Cheshire East’s recently approved Local Plan stipulates that where development puts nature at risk, efforts should be made to minimise that risk. In the case that the destruction of important habitats is unavoidable, a policy of ‘no net loss’ should be adopted. This means that when a development leads to a loss of biodiversity, every effort should be made to replace it and ensure that there is no overall decline in wildlife as a result.

‘The local plan says that Cheshire East has a duty to ensure that the biodiversity lost as a result of this development is compensated for by an equal gain in biodiversity on site or elsewhere,’ said Martin Varley, Director of Conservation at Cheshire Wildlife Trust, ‘We want to make sure that conditions are put in place in South Macclesfield to ensure that this happens’.

The Trust gave evidence at last week’s planning committee, urging members to reject the proposals on the grounds of the environmental damage the scheme will cause. Despite the ecological sensitivity of the site, the application was passed by seven votes to four, which means that the plans are now likely to proceed.

‘We accept that the application has now been approved and so there is no longer anything we can do to prevent this damaging development’, said Martin Varley, ‘Now we want to make sure that its economic gain does not come at a cost to nature. A decision still has to be made by the Council regarding how it will go about making good the damage to the environment caused by this development. We trust that it will do the right thing and ensure that the nature lost by this proposal will be properly compensated for’.

See Cheshire Wildlife Trust's full response