Campaigners welcome scrapping of peatland homes plan

Campaigners have welcomed a council's decision to scrap its plans for close to 1,000 homes on a peatland site in Cheshire as the "first step to victory".

Cheshire East Council has rowed back on the proposal and asked officers to look at alternative uses for Danes Moss in Macclesfield, which could include restoring the peatland.

Tom Eccles, the chair of the Danes Moss Trust, said he felt pressure from the campaign group had led to the decision and there was "no justification to build there".

Cheshire East opposition councillor, Conservative Chris O'Leary, told a meeting of the authority it was right to "reset the council's plan".

The original proposals for the site, known as the South Macclesfield Development Area, included 950 homes, a supermarket and a link road.

Cheshire East Council owns 55% of the site, while Barratt Homes owns approximately 41%.

Campaigners had been calling for no building there because of the amount of peatland, although it has been earmarked for development since 1997.

A report ahead of the council meeting said the proposals to build on the land "cannot be fully reconciled" with the council's peat and carbon policies.

Councillors on Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee voted on Tuesday to withdraw the homes application and approved plans to review alternatives.

These include selling the land rethinking the development plans, or allowing for a "nature-led" recovery, an option added after a cross-party amendment.

During the debate, O'Leary said: "Anyone who's visited Dane's Moss will know what an incredibly special place it is and it's quite right we reset the council's plans".

The withdrawal was needed to "consider all the available options and make the right decisions for the right reasons for the future of this incredible site," he added.

Meanwhile Labour's Anna Burton said that doing nothing was "not an option".

"The wetland peat is drying out, so whatever decisions are made long term doing nothing is not an option," she said.

Nine councillors voted in favour of the withdrawing the application, with two abstaining.

Mr Eccles told BBC Politics North West that he hoped councillors had "seen sense that there's no justification on earth to damage or build on peatlands".

He said: "It's good news that the original plans are not going to go ahead but we still feel there should be zero development on this site because of the huge global importance of peatlands."

James Melling of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, which has a nature reserve on the border of the site, said he was "delighted" with the decision.

He said: "I think it's testament to the hard work of all the campaigners involved and Save Danes Moss have been fantastic."

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