Cheshire East Council wants your views on proposals to help secure environmental protections and financial contributions from developers for community facilities.

The authority is also to prepare an 'issues paper' to provide an initial opportunity for public engagement to help shape the direction of the council's new Local Plan. The Local Plan is the council's proposed 15-year strategic blueprint for the borough.

A developer contributions supplementary planning document (SPD), which sets out how the council will secure funding to provide the range of infrastructure and facilities needed to service new development, has been approved for further public consultation before formal adoption. 

The decision by the council's environment and communities committee follows feedback from initial public consultation last autumn, which was used to re-draft the document. 

And comments on the two SPDs can be made from this Friday (November 17th) until the midnight deadline on December 15th. 

The draft SPD aims to give developers more clarity on how their proposals can meet the policy requirements of Cheshire East's Local Plan via so-called section 106 agreements, which are often financial contributions to be used to secure mitigations from developments – from parks and green spaces to highways and education.

The committee also approved holding a public consultation on the final draft of the council's environmental protection supplementary planning document. This also underwent a first consultation last autumn.

This SPD provides guidance on the council's approach to environmental protection issues when considering planning applications. 

The areas covered in the final draft are air quality (including dust pollution), contaminated land, noise, light pollution and odour pollution. It sets out the relevant technical advice to prevent or reduce the impact of proposed developments on public amenity and the health, wellbeing of people across the borough.

The SPD provides greater clarity to developers, landowners, communities and decision-makers on the council's approach to environmental protection and provides additional guidance to applicants on how they should respond to the policy requirements in the council's Local Plan Strategy and site allocations and development policies document. It also signposts sources of information, including relevant documents and council services.

Cllr Mick Warren. Image credit: Cheshire East.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of the environment and communities committee, said: "Supplementary planning documents are a recognised way of providing additional guidance on how planning policies should be used – in this case to support local services provision and protect the borough's environment. 

"Although not formally part of our statutory development plan, SPDs should be taken into account when deciding a planning application or when considering an appeal against a planning decision.

"Through section 106 agreements (S106), for example, the council receives a wide range of funds to deliver local facilities and services and we want to ensure everyone is clear about what is required in order to secure planning permission." 

Since the adoption of the Local Plan Strategy in 2017, more than £15m has been spent on infrastructure projects through S106 financial contributions related to development.

Cllr Warren added: "By providing up-front, up-to-date and clear advice on our planning policies, our aim is to ensure developers and property owners know what's expected of them when they are making relevant planning applications, as well as supporting the council to determine them." 

Once feedback has been considered and any appropriate changes made, the SPDs can be formally adopted – to provide important tools to help protect public health and wellbeing and ensure communities benefit from development in their areas.

The committee also recommended that, alongside an issues paper on a new Local Plan, there would be a 'call for sites' and public consultation on draft housing land availability, a sustainability appraisal and settlement hierarchy review. The decision to draft a new Local Plan reflects changed circumstances since the current plan's adoption in 2017.

Cllr Warren said: "The programme to prepare and adopt our new-style, updated Local Plan will include several rounds of public consultation followed by a public examination overseen by an independent planning inspector."

To have your say follow this link here 

They can also be posted to: Strategic planning (Westfields), C/O Municipal Buildings, Earle Street, Crewe CW1 2BJ.