🌿 Protecting the Wistaston & Willaston Green Gap
The Green Gap is the open countryside that keeps Wistaston and Willaston separate from the urban edge of Crewe. It is one of the most important features of this area. Roger and David are committed to defending it.
28 May 2026: Cheshire East Council’s Strategic Planning Board has approved the outline planning application for 660 homes on land east of Middlewich Road, Wistaston. The vote was 4 for, 4 against, with one abstention. The casting vote of the Acting Chairman approved the application. Roger and David are deeply disappointed by this decision and remain committed to fighting further development on the Green Gap.
What is the Green Gap?
The Green Gap is a designation in the Cheshire East Local Plan that protects open land between settlements. Its purpose is to prevent towns and villages from merging together and to preserve the separate identity and rural character of communities like Wistaston and Willaston.
Unlike Green Belt, which has strong national protection, the Green Gap is a local designation. That makes it more vulnerable to being overridden when developers argue that a council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, which is precisely what happened here.
The land affected sits between Wistaston Green Road and Middlewich Road, a 44-hectare site of open countryside that is home to wildlife, woodland and a pool. Once it is built on, that open space is gone permanently.
What Has Happened
Why This Decision Is So Frustrating
This decision was not made by the ward councillor who represents Wistaston. It was not made by anyone who has to live with the consequences. It was pushed through by Labour councillors from Crewe West who moved and seconded the approval of an application that their own neighbouring ward was fighting against. That is simply not right.
Residents were given just five minutes to make their case against a 660-home development that will change this area forever. Five minutes. For a decision of this scale and significance that is not a fair hearing.
The developer’s own argument was that Cheshire East does not have an up-to-date local plan and cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. In effect, the council’s own failure to plan properly was used as a reason to override the protections that residents rely on. That is a systemic problem and it will not go away.
What Residents Are Worried About
🚗 Roads and Traffic
660 new homes accessed via a new roundabout on Wistaston Green Road, a narrow country lane already prone to flooding and congestion. Residents are rightly worried about what this will do to already difficult local traffic.
🏫 Schools and Doctors
Local schools, GP surgeries and dental practices are already at or near capacity. Hundreds of new homes bring hundreds of new families. The infrastructure simply is not there to support them.
🦔 Wildlife and Nature
The site contains woodland, a pool and open countryside that supports a range of wildlife. Wistaston Parish Council described it as a haven for nature. Development would destroy it permanently.
🏘️ Village Character
Wistaston and Willaston are villages. The Green Gap is what keeps them that way. Development on this scale would fundamentally change the character of both communities in a way that cannot be undone.
🏗️ Brownfield First
There are derelict brownfield sites in Crewe town centre that have been unused for years. Residents and the Parish Council are clear: new development should go there first, not on open countryside.
🌊 Flooding
Wistaston Green Road is already prone to flooding. Adding a major new housing development and access road to an area with known drainage issues is a serious concern that was raised at the planning board.
What Roger & David Will Do
- Monitor the reserved matters applications that will follow this outline approval and challenge anything that does not meet the required standards
- Work with Wistaston and Willaston Parish Councils to coordinate objections to any further applications threatening the Green Gap
- Push Cheshire East Council to get an up-to-date Local Plan in place so developers cannot use the absence of one to override local protections
- Attend every relevant planning committee meeting and make sure the voice of residents is heard
- Keep residents informed of any new applications as soon as they are submitted
- Fight any further attempts to build on the remaining Green Gap land
- Raise the infrastructure concerns, roads, schools, doctors, with Cheshire East and demand proper planning for the impact of this development
Stay Informed and Get Involved
The outline permission has been granted but this is not over. Reserved matters applications will follow and there will be further opportunities to scrutinise what is being proposed. There may also be further applications on other parts of the Green Gap. The best thing residents can do is stay informed and make their voice heard.
View Planning Applications Contact Roger & David