Tight restrictions which have governed new housing in the Borough of Macclesfield over the last four years have been lifted.

Macclesfield's Cabinet made the decision today after being told about Government changes to a regional development plan, the Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West, which will require an average of 400 houses per year to be built over the next 15 years, a rate double that of recent years based upon current planning guidelines.

The current restrictions have enabled Macclesfield Borough Council (MBC) to meet the previous 200 annual rate by limiting new housing to affordable homes, special needs' accommodation, care accommodation, and other cases such as the reuse and conversion of listed buildings.


Cabinet Member for Planning and Development, Jamie Macrae, said: "The policy has achieved its twin aims over the last few years - the supply of new housing has been restricted locally to meet wider regional and national planning objectives and we have managed to meet a number of local and specialist housing needs at the same time. But to meet the new regional requirement we have to double the number of houses permitted, so we have to lift the moratorium."

In its place, Cabinet has agreed to provide advice to developers to enable them to make a self-assessment of the suitability of their sites for housing use, based upon a range of national, regional and local planning policies particularly to give priority to brownfield sites in sustainable locations with good access to local services, facilities and shops.

(CD/JM)