South West Macclesfield

CBO Transport was commissioned by Jones Homes and Redrow to prepare a transport strategy and input to the preparation of a Development Framework for a major urban extension in Macclesfield.

The site has a capacity for 3,000 homes and in a town of 50,000 people the scheme will add about 10% to the population.

We advised on how the site should be linked into the existing infrastructure to maximise the use of sustainable travel modes and minimise the implications of additional traffic. The approach included a link road designed into the network of the site which would take traffic away from existing traffic congestion in the town centre.

Our work on projects of this nature is kept at a high level and focuses on the positive outcomes of developing on this scale such as new public transport services, on site facilities such as schools and shops, networks of walking and cycling routes and provision of significant infrastructure.

Dialogue is on-going with Cheshire East Council (CEC). We worked with the Council's consultants to develop the town's transport model so the benefits of the scheme could be considered at a technical level. We also prepared supporting information showing the benefits of the link road as a highway scheme in isolation from the wider development of the site. This is a key element for the case for green belt release.

Various parts of the site have been included and excluded in the Cheshire East Local Plan over time.  The current position is that the whole site has been released from the greenbelt, and there are proposed significant allocations at each end of the site. 

Jones Homes and Redrow continue to push for the whole site to be allocated and we have provided further input to representations on the run up to part 2 of the infamous Examination in Public.