Cheshire East has approved plans for 18 homes on the Doddington Estate, with the ward councillor saying the revised application is an improvement on the first which was 'shoddy and grossly incomplete'.

The 18-home scheme is the first of 12 applications which will be submitted for a total of 112 homes over the next decade on Doddington Estate land at Bridgemere.

Outline permission for the total scheme across the 12 sites was granted at appeal in 2020 after Cheshire East Council refused the application.

Southern Planning Committee - December 2024 Meeting (Belinda Ryan, LDRS).

Yesterday (Wednesday) the council's southern planning committee was considering the reserved matters application for a 2.81 hectare site off London Road at Bridgemere.

The site already has outline permission for 18 dwellings and a LEAP (local equipment area for play).

The committee heard from ward councillor Janet Clowes (Conservative), the application, from Lady Rona Delves-Broughton, has a complex history.

She said it is only the first of many applications that will come before the committee over the 10 to 15 year span of the project.

The whole scheme is an enabling development to fund the repair and restoration of Doddington Hall, Delves Tower, the stables, Star Barn and parkland together with conversion to a five-star hotel.

Cllr Clowes said: "It is therefore vital that this committee is assured today that this council has put in place all the required elements of what was described to me by the senior planning officer and planning lawyer at the appeal, as the most complex but important S106 legal agreement they had ever had to oversee."

Cllr Janet Clowes, Conservative group leader on Cheshire East Council (CEC).

She said one specific area that is missing in the application is the provision of a foul drainage scheme and she considered it was essential this information be provided before the proposal could be approved.

Cllr Clowes was highly critical of the way the application had been handled over the past few years, telling the committee that when first submitted, 'this application was quite frankly shoddy and grossly incomplete'.

The council's legal officer said a monitoring committee would be set up regarding the S106 requirements and planning officer Dan Evans said the applicant did not have to submit a drainage scheme at this stage.

Acting committee chair Andrew Kolker (Conservative), later reminded councillors that today they were only considering the reserved matters application dealing just with the design of the 18 homes, layout and landscaping.

Cllr Allen Gage (Willaston, Conservative), said: "This has been on the table for about 10 years and gone through a number of revisions and evaluations and here we are today and we need to move forward."

He proposed it be approved and this was seconded by Middlewich councillor John Bird (Independent).

Cllr Allen Gage, Conservative councillor for Willaston and Rope (CEC).

The application was approved with numerous conditions, which included setting up a monitoring team to oversee the S106 conditions.

It was stated this team should include a local councillor.

The application was unanimously approved.

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