PLANS were narrowly rejected for 65 homes in a rural hamlet after a council report advised the location was unsustainable due to lack of amenities.
But some planning board members on Cheshire West and Chester Council were confused by the expert advice on Marbury Properties’ application at Milton Green.
That’s because an officer had granted a previous 33-home scheme by Morris Homes on an adjacent plot despite similar concerns being raised by the community.
But the meeting, which voted six votes to five in favour of refusal, was told the Marbury application differed because it was partly on green fields as well as on the already developed disused council depot site.
The earlier scheme was wholly on brownfield land that had failed to be marketed successfully for employment use.
Cllr David Armstrong, who moved refusal, was ‘really troubled’ by the situation and had sympathy with local opponents.
He said: “How on earth did the first application for the 33 houses get passed because it seems to me that just undermines everything that’s been put forward to turn it down and I find that quite disturbing.
“The second thing that disturbs me is, as I understand it, this land is in council ownership. Well, why do Marbury Properties think they can put in for planning permission on a piece of land that’s in council ownership?
“I know they can do, but clearly they must have had some reason to go to all the trouble to actually put a planning application in.”
Cllr Howard Greenwood said: “The Morris Homes’ scheme, when it was put through under delegated powers, the officer must have thought it was sustainable at one point and I can’t understand why there’s a knock-on effect now saying it’s not sustainable.”
Cllr Keith Butcher raised concerns over the inclusion of a village hall in the plans because of a question mark over who would ‘carry the can’ over future maintenance costs.
