'Rock and a hard place' over affordable homes

CHESHIRE

- BY BELINDA RYAN

East councillors have approved controversial plans for 54 affordable homes in the open countryside, with one saying government policy has put the council ‘between a rock and a hard place’.More than 150 people, together with Haslington Parish Council, objected to the plan from Breck Homes to bulldoze 481 Crewe Road and build the dwellings on land behind it at Winterley.

Cheshire East’s planning officers agreed the proposal conflicts with local plan policies. But the council doesn’t have a five-year supply of housing, which weighs in favour of the development. The 54 affordable homes will be managed by the registered provider, Weaver Vale Housing Trust.

‘At last Wednesday's meeting of the southern planning committee,