Row believes that such windfalls could represent a substantial proportion of the c.500 new houses targeted by Cheshire East's Issues and Options (2010) review, yet the Wilmslow Vision consultation includes no estimate of this.
Development of Brownfield sites before Greenfield is something that has many benefits, and which I think everyone agrees with. Sadly the Wilmslow Vision document omits a consideration of them entirely. We would encourage all residents to make this point clearly when submitting your questionnaires.
Source information: Brownfield sites identified in the Handforth and Wilmslow Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment:
No. Brownfield Green Belt Location (SHLAA site ref)
of
houses
164 Brownfield No North of Marks & Spencers, Handforth (3448)
108 Brownfield Yes Bollin Cross School, Styal (3451)
103 Mixed Yes Stanneylands Rd (3296)
100 Mixed Yes Ned Yates Garden Centre (3426)
96 Brownfield No Rear of Marks & Spencers (3470)
44 Brownfield No The parade, Alderley Edge (778)
40 Brownfield No Wilmslow Road, Handforth (3153)
36 Brownfield No Honford Court, Handforth (3384)
31 Brownfield No Egerton Rd (913)
28 Brownfield No Redesmere Day Centre, Handforth (3156)
25 Brownfield No Beddels Lane (487)
22 Mixed Yes Pigginshaw, Altrincham Rd (3316)
21 Brownfield No Oaklands Dean school (3148)
18 Brownfield No Alderley Edge (495)
17 Brownfield No Villas Dean Row rd 17 (482)
15 Brownfield No Manchester Rd (3144)
14 Mixed No Grove Ave (906)
14 Brownfield No Donkey Lane (3145)
13 Brownfield No Peacock Farm, Handforth (3146)
12 Mixed Yes Sunny Bank Drive, Wilmlsow (3767)
10 Brownfield No BJ's Health Centre, Altrincham Rd, Wilmslow (660)
10 Brownfield No Holly Road (758)
10 Brownfield No Manchester Rd (945)
1,164 in total
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