A packed room for Cheadle Area Committee this evening due to four planning applications.

Decisions taken:

• Planning application for a new house next to 9 Rodmill Drive, Gatley (56819) was rejected as it didn’t meet environmental standards.
• Planning application 57948 (change of use to allow an extension at 22 Cranston Grove, Gatley to be used as a separate rental property – 57948) was approved for a limited period of one year. Other residents had concerns over parking, traffic and nuisance and if those concerns turn out to be true over the coming year, the committee can decline to make it permanent.
• Planning application to turn Bruntwood Hall into a 22 room boutique hotel (58710) was approved. A number of issues were considered. On parking (the grounds we rejected it last time) the council is proposing to increase parking spaces by more than 50% – more than enough to cover the extra requirement of the hotel. We also got assurance from the council that the council would retain complete control of the gates at the Schools Hill entrance. Two issues councillors were concerned about were traffic and alcohol. Traffic wasn’t legal grounds to refuse the application but we agreed we needed to closely monitor it and act if there were problems. Whether the hotel is allowed to serve alcohol isn’t a planning matter but instead is considered by the licensing committee in consultation with the police. The councillors wanted to check proactively with the Police to get their view on whether it was likely to be a problem (and if it were to be, the licence could be removed even after being granted).
• Planning application to adapt and extend 12 Mill Lane Cheadle Hulme (58745) was recommended for approval.
• New double yellow lines at the junction of Broadway and Barcheston Road were approved. They now have to be legally advertised for a month and, if no-one objects, can then be painted.
• New money from planning applications to improve play areas was allocated: £12,682 for Bruntwood Park, £1,840 for Diamond Jubilee Park and £1,171 for Gatley Rec. The rules around which money can be allocated to which areas is fairly strict, but this goes into the pot for those parks to be used when needed/agreed.
• A new one-year lease for Abney Hall Park Cafe was approved.
• The application for three Makers Markets in the Autumn was approved.
• The application for Bark in the Park on 20th September at Abney Hall Park was approved.