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Cheshire East set for jobs and homes boost

Cheshire East is set for a massive increase in jobs and homes over the next 15 years, according to a series of reports released today.

New research has shown that the Borough’s economy is likely to grow much more quickly than previously expected.

The increase in new homes will be achieved without any major impact on the green belt.

A leading firm of economic development consultants has projected an average growth rate of 0.7 per cent per year between now and 2030.

This compares with a growth rate of 0.4 per cent envisaged in 2009, when work began on the Local Plan.

As a result, Cheshire East Council has to make plans to accommodate an estimated 31,410 net new jobs, which are likely to be created in Cheshire East by 2030.

The initial version of the Local Plan envisaged net jobs growth of 13,900.

This strong jobs growth would create a need for 36,000 new homes by 2030 – 7,000 more than were identified in the submitted version of the Local Plan.

Leader of Cheshire East Council, Councillor Michael Jones, said: “When we began work on the Local Plan in 2009, we were in the midst of a deep recession, during which the UK’s GDP fell by 7.2 per cent.

“In 2012, the sun started shining again and Cheshire East is now in the midst of a jobs boom.

“Cheshire East now has more businesses per head than any other North West district.

“Seventeen of the region’s top 200 companies are headquartered in the Borough and 14 of our small and medium-sized businesses were named in1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain, a special report published by the London Stock Exchange.

“Because a good proportion of our existing workforce will reach retirement age in the next few years, this means that we need to attract more people into the Borough to maintain our strong economy.

“Cheshire East is a victim of its own success. Unless we want to see our roads clogged by a huge increase in commuter journeys into the area, we need to provide more housing locally to accommodate the likely increase in the number of people working in the Borough.

“We do not envisage major change to the green belt. We are committed to protecting our beautiful countryside and we will accommodate as much as possible of the additional new homes on brownfield sites.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .