Plans for a hotel, pub, offices, Costa and McDonalds off the M6 in Sandbach are recommended for approval – but planners warn that could change to refusal if issues such as landscaping aren't resolved.

The Capricorn development, on land bounded by Old Mill Road and the M6 northbound slip road at J17, has been in the pipeline for more than a decade.

This particular application, referred to as phase one, is for approximately four hectares of open farmland, close to where a new roundabout has been built.

It seeks full planning permission for the construction of a drive-through coffee shop, drive-through restaurant, commercial park entrance and associated parking and landscaping, as well as outline permission for a pub and restaurant, 63-bedroom hotel and offices with associated parking and landscaping.

Capricorn Application Site At Sandbach (From Planning Docs) The application site off the M6 at Sandbach (From Planning Docs)

A similar development was granted outline planning permission in 2015, with an adjacent residential development of up to 250 dwellings.

The residential element of that permission secured reserved matters approval and has now been built out.

This latest application, which was submitted more than five years ago and has had various rounds of public consultation, is now due to be considered by Cheshire East's strategic planning board on Wednesday.

A report from the council's planning officer to next week's meeting states the site is allocated in the local plan and the principle of development is acceptable.

But it criticises the 'off the peg' design of the buildings proposed which 'cannot be said to positively contribute to the area'.

It also says 'too many questions remain' about the landscaping that can be provided.

But it adds: "Balanced against this harm, the site has been allocated for employment uses for many years, and the proposal will bring forward the much-needed start of the commercial elements of the LPS 53 site allocation and help to facilitate the next phase of development to the south of the wildlife corridor."

The planning officer then warns if the concerns raised can't be addressed before the meeting, councillors may be recommended to refuse the application.

"This is a very finely balanced case, and whilst the design and landscaping might appear to be relatively minor issues in the context of the development as a whole, the buildings and sites concerned are located at the front of the site, and adjacent to public highways at the gateway to Sandbach," states the report.

"The lack of certainty to the landscaping proposals in particular is a harmful aspect of the scheme and, when combined with buildings that turn their back on the main spine road, the identified harm is significant."

The report states the applicant, W&S Sandbach, is currently seeking to address the queries from National Highways and clarify the landscaping proposals.

It says further details will be provided as an update to councillors and if the landscaping and National Highways issues can be resolved in advance of Wednesday's meeting, the benefits of the site coming forward with commercial uses and the associated employment benefits are considered to outweigh the identified design issues and 'accordingly, a recommendation of approval is made'.

But it adds: "Should these matters not be addressed, the recommendation may regrettably change to one of refusal."

The strategic planning board meeting takes place at 10.30am at Crewe Municipal Buildings on Wednesday (29 October).

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