Update on housebuilding targets

Increased housebuilding – What’s happening in Cheshire West and Kelsall?

The Government have introduced mandatory targets for housing nationally. For our borough of Cheshire West and Chester, this has nearly trebled the housing requirement from 532 a year to 1,914.

Kelsall will be very exposed to planning applications, for the following reasons.

Planning regulations require that Councils demonstrate a '5-year housing land supply'. This is, enough land identified to deliver 5 years' worth of the housing target. The new increased government target has reduced CWAC’s pipeline to just 2-3 years supply.

Because of this shortfall, CWAC will not benefit from the transitional arrangements giving Local Authorities until Dec 2026 to plan how to meet the targets.

As a result, the policies of our Local Plan (borough-wide) and Neighbourhood Plans carry much less weight. Applications are now more likely to be granted, under the 'presumption in favour of sustainable development' – ie. "planning permission for new housing development should be granted (unless the site is in a protected area, such as vulnerable to flood risk or important habitat, or the adverse impact would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits)".

Many potential sites around Kelsall have been submitted to the CWAC Land Availability Assessment, some controlled by developers/ owners who have tried to get planning permission before. Together they could bring several hundred new houses.

The Parish Council is considering how to update the Kelsall Neighbourhood Plan to cope with the situation. The NP Policies would only apply again if it is less than five years old (ours was made in 2017, therefore needs to be reviewed) AND it plans for the required growth in housing.

Until we can complete a review and update of the NP, and go through the formal process, several applications are likely to be submitted, and granted under the new rules We are trying to get clarification but currently the situation outlined above means that there is little to oblige developers to create new amenities or contribute to their development elsewhere.

We will keep you updated. In the meantime, please check the KPC website and FB page for ways in which you can help. Revising the Neighbourhood Plan is no small task, but is our best bet for regaining some measure of control over the development of our village.