MIDDLEWICH could be set for yet more houses after council leader Michael Jones announced that at least 36,000 more homes will be built in Cheshire East.

The recently re-elected leader of Cheshire East Council has stated that 36,000 new homes will have to be built in the borough before 2030, but although Middlewich could well take some of the burden, the town may get off lightly.

The council leader stated that the priority for the new homes will be in the north of the borough.

The announcement came after an examination of the local plan by the planning inspectorate.

The new number of 36,000 is an increase of 7,000 on the original number submitted in the local plan and has come about due to an estimated 31,410 new jobs being created in Cheshire East in the next 15 years.

Cllr Jones said building on the Green Belt will have to happen but admitted it is ‘not good news’.

Cllr Jones said: “We’ve always tried not to develop on the Green Belt and when you have towns that are surrounded by nothing but the greenbelt you have to look at Brownfield sites first and we’ve done that. If we are going to build on the Green Belt we will do it in a sustainable way.”

“I think we can say that there will not be a massive incursion on the Green Belt. But we will have to build on the Green Belt because there is only Green Belt in the north of the borough. But we’re going to look to be minimising that everywhere; it’s always Brownfield first.”

“We’ve got sites already that we know and I can mention one already which is Alderley Park so that’s 300 houses there and that site has been heavily debated and may well come into it now. I think we can all look at as being good quality decision making although relieving greenbelt is not good news.”

Cllr Rachel Bailey is set to take over the local plan in July and will be scouting areas in the area in which to build new houses.