Planning Details
The planning system can be a confusing mess. Here is an explanation of the situation at Danes Moss.
First of all, an unpleasant name. The project to develop 136 acres of Danes Moss is known as ‘The South Macclesfield Development Area’ or SMDA for short.
At the bottom of the page is a list of all the planning applications related to the SMDA.
To summarise:
The SMDA project on Danes Moss has had outline planning permission since January 2019. However, in order to go ahead, the developers (the council and and Barratt Developments plc) need to get 10 reserved matters applications passed. This has not happened yet and is not guaranteed. There is no indication when the reserved matters will be considered for planning permission.
Additionally, the SMDA site is also known as ‘LPS 13’ or ‘Local Plan Site 13’. It has been allocated for housing since the Cheshire East Local Plan was agreed in 2017. Unfortunately, other nearby peatlands are also included in the Local Plan housing allocations. LPS 15, for example, sits further to the south of the Rising Sun pub on Congleton Road.
Now more detail…
Because the plan is for more than 200 houses, one planning application is not enough and it must be considered by the council’s Strategic Planning Board. Additionally, once an Outline Planning Application has been approved there is still a lot of detail to examine. These details are dealt with in several Reserved Matters Planning Applications but we will deal with these later.
An original outline planning application was made in 2017 under the reference 17/1874M.
This application aimed to establish the principle of development on the SMDA site and was granted in January 2019.
The story of how this happened is interesting.
The 12 members of the Strategic Planning Board considered the outline application (17/1874M) at a meeting at Macclesfield Town Hall on the 30 August, 2017. Public speakers against the development were Cllr Laura Jeuda (Labour, Macclesfield South) and Dr Rachel Giles from the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
Dr Giles patiently explained the importance of the site – the numerous priority species that would be devastated by the development, the fact that the peatland could possibly be restored to a natural peat bog (it turns out that it can) and that this would put it into a habitat classification of International Importance. She also repeated the objection of the Trust that the plan would lead to a net-loss of biodiversity and was ‘one of the most environmentally damaging schemes in Cheshire East in recent years.’ Later, Cllr Toni Fox asked the council’s Principal Nature Conservation Officer (Mr James Baggaley) whether he agreed with the assessment of the Wildlife Trust. Mr Baggaley responded that, ‘…yes, I guess it probably is one of the more ecologically damaging plans that we’ve considered recently.’
Incredibly, even though the Cheshire Wildlife Trust owns the neighbouring Danes Moss SSSI, the council did not consult with the Wildlife Trust over the development plans – despite five submissions to the council from the Trust. A glaring omission. Was this a deliberate attempt by the council to exclude the voices of wildlife experts and some of the strongest criticisms of the SMDA project?
First, Cllr Toni Fox (no longer a councillor) proposed a motion to refuse planning permission. It was defeated 8-4.
Next, Cllr Mike Sewart (Con, Poynton West and Adlington) proposed a motion to delegate authority for approval to one council officer – the Head of Planning, Mr David Malcolm – with a recommendation that the plans be approved. The motion was carried 8 votes to 4.
So, who voted in favour of the motion to develop Danes Moss?
- Cllr Steven Edgar (Conservative, Haslington)
- Cllr Sarah Pochin (Conservative at the time, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Mike Sewart (Conservative, Poynton West and Adlington)
- Cllr Lesley Smetham (Conservative, Gawsworth)
- Cllr Liz Wardlaw (Conservative, Odd Rode)
- Cllr Gill Merry (Conservative, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr John Hammond (Conservative, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Derek Hough (Liberal Democrat, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Steven Hogben (Labour, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Toni Fox (Labour, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Dennis Mahon (Handforth Ratepayers, no longer a councillor)
- Cllr Janet Jackson (Labour, no longer a councillor)
Land ownership
The site is 136 acres (or 55.05 hectares) and since 2017 about 53.6% of the land (c.29.54 hectares) has been owned by Cheshire East Council. Most of the remainder is now owned by Barratt Developments plc – the largest house builder in the UK. Barratt bought the land in 2022 from a company registered in Jersey called TG Limited. This company was owned by Thomas Gallagher who is the brother of billionaire property developer Sir Tony Gallagher. The company number is 115004, registered with the Jersey Financial Services Commission.
Despite Barratt purchasing the TG land in 2022, TG Ltd remains as the joint applicant for planning permission on many of the reserved matters planning applications.
Tony Gallagher’s company, Gallagher Developments is still acting as a planning agent for Cheshire East Council and TG Ltd on the SMDA project.
Electoral Commission records reveal that Tony Gallagher has donated more than £4.1m to the Conservative Party. With donations to individual MPs he has been most generous to the former Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Brandon Lewis MP who received £49,014 in seven payments from 2017 – 2019.
These payments were only made after Brandon Lewis was no longer Housing Minister and had taken on new portfolios. What precisely was the point of all these donations? Was Sir Tony Gallagher so impressed by Brandon Lewis’ performance as Minister of Policing and the Fire Service that he could not resist donating £20,000 to his re-election campaign in 2017?
By comparison, Gallagher only gave one-off donations to other MPs and significantly less than he gave to Brandon Lewis – £10,000 was given to Boris Johnson and £8,000 to George Osbourne.
In 2016, Tony Gallagher hosted former Prime Minister David Cameron’s 50th birthday party at Sarsden House, his home in Chipping Norton.
In February 2022, The Sunday Times reported that Sir Tony Gallagher was part of a privileged group of Tory donors who, in return for a donation of at least £250,000 were made members of a ‘secret advisory board’ with direct access to the Prime Minister’s advisors. The report concludes: ‘None of the meetings appear to have been minuted or attended by civil servants, so there is unlikely to be any record of the advice or lobbying which took place.’
TG Ltd began buying land on Danes Moss in early 2014. Some investments in TG Ltd activity came from overseas tax havens. A Gibraltar company called Spadea Holdings bought £5.8m in securities in TG Ltd which allowed investors to fund TG Ltd land purchases. These investors included Bluestar Enterprise Ltd, Walsingham Capital Ltd and the Panama-based Pegasus Star Holdings SA.
The Planning Applicants
In effect, the planning applicants are Engine of the North and Barratt Homes.
Engine of the North
For Engine of the North, read Cheshire East Council. Engine of the North was incorporated in 2013 and is a company wholly owned by the Council. A decision was made to wind down the company in January 2019. This has still not happened although the council used to claim that the company was dormant and since 2019 have said they intend to close the company “in the next 12 months”.
So, if Engine of the North is no longer driving the SMDA project on behalf of the council, who is?
According to the council’s own website, “The Economic Development service has a role in leading economic development and regeneration and is the facilitator of the SMDA project”
The council officers who are involved are Peter Skates, the Director of Growth and Enterprise with occasional help from Charles Jarvis, Head of Economic Development and Brendan Flanagan, Head of Rural and Cultural Economy.
Judging by the statements from the council, the project is being driven from a purely short-term financial perspective that ignores and contradicts the Council’s supposed priorities on the environment.
Barratt Homes
The UK’s biggest house builder. The real company name is BDW Developments Ltd however they are often referred to as ‘Barratt Homes’ or ‘Barratt Developments.’
What happened to TG Ltd?
TG Ltd may no longer be directly involved. They sold their land on the SMDA to Barratt Homes but may still be involved in contractual agreements with the Council. They are still listed as the planning applicant on many of the reserved matters applications. TG Ltd is owned by Thomas Joseph Gallagher. His brother, Sir Tony Gallagher owns a company called Gallagher Developments who are listed as the planning agent for all of the applications that mention TG Ltd.
In March 2022, Sir Tony Gallagher told us (via his secretary) that he has .‘..no interest in TG Ltd…’
Maybe, no financial interest… but this politically connected billionaire is having his business act as planning agent for his brother’s company. So is he doing it for free? Or are the Council paying for Gallagher’s services? We are waiting for answers.
Who is leading the project?
This is unclear. Previously, it was Cheshire East Council (Engine of the North). Now, the Council state:
‘The council has in the past taken the lead role in providing the new link road and the development’s green infrastructure but is now working with Barratt Developments on a revised delivery strategy.
In formulating a revised strategy the council and Barratt Developments will follow the appropriate geo-technical and ecological solutions to produce proposals that will minimise any environmental impact.’
Justifying the unjustifiable
More recently, Cheshire East Council revealed its true institutional attitude to the excavation of an old peat bog in Henbury to make way for Bellway’s housing development on Chelford Road.
Bellway (a company once given the highest ever fine for wildlife crime in the UK) are currently engaged in the excavation of 15,600 cubic metres of peat which is being used to create garden soil and infill as well as over 6000 cubic metres being removed from the site and used elsewhere all leaving a trail of CO2 emissions.
In January 2022, Nub News journalist, Alex Greensmith, pointed out the contradiction between the council allowing this to happen and their stated environmental ambitions. In response, a council spokesperson said, ‘whilst any removal of peat is regrettable in terms of environmental sustainability, this must be balanced against the economic and social benefits of a proposed development.’
If Cheshire East Council believe that the destruction of our biggest carbon stores can be balanced against ‘economic and social benefits’ can we really take them seriously?
Planning Applications List
List of all planning applications related to the SMDA site from 2017 to present.
- 1 outline permission
- 1 non-material amendment
- 10 reserved matters applications.
17/1874M (OUTLINE APPLICATION)
[GRANTED Jan 2019]
Demolition of existing structures and redevelopment of site including up to 950 homes; a one form entry primary school (use class D1), retail development (use class A1) of up to 4000sqm; employment floorspace comprising offices (use class B1a) of up to 500sqm and warehousing (use class B8) up to 10,000 sqm or relocation of existing demolition / reclamation yard operational facilities (sui generis); associated landscaping, roads and related works – outline application, all matters reserved except site accesses from Congleton Road, Moss Lane and Moss Lane/Star Lane.
19/1796M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Phase 1 primary infrastructure works comprising of enabling works, new highways, footpaths/cycleways, public open spaces, ecology areas and associated hard and soft landscaping, drainage and servicing works pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/5940M (NON-MATERIAL MINOR AMENDMENT)
[GRANTED Dec 2021]
21/6421M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 7 – 325 dwellings (Use Class C3) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/6430M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 10 – relocation of existing demolition / reclamation yard operational facilities (Use Class Sui Generis) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/6429M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 9 – relocation of existing demolition / reclamation yard operational facilities (Use Class Sui Generis) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/6428M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 6 – 146 dwellings (Use Class C3) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/6427M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 5 – a one form entry Primary School (1,300 sqm – Use Class D1) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
21/6422M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 8 – 179 dwellings (Use Class C3) pursuant to outline planning permission 17/1874M.
22/0054M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 3 – 120 dwellings (Use Class C3) pursuant to Outline planning permission 17/1874M.
22/0036M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 4 – 180 dwellings (Use Class C3) pursuant to outline planning submission 17/1874M.
22/0030M (RESERVED MATTERS APPLICATION)
Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for Phase 2 – 4,000sq m of retail (Use Class A1) pursuant to outline planning submission 17/1874M.
References
TG Ltd. Company number 115004. Registered with Jersey Financial Services Commission on 17 Feb 2014. Sources: Special Resolution (2014) and Company Accounts (2015 – 2020).
Cheshire East Council (2022) ‘Freedom of Information Request Internal Review no. 14404186: Request for clarification of CEC’s ownership of land in the South Macclesfield Development Area’
Cheshire East Council (2022) ‘Council responds to concerns about South Macclesfield scheme’ Cheshire East Council (2022) Available here: https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ council_and_democracy/ council_information/media_hub/ media_releases/ council-responds-to-concerns-about- south-macclesfield-scheme. aspx?fbclid=IwAR0wfVq cZ-FP15uOK knc9QGN34TSG_ORZa4oOquHtVbv-DGSay-qHldT ZFk
Daily Mail (2016) ‘Cameron celebrates his 50th with ultra exclusive party’ Available here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3827953/ Cameron-celebrates-50th-ultra-exclusive-party-Just-23-guests-invited- Dave-s-low-key-birthday-albeit-26million-country-pile- owned-favourite-Tory-donor.html
Macclesfield Express (2016) ‘Council defends land deal with Jersey firm’ Available at: https://www.macclesfield-live.co.uk/news/local-news/ council-defends-land-deal-jersey-11411642
The Sunday Times (2022) ‘The Tory donors with access to Boris Johnson’s top team
In return for a £250,000 donation to the Conservatives, multimillionaires are being ushered into the heart of government as part of a secret ‘advisory board’ Published on 19 Feb 2022.