Site LPS 25: Radway Green North, Alsager

The development of Radway Green North over the plan period will be achieved through:

  1. The provision of 12ha of employment land.

Site Specific Principles of Development

  1. The provision of green infrastructure, including:
    1. The retention of the watercourse and an undeveloped 8 metres wide buffer zone of open space/seminatural habitats should be provided alongside it.
    2. The creation of wildlife habitats
    3. Sustainable drainage
    4. Structural landscape proposals
  2. Contributions to improvements to existing and the provision of new public transport links to Alsager town centre and local villages.
  3. A desk based archaeological assessment shall be carried out, to determine if any further evaluation/mitigation will be needed.
  4. Contributions to M6 junction 16 improvements and the railway level crossing on Radway Green Road.
  5. A site specific Flood Risk Assessment should be prepared.
  6. New development will be expected to respect any flooding constraints on the site and, where necessary, provide appropriate mitigation.
  7. Provision of new pedestrian and cycle links to new and existing residential areas, and shops.
  8. The site will be developed only where it can be demonstrated that there is no adverse impact on the Midland Meres and Mosses Phase 2 Ramsar and Oakhanger Moss SSSI, particularly in relation to changes in water levels and quality and recreational pressures. This should include a Habitats Regulations Assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of the development on the features of special interest.  Where impacts cannot be avoided, appropriate mitigation measures will be required to ensure no adverse effects on the integrity of sites.
  9. A minimum of a Phase 1 Preliminary Risk Assessment for contaminated land should be carried out to demonstrate that the site is, or could be made, suitable for use should it be found to be contaminated. Further work, including a site investigation, may be required at a pre-planning stage, depending on the nature of the site.

 Justification

15.315 The site is located on the B5077 to the south west of Alsager close to the Radway Green Industrial Estate, a mature employment area developed in open countryside around a munitions factory during the post war period.

15.316 The incorporation of green infrastructure, notably trees and hedgerows, together with sensitive design in terms of the scale and massing of any new structures, has the potential to mitigate any potential adverse impacts on visual amenity from main public vantage points. This will also assist in enhancing the environment of the local area, and improving the health and wellbeing of employees.

15.317 The principal access to the site will be via the existing Crewe Road (B5077) where there is the potential to provide a safe access with adequate highway capacity to serve a strategic employment allocation of this scale. Further improvements to the public transport network, together with new pedestrian/cycle links, will enhance the site’s accessibility to Key/Local Service Centres and the principal rail hub at Crewe.

15.318 380 hectares of employment land is to be provided during the plan period up to 2030 and this has been informed by the Employment Land Review (2012); this site will make a positive contribution to the employment land supply equation.

15.319 An archaeological assessment will be required, to ensure that there will not be an impact on undesignated heritage assets.

15.320 Habitats for protected species, if required, will be provided.

15.321 Part of the site is affected by flood risk (Valley Brook), and a Sequential Test has been applied in line with national planning policy. Policy PG 6 'Spatial Distribution of Development' identifies that an additional 40 hectares of employment land should be provided at Alsager. In the absence of alternative, reasonably available sites within or immediately adjacent to Alsager for employment development with a lower probability of flooding, the allocation of Radway Green North satisfies the Sequential Test. Through a site specific Flood Risk Assessment, carried out to inform any planning application proposal, it should be demonstrated that the proposed development would be safe from fluvial flooding, and would not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. As with any development adjacent to a main river an undeveloped buffer zone, at least 8 metres wide (measured from the bank top), alongside the whole extent of the watercourse, should be provided. Bank top is defined as the point at which the bank meets normal land levels.

15.322 The buffer zone scheme shall be free from built development including lighting, domestic gardens, formal landscaping, footpaths etc; and could form a vital part of green infrastructure provision. The buffer zone would also serve the purpose of protecting the Brook from the adverse impacts of any development, as there may be grass snakes present on this site and the Brook is likely to have nature conservation value (in its own right and also potentially for grass snakes), and should be retained.

15.323 The strategic importance of Radway Green and its location within the M6 Growth Corridor from Birmingham to Manchester allows it to act as the key linkage between these major hubs and the wider Cheshire economy and provides the opportunity to retain key existing jobs and promote economic growth and further diversification at the site. This is also supportive of the 'All Change for Crewe; High Growth City' initiative for the delivery of economic growth along the M6 growth corridor.

15.324 The site has potential for contamination to be present therefore at least a Phase 1 Preliminary Risk Assessment for contaminated land needs to be carried out to ensure that any contamination that is present is subject to appropriate remediation.

15.325 Details of Construction Environment Management Plans, landscaping, green infrastructure and open space proposals should be submitted to the council during any future planning application process on this site as part of sustainable development proposals.

15.326 The council expects that the following are considered in the context of the ecological value of the site due to its proximity to a European site (consisting of either a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, and/or Ramsar site):

15.327 Any development proposal should take into consideration the policy requirements set out in Policy CO 2 'Enabling Business Growth Through Transport Infrastructure', and the need to improve sustainable travel options, particularly in the wider cross border context. 

Indicative Site Delivery

Policy information

 

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