Consultation launches on major Heald Green housing development

Housebuilder, Bloor Homes, has begun a public consultation on plans for a development of up to 700 new homes in Heald Green on a Greenbelt site next to the A34.

Plans for the Heald Green East development, bounded by the A34 and Stanley Green Retail Park to the East and South, and Seashell Trust’s campus in the West, also include proposals for a new district centre and healthcare facilities, and the possibility of a new local train station on the line between Stockport and Wilmslow. Bloor also plans for 50% affordable housing provision on the site and 34 acres of open space and green infrastructure, including existing woodland which would be preserved. Bloor also plan to reserve a section of the land that could accommodate further expansion of Seashell’s facilities.

Proposals for Heald Green East have been drawn up following a survey of 400 residents alongside the housebuilder’s experience in delivering the Foxcote development on land formerly owned by Seashell Trust adjacent to the scheme.

An online consultation on the scheme launched on 19th November and will run until 6th December to give local residents the chance to give feedback on the proposals before a formal planning submission is made.

Owing to the scheme’s Greenbelt location, plans are likely to meet resistance in the planning process. Stockport Council has consistently knocked back other major schemes in the area, including at Gatley Golf Club and Bloor’s development on the former Seashell Trust land which was subsequently granted approval at appeal. The borough, which withdrew from Greater Manchester’s unified plans for development over Greenbelt loss in the borough, has routinely committed to a brownfield-first approach to meeting the borough’s housing needs, but has lost a number of planning appeals by developers owing to a lack of a Local Plan. A draft Local Plan that avoided development on the Greenbelt was published earlier this year before being withdrawn after Housing Secretary Angela Rayner introduced new housing targets nationwide.

Across the border in Cheshire East, the development is close to the proposed Handforth Garden Village, which was granted planning consent last year and will bring forward 1,500 homes and 30 acres of commercial development on the other side of the A34 Handforth Bypass.