Council 'powerless to stop' housing bids

CHESHIRE East Council is being forced to do MPs' 'dirty work' and produce a future 'environmentally damaging' local plan to tackle the housing crisis, an angry councillor claimed.

- BY BELINDA RYAN Local Democracy Reporter

Cllr Mark Goldsmith

Cllr Mark Goldsmith (Wilmslow, Ind) launched a blistering attack on the MPs saying, over the years, both Conservatives and Labour were responsible for the planning and housing 'mess'.

And he said now councillors were being forced to develop local plans which would see trees and hedgerows destroyed to build the 1.5 million homes demanded by the Labour government.

Speaking as Cheshire East agreed to put out a call for new development sites for when it updates the local plan, Cllr Goldsmith said: "Ordinarily, I would instantly vote against all this environmental destruction but unfortunately, it is not that simple, because the decision to build on our green fields has already been made by central government.