Sites allocated in Cheshire East local plan which have special ecological value could technically be removed if they don't already have planning permission, councillors were told.

Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Knutsford, Conservative), raised the matter at Thursday's (March 27) meeting of Cheshire East's environment and communities committee when councillors were discussing the future update process of the local plan.

He said he knew the Longridge site at Knutsford couldn't be removed, the treasured nature site was granted planning permission for housing at appeal at the end of last year.

There are a number of sites allocated in Cheshire East's local plan which are believed to have significant ecological value (Ryan Parker).

But he continued: "There are a number of other sites that are allocated in the local plan, some of which, we are led to believe, have significant ecological value.

"And there has been a shift in government's position, particularly with regards to Defra regarding mosses and sites with peat on them, and I wonder whether or not it is appropriate for us at this stage to be reconsidering whether or not those sites are now appropriate for future development."

Cheshire East's strategic and environmental planning manager, Tom Evans, said: "Through the planning process, there is a mechanism to review all the sites in the existing local plan.

"So, technically, it's possible to de-allocate sites.

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Cllr Stewart Gardiner, Knutsford, Conservative (CEC).

"However, I strongly caveat that answer with the fact that, if there is a permission on there, the reality of being able to build on a site remains, regardless of whether it is allocated in the plan or not."

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