Cheshire Independent Issue 207

MACCLESFIELD • TYTHERINGTON • BOLLINGTON ALDERLEY EDGE • PRESTBURY • WILMSLOW • HANDFORTH • POYNTON • BRAMHALL • DISLEY • ALSAGER • BIDDULPH • CONGLETON • SANDBACH ISSUE 207 FREE CHESHIRE FREE YOUR LOCAL GOOD NEWS-PAPER FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @CheshireIndy www.independentnewspapers.co.uk SCAN HERE! DOWNLOAD OUR APP! 24 HOURS SERVICE FIXED PRICES NO NASTY SURPRISES Looking for Flooring Inspiration? Let us help you find the perfect flooring for your home. With great advice, home styling, measure and planning service, plus quality fitting of top brands and designs, youwill be glad you did . Visit our showroom: Tuesday to Saturday or call 01260 224445 for a private appointment Thornycroft Farm, Pexhill Road, Siddington, Cheshire SK11 9JN l Modern, Traditional & Luxury Carpets l Natural Wood Flooring l Laminate Flooring l Stair Runners & Rods l Luxury Vinyl Tiles l Bespoke Rugs & Runners NEW TOWN? NO THANKS! Opposition against Adlington plan grows CONTROVERSIAL plans to create a new town at Adlington have been met with a rising tide of opposition. The village – home to around 1,200 people – has been identified as one of 12 potential UK sites for large- scale housing development, which could see at least 14,000 new homes built there. However, the calls for the government to abandon the proposal are growing louder, with Macclesfield MP Tim Roca a vocal opponent. He has launched a formal Parliamentary Petition which will be presented in the House of Commons. It urges ministers to reject representatives on a matter of such importance. This is a betrayal of Britain’s demo- cratic traditions and will fur- ther erode public trust in the process of government. We also believe that there are major planning issues and concerns which require that this application be withdrawn.” Those issues include the fact the proposed new town site adjoins the large Woodford Garden Village development and sits in the green belt. Labour MP Mr Roca is urging people to sign and share his public petition. He said: “This is no ordinary petition. It will be formally presented in the House of Commons, right at the heart of government. “Adlington is a small, close-knit Cheshire village with around 1,250 residents. The Independent New Towns Taskforce has identified it as a potential site for large-scale development, a scheme that could see at least 14,000 new homes built here. “Such a development would inflict irreversible harm on a much-loved stretch of Green Belt land on the edge of the Peak District National Park, transforming the character of our community and placing huge pressure on local roads, schools, and services. “Cheshire East Council has already met its housing THE King’s School has announced that a new £5mil- lion sports pavilion on its 80-acre Prestbury site will open next year. Once open it will provide a first-class facility for the school and thewider community. Cheshire Paralympics legend Dame Sarah Storey has welcomed the develop- ment. She said: “This project is a fantastic investment in sports education and facilities for the region.” l Full story page 18 Sport of King’s targets in the past and can do so again through a demo- cratically agreed Local Plan that ensures homes are built in the right places, with the right infrastructure. “I want to thank the hun- dreds of constituents who have already contacted me to share their views. Now, we need to come together and show the strength of feeling across our community.” In its rallying call on its website the new action group says: “After the initial shock of learning from a national press announcement that our small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants is being earmarked for a New Town that might contain in excess of 55,000 inhabitants and cause the destruction of the country- side and wildlife which most of us love dearly, we are now mobilising to oppose the pro- posed development. l Continued page two Petition call: Tim Roca the New Towns Taskforce’s identification of Adlington as a potential development site. In the first 24 hours it had been signed by almost 2,000 people. A ‘Stop Adlington Action Group’ has also been formed in a bid to mobilise local opposition. And town and parish coun- cils have united against the plan, with Simon Gleave, chairman of Adlington’s coun- cil, telling the BBC: “We’re going to join forces and it’s not going to happen in Adlington on my watch.” Poynton, Bollington and Pott Shrigley councils have written to the government’s housing, communities and local government secretary Stephen Reed opposing the new town. Their letter said: “We object in the strongest terms to the total lack of consultation with local people and their elected