Chester’s open land could be under threat following a council review. David Norbury reports

TWO-FIFTHS of the borough is covered by green belt.

For three decades it has been used for purposes including:

Checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas.

Preventing neighbouring towns from merging into one another.

Helping to safeguard the countryside from encroachment.

Preserving historic Chester’s setting and special character.

Boosting urban regeneration by encouraging reuse of derelict and other urban land.

It also provides access to the open countryside for people living in urban areas, opportunities for outdoor sport and recreation close to built-up neighbourhoods and retains attractive landscapes near where people live.

In Chester a study has identified 10 areas of green belt running from the Lache Eyes, Wrexham Road and The Meadows to Whitchurch Road, Pipers Ash, Upton and the green space around Mollington, Saughall and Blacon.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is in no doubt about the value of its precious asset.

Only this autumn Chester Conservative councillor Brian Crowe put forward a motion which urged the council panel reviewing the city’s green belt ‘to keep in mind that green belt remains a key strand of national planning policy’. He asked the council to note the Government’s new approach to planning ‘aims to protect the green belt’.

The council agreed to refer the motion to the panel.

The review is taking account of the need to provide new housing across the borough in the next 15 years, including affordable and a possible shortfall of housing land in Chester.

The council decided there were sufficiently exceptional circumstances to justify an assessment of the city’s green belt but accepted there was ‘a strong possibility’ the circumstances would only exist in particular areas.

The purpose was to determine the extent to which Chester’s green belt met national guidance then to consider possible changes to the boundary.

Reminding the panel a 2,700-signature petition had been raised against development in the green belt in Saughall, Cllr Crowe said: “My priority has been to defend the principles of the green belt.”

Referring to the council’s support for ‘medium’ growth for new housing during the next 15 years, Cllr Crowe said he was concerned about the interpretation of the results of a consultation.

This, he claimed, had shown people in Chester are in no doubt that ‘Chester’s plan A is ‘low’ growth here’.

“We do not want thousands and thousands of new houses in our green belt,” he said.

Labour environment spokesman Cllr David Robinson pointed out there had been development in Chester’s green belt with three of the four park & ride sites, which had been ‘of great benefit’ and the Wrexham Road Business Park, which had helped to make Chester more sustainable.

He believed, however, there should be a reduced level of growth in Chester than was being considered in areas such as Winsford.

Saughall and Shotwick Park Parish Council chairman Cllr Jenny Young stressed the importance of the green belt to the panel, and said: “We don’t want to become a suburb of somewhere else and I am sure I speak on behalf of many other villages in Chester.”

Cllr Charles Charlesworth, Mollington Parish Council, pointed out a previous report ‘suggested nibbling at the green belt’ but the latest report, he believed implied ‘anything in the green belt is up for grabs’. He argued the need for exceptional circumstances if any changes were to be made to boundaries.

Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council chairman Cllr Roger Parkin believed there was the likelihood that insufficient land would be available when the review had been completed and there was no doubt residents ‘support the green belt as it is’.

He said: “Why are parish councils and residents excluded from the consultation you are proposing?”

Ann Jones, planning co-ordinator for the Chester branch of the CPRE, said there were ‘many serious concerns’ about the review.

Referring to the proposed assessment of green belt land as ‘red, amber or green’, she said: “The amber parcels, because of their uncertain assessment, make them particularly vulnerable and open to challenge.”

With the possibility that only brownfield land in Chester would be taken into account for future development she added: “CPRE believes there is a lack of balance in the approach to planning in Cheshire West and Chester as a whole with an overemphasis on development in Chester.

“This is to the detriment of much needed renewal and redevelopment on brownfield sites in other parts of the borough, including Ellesmere Port, Winsford and Northwich.”

The council should look at the availability of brownfield land in the whole of the borough, she argued, and the panel should only note the progress of the green belt study rather than approve recommendations.

Upton councillor Hilarie McNae (Con) said: “We are in danger of losing that which makes Chester so special.”

She said that was a factor in attracting investment and described the green belt as ‘very precious’.

Cllr Marie Nelson (Lab), who was involved in the preparation of the previous city council Local Plan for Chester, told the panel: “It is the wrong way round to start by looking at the green belt. Brownfield sites across the whole borough should be assessed. I don’t understand why we are just looking at the green belt in Chester.”

She felt the 10 areas were too large and should be looked at again.

Cllr Ralph Oultram (Con), the planning chairman, pointed out that where there were very special circumstances it was already possible for development to go forward in the green belt and said: “I do not see the purpose of taking land out of the green belt.”

Cllr Robinson believes the amount of housing on the Leadworks development in Boughton had been five times more than had been expected and the city had been so successful with new housing that a moratorium had had to be introduced.

Councillors next meet on Monday, January 23.