Cheshire East has refused an application for the design and layout of a 160-home scheme in Sandbach saying it 'does not result in the creation of a high quality, beautiful and sustainable place'.

Muller Property Group was granted outline permission for 160 homes together with car parking and public open space on the land south of Old Mill Road in 2017.

This week the strategic planning board was considering the reserved matters application dealing with access, appearance, landscaping and layout.

Planning officers had recommended the scheme be refused and at Wednesday's meeting the applicant's agent, Robert Downes, criticised the report from the council's planning officers.

He said: "The update report states the matters raised and the reasons for refusal are subjective. The reasons for refusal should be based on clear evidence."

He insisted the scheme had some very significant benefits, and told the planning board: "We feel the reasons for refusal can't be substantiated."

Mr Downes asked for the application to be deferred to the next strategic planning board meeting in August.

But planning officer Daniel Evans said it was unlikely all the issues could be resolved in time for the August meeting.

"This scheme we're considering today is a revised scheme, it's been subjected to a number of revisions already and we're still unable to come to an acceptable solution," Mr Evans told councillors.

He said the site, which had been subject to a number of applications over recent years, has a lengthy appeal history.

"Given the issues we've identified it would require, in my view, quite significant revisions and it wouldn't be coming back, I don't think, in August," said Mr Evans.

Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Knutsford, Con) said: "I'm satisfied that the officers have tried to find a way forward with this application and I am satisfied that the outcome was refusal, we have four reasons for refusal."

Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Knutsford, Con)

He then suggested a further reason for refusal be added, based on the housing mix.

"I think, if we are going to be an effective board and we are going to be a consistent board, we need to treat all sites equally," said Cllr Gardiner.

"We deferred an item in March [a Middlewich application] because we didn't feel there were enough smaller market units to comply with a mixed development."

He said on this Sandbach scheme there were not enough one and two bedroom market properties and this was then added as another reason for refusal.

The application was refused on five grounds including the proposed development does not result in the creation of a high quality, beautiful and sustainable place; it does not integrate the open space/play area into the development; it will result in a significant change to the character of a footpath and the number of market properties that have one or two bedrooms are not satisfactory.

The vote was 10 in favour of refusal, with one councillor abstaining.