Crewe Town Council has successfully challenged a decision by Cheshire East Council to award planning consent to a development of flats on Edleston Road in Crewe.
The development was initially awarded planning consent by Cheshire East officers on 7th February 2022, but the plans approved were considered by Crewe Town Council to be significantly different from those consulted on, providing a higher density of flats as well as changed roofline and elevation design details.
Crewe Town Council progressed a claim for High Court Judicial Review of the planning application and associated planning consent, considering that the designs of the planning application had been significantly amended to such an extent that proper consultation had not been actioned in light of the changes to the proposals.
Cheshire East Council accepted Crewe Town Council’s claims that the changes to the application resulted in a change in design and that they failed to reconsult. Subsequently, on the 12th April, the High Court issued consent for the judicial review, which identified that the grant of planning consent was unlawful, and ordered the planning consent for planning application 20/0829N be quashed.
Commenting on this, Cllr John Rhodes, the Chair of Crewe Town Council’s Planning Committee, stated:
“Although we are very happy that the planning permission has been quashed, it is unfortunate that we had to go to these lengths. The hope is that Crewe’s ambitions for better and more sensitive developments will be reflected in future decisions of Cheshire East Council’s planning department. Development in Crewe should be of high quality and designs that reflect the town’s heritage as well as its future. They should provide great spaces to live and work. Provide accommodation that has plenty of space for people to live in and consider the impact of parking, active travel and ensure new developments don’t impact negatively on residents already living in that area. I hope that we start to see more sensitive and thought through designs and planning proposals in Crewe that raise the standard for all of us living here.”
