Sarah Spina-Matthews & Richard SteadNorth West
Residents of a village which “doesn’t even have a bus” have expressed concerns about the government’s plans to potentially build 10,000 new homes there.
Adlington, in the Cheshire countryside, is currently home to around 6,000 people, but has been proposed as one of 12 potential locations for the government’s New Towns Programme.
The programme aimed to tackle the UK’s housing shortage, and would see at least 10,000 homes being built in each of the “new towns”, subject to environmental assessments and public consultation.
Resident of 30 years Janet Stockton said: “I’m concerned that there’s not going to be enough infrastructure because we don’t have anything in Adlington.”
“We think we live semi-rural but it is very rural.
“We don’t have street lights, but we don’t want street lights.”
Adlington – located between Stockport and Macclesfield – does not have a shop, but has a railway station, a pub and a church.
Another resident, Roger Butlin, said he was “completely shocked” when he heard about the potential plans for the village.
He said: “We came to this area to live in the countryside and certainly didn’t ever envisage we were going to be living in the middle of a new town.
“We can’t can’t start to think how the area might cope, it’s going to require huge investment.”
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed said any new towns would be “functioning communities” designed by “world-class architects”.
“It’s not just going to be rows of buildings,” he said.
“[There will be] high-quality public transport, excellent public services, access to green spaces, access to nature.”
Resident Mike Cummings said he supported the potential plans for Adlington.
He said: “We’re pretty open-minded on the fact that we need to have increased housing – we’ve got five kids and nine grandchildren, where are they going to live?
“We’re short houses, we’ve got to build houses and we can’t be Nimbys [Not in My Back Yard].”
He said he believed housing development would not change the area.
“The Peak District will still be here, the beautiful roads will still be here and and a mile or so away they’ll be 14 or 20,000 houses or whatever it is.
“It’s a beautiful area and they’ll enjoy living over there.”