Danes Moss estate plan scrapped

Campaigners have welcomed Cheshire East Council’s decision to scrap plans for a 1,000 home estate on Danes Moss.

Cheshire East Council rowed back on the the proposal and instructed officers to look at alternative uses for Danes Moss – including restoring the peatland.

Tom Eccles, chair of the Danes Moss Trust, welcomed the decision saying he believed the campaign group’s efforts led to the decision.

Cheshire East councillor Chris O’Leary, told a meeting of the authority it was right to “reset the council’s plan”.

The original proposals for the site, known as the South Macclesfield Development Area, included a 950 home estate, including a supermarket, and a link road.

Campaigners had been calling for no building on the site, owned by Cheshire East Council and Barratt Homes, earmarked for development since 1997, owing to the volume of peatland.

A report ahead of the council meeting said the proposals to build on the land couldn’t be reconciled with the council’s peat and carbon policies.

Councillors on Cheshire East Council’s economy and growth committee voted to withdraw the homes application and approved plans to review alternatives.

These include selling the land rethinking the development plans, or allowing for a nature-led recovery, an option added after a cross-party amendment.

During the debate, O’Leary said: “Anyone who’s visited Dane’s Moss will know what an incredibly special place it is and it’s quite right we reset the council’s plans”.

The withdrawal was needed to “consider all the available options and make the right decisions for the right reasons for the future of this incredible site,” he added.

Meanwhile Labour’s Anna Burton said that doing nothing wasn’t an option

“The wetland peat is drying out, so whatever decisions are made long term doing nothing is not an option,” she said.

Nine councillors voted in favour of the withdrawing the application, with two abstaining.

Mr Eccles said that he hoped councillors had seen sense that there’s no justification on earth to damage or build on peatlands.

“It’s good news that the original plans are not going to go ahead but we still feel there should be zero development on this site because of the huge global importance of peatlands.”

James Melling of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, which has a nature reserve on the border of the site, said he was “delighted” with the decision.

He said: “I think it’s testament to the hard work of all the campaigners involved and Save Danes Moss have been fantastic.”