Cheshire East Local Plan

The local plan sets planning policies, allocates sites for development and is used to make decisions on planning applications. It addresses issues such as the amount and locations of new housing and employment development, protection and improvement of important open areas, provision of new infrastructure, and improvement of town centres and community facilities. This page contains information on our current local plan, covering the period 2010-2030. We are in the very early stages of preparing its replacement and are currently consulting on an issues paper as the first important step in producing a new local plan.

Key local plan documents

The development plan is the basis for deciding planning applications and includes:

• The Local Plan Strategy;
• The Site Allocations and Development Policies Document;
• Saved policies from the Cheshire Waste Local Plan;
• Saved policies from the Cheshire Minerals Local Plan; and
• Completed neighbourhood plans.

An index of adopted local plan policies is also available for reference and the adopted policies map shows the geographical extent of policies in the local plan.

The Minerals and Waste Plan is being prepared and will become part of the development plan once adopted.

Supporting local plan documents

These are not part of the statutory development plan but may be material considerations when making decisions on planning applications.

• The Community Infrastructure Levy is a fixed rate charge on the internal floor area of new housing and retail developments in parts of the borough.
• Supplementary Planning Documents give more detailed guidance on the implementation of policies, for example on design, heritage or specific sites/locations.
• The Authority Monitoring Report reports on progress in producing local plan documents and implementing planning policies. Data on targets and indicators helps to monitor the effectiveness of policies.
• The Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable for preparing local plan documents.
• The Statement of Community Involvement describes how the council will involve the community and other interested parties when preparing new local plan documents and considering planning applications.
• The Infrastructure Delivery Plan Update (PDF, 1.2MB) sets out what future infrastructure is required and how it will be provided.
• Local plan research and evidence includes reports on housing, employment, retail, Green Belt, the environment, open spaces, sports needs, minerals, waste and transport.

Related pages

• Strategic planning menu page (including information on Local Development Orders, Article 4 Directions and the Brownfield Register)
• Planning policy document index (list of all adopted planning policy and guidance documents)
• Planning homepage (for all other planning issues including planning applications, pre-application advice, planning enforcement, conservation, building control, flooding, trees and local land charges)

Contact information

You can contact the Strategic Planning Team at localplan@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Page last reviewed: 16 April 2024