The proposed new village will be located less than a mile from the Greater Manchester border

Belinda Ryan Local Democracy Reporter

17:55, 05 Oct 2025

Styperson Park Local Wildlife Site Tracy Mills

Furious councillors are demanding to know why they weren’t informed of proposals for a 20,000-home new town.

The government released a report from the new towns taskforce on Sunday revealing landowners Belport Adlington Limited had submitted proposals for a standalone new town of 14,000 to 20,000 homes on approximately 970 hectares of greenfield land around the existing Cheshire village of Adlington – less than a mile from the Greater Manchester border.

The first ward councillors and neighbouring councillors at Poynton knew of it was when the announcement about the 12 national sites suggested as possible locations for new towns was made public – and included Adlington.

A furious Cllr Michael Beanland (Poynton West & Adlington, Con) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s highly unlikely that Cheshire East [Council] didn’t know, in my opinion.

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“We want to know who at Cheshire East was consulted and who decided it was going to be embargoed.”

He added: “We had no idea Cheshire East was involved in expressions of interest.

“That’s a massive town – 20,000 homes that’s incredible.”

The location of the proposed new 20,000-home town a stone’s throw from the Greater Manchester border

He said councillors were meeting with Cheshire East officers next week to find out what was going on.

The taskforce says, in its report to government, that a new town at Adlington would be strategically located to benefit the economies of both Cheshire and Greater Manchester.

“Cheshire has a nationally significant life sciences cluster, with the Cheshire science corridor boasting a wealth of industry and research and innovation assets,” states the taskforce report.

“Greater Manchester has an extremely diverse economy, but growth is constrained by a shortage of housing.

“A new town at Adlington could help to sustain future growth in both Cheshire and Greater Manchester by easing housing pressures and supporting workforce mobility.”

Cheshire Wildlife Trust has urged the government to ‘think again about developing at Adlington’ saying it will put a massive strain on the wider countryside.

“The rural parish of Adlington has areas of ancient woodland, home to species such as the rare lesser spotted woodpecker and unusual woodland flowers such as woodruff and wood speedwell,” said a spokesperson for the trust.

“To the east of the parish are the foothills of the Peak District with local wildlife sites such as Macclesfield Canal and Styperson Park, which hosts one of the finest areas of bluebells in the whole county.

“The historic Adlington Hall estate dates back to the 13th century and has more than 40 hectares of wood park and pasture priority habitat.”

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The trust says the Cheshire and Warrington region is probably one of the most nature-depleted areas in the UK.

“Cheshire Wildlife Trust is not opposed to house building but it must be done sustainably and in the right place,” said the spokesperson.

“The scale of the proposed new town is not sustainable in this location as the impact on Cheshire’s wildlife and the quality of the natural environment will be significant.

“We urge the government to think again about developing at Adlington.”

The new towns taskforce report to the government can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-towns-taskforce-report-to-government/new-towns-taskforce-report-to-government