Plans for new Cheshire village with 1,500 homes approved

Shops, leisure facilities and a school are to be built in the village

Plans for a new village made up of 1,500 homes in Cheshire have been given the green light.

Handforth Garden Village will also include a village centre with shops, leisure facilities and a school.

It will be built on a site between the A34 and the A555, about 0.6m (1km) away from Handforth town centre.

The scheme was approved by Cheshire East Council, subject to a number of conditions and legal agreements.

The plans were submitted by Engine of the North in 2019, a property development company owned by the local authority.

Under the proposals, the homes would be built on some 121 hectares of land.

There would also be land set aside for business use including a pub, restaurants, leisure facilities, a nursery, a hotel and offices.

About 1,500 new homes are to be built on the 121 hectare site

A school for both primary and secondary education with room for 700 children is also proposed.

The site lies on open land and borders the A34 Handforth-Wilmslow bypass and the A555 Manchester Airport Relief Road.

Around 30% of the homes will be affordable and 5% will be self-build.

Councillor Nick Mannion, chairman of Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee, said: "This development has all the ingredients to create a truly wonderful new Cheshire village for the benefit of those living in, working in, and visiting the Garden Village for generations to come."

At the meeting, the committee resolved to be minded to approve the hybrid planning application, subject to conditions, legal agreements and the removal of a holding objection from the Environment Agency.

The EA said it would withdraw its objection.

The reserved matters application, which goes into more details of the scheme including design, appearance and layout, will be submitted at a later date.