250 new homes...or more?

Tattenhall's Housing Numbers and the CW&C Local Plan

At the Parish Council meeting last week the debate about the impact of the Gifford Lea (formerly Inspired Villages) retirement complex was renewed.

The CW&C Local Plan which was published in January 2015 set Tattenhall a target of 250 new homes by 2030. The major development of Gifford Lea together with the developments behind Smithfields/Park Road, Grakle Croft and a significant number of smaller developments mean that the 2030 target has now probably been exceeded – more than 10 years ahead of schedule.

The problem in quantifying precise numbers is a consequence of the changing face of the Gifford Lea development and how many units it actually represents.

Developers like Taylor Wimpey and Ashley Wall/Wain Homes are trying to exploit this uncertainty and both the Parish Council and the Friends of Tattenhall are trying to make sure that the CW&C Planning Department are in full possession of the facts.

Those residents who have lived in Tattenhall for 50 years or more remember the massive expansion of the village in the 1960s and the 1970s and the negative impact that this had on community cohesion; they fear, as do many others, that over-rapid expansion now could lead to a repeat of the problems which took so many years to resolve.