A letter has been sent today to Mr Gullis, Leader of the Borough Council asking for the recommendation to adopt the Local Plan to be reconsidered.

Please see link to the agenda for the Borough Council Full Council meeting on 8th July :
https://moderngov.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=152&MId=4558&Ver=4

Please see link to the report recommending adoption of the Borough Council’s Local Plan on 8th July:
https://moderngov.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/documents/s47516/Local%20Plan%20Adoption%20Report.pdf

Letter dated 1st July 2026:

Dear Mr Gullis

Many congratulations on your election as leader of Newcastle Borough Council.

Apologies for the direct approach in light of your conflict of interest, however further to the recent emails, it is appropriate to set out why Audley Rural Parish Council (APRC) has strongly objected to the inclusion of AB2 since it was first identified in the Issues and Options Consultation in 2021, after being a promoted by Indurent to the Borough Council.

ARPC urge you to reconsider your decision to adopt the Local Plan.  Even more so as there is an opportunity to put this on hold, with the requirement to revisit the Local Plan.

This is not a just a case of NIMBYism for a site to fulfil a need for employment in the Newcastle Borough’s Local Plan.  This goes far in excess of any need for the Borough.

The site will see the loss of 80 hectares of prime agricultural Green Belt land  (which is also the Borough’s green belt and farming land) turned over to create 6 “big box” distribution warehouses with 200 HGV lorry park.  This will support an employment need outside of the borough, most likely in other parts of Cheshire East and neighbouring Crewe town.

To put the AB2 size site in context – the site is the size of Audley village and Bignall End village put together.  If it were a residential scheme, we would be looking at approx. 2,400 homes at a low density of 30 dph (less some for green infrastructure) in a Parish consisting of 3,800 homes.  Therefore, whilst ARPC understand the concerns that other areas may have with the ongoing threat of small speculative developments (as do we), ARPC feels that our concerns on the size of development encroaching within our Parish is worthy of proper consideration, as it is excessive development already.

A number of houses directly face the site.  You only have to look at the size of the warehouses and the issues for the residents at Wigan to appreciate the enormous size of warehouses (18 meters)  and what this does to an area as a result of poor decisions taken by Wigan Council.   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy17pzxy13o

AB2 will consist of 6 “big box” buildings that are between 21- 24 meters in height – in context the same height as Buckingham Palace.  No amount of planning mitigations and disappearing paint will hide this at the gateway to Newcastle Borough.

This will also weaken the Green Belt in other areas in the Borough, especially with the grey belt implications – as no Green Belt is safe now unless it is adjacent to Kidsgrove or Newcastle Town.

You may also be aware that every time the traffic builds up to the Audley bridge on the A500 on the approach to the M6 J16, drivers, cyclists, horses from the local stables crossing the bridge on Alsager Road fear for their lives.   We have numerous reports of HGV lorries, cars, vans failing to give way and instead crossing at high speeds (60mph has been reported) in front of drivers to rejoin and beat the traffic on the A500.    This last year alone we have seen a huge increase in accidents and near misses caused by an already congested A500/M6 J16.    It is impossible to see how this situation can be improved upon by adding more pressure to the A500/M6 approach and installing traffic lights for vehicles to turn right across the A500.  In fact it is likely that the proposed solution will also see traffic building up on the other side heading towards Stoke, as cars and lorries queue from M6 J16 to turn across the A500 to access the only entrance to the site.

There is already evidence of single lanes and village roads being used to access M6 J16 when traffic builds – this will just push vehicles further away from the A500 onto village roads in all directions including neighbouring Parishes.

For your information attached are ARPC’s objections made on the current Planning Application which has yet to be decided by the Borough Council’s planning committee, and also representations which were made through Barristers at the Local Plan Examination hearings.

In the ARPC’s view this should have been stopped many years ago by the previous administration and the Parish has been let down, however ARPC now urge you to reconsider the recommendation to adopt and to stop this now.

AB2 planning application Statement v3 2505006 Final Submitted 260625 – Planning Application
Audley PC Site AB2 Employment V2.3 FINAL issued 01.05.25 – Local Plan Examination
Audley PC Site AB2 Green Belt V2.3 Final issued 01.05.25 – Local Plan Examination