Housing Development

Housing targets are set by Government for every local authority. Cheshire West and Chester Council then works out how those homes are distributed across the borough, including its rural villages. Neither the target nor the way it is shared out is set by the Parish Council.

In May 2026, Cheshire West and Chester Council supplied an indicative number of 631 new homes for Tarporley, covering a Local Plan period expected to run until 2045. Which would equal an average of 32 new homes per year for the next 20 years.

For reference other local towns have been allocated indicative numbers too: Malpas 421 (TBC), Tattenhall 526… we have requested a full list.

No. It is an indicative figure rather than a fixed allocation, and it sits inside a Local Plan that is still being prepared.

It is, however, the number the village currently has to plan around.

The previous Local Plan required the village to deliver more than 300 new homes, and these were delivered. In return, the village received a set of traffic lights at the bottom of Nantwich Road onto the bypass, a contribution towards expanding the Primary School, and funding to develop Brook Road Country Park — which itself replaced, rather than added to, the playing fields lost at the former Brook Farm School site.

Central government has since more than doubled the housebuilding requirements placed on local authorities, and that doubling is reflected in the indicative figure of 631 new homes now put forward for the village — more than twice the previous number. It’s a national story, not one particular to Tarporley.

A plan-led approach means the village sets out in advance where new homes should go and what infrastructure needs to come with them, rather than reacting to speculative planning applications one at a time. It gives residents and the Parish Council a stronger say over the location, design and scale of development, and the ability to require developers to fund the health, education, transport and other infrastructure that new housing creates a need for.

Without an up-to-date plan, development still happens — see ‘What happens if Tarporley doesn’t have an up-to-date Plan?’ below — but with far less local influence and far weaker grounds to insist that supporting infrastructure comes with it.

Not the total. What a Neighbourhood Plan can shape is where new homes go, what they look like, and what comes with them — the facilities, access and green space that should arrive alongside housing rather than after it.

For a Neighbourhood Plan’s policies to be taken into consideration when planning applications are decided, the Plan must have been written or reviewed within the last five years. Tarporley’s Plan was adopted in June 2016 — and the older a Plan gets, the weaker its policies become.

The National Planning Policy Framework — the Government’s planning policy document — states that for Neighbourhood Plan policies to be implemented, the Plan must allocate land for new housing.

A new Design Code has been prepared to replace the old Village Design Statement. It sets out clear, specific rules that developers must follow, and acts as a practical checklist when applications are considered: proposals that meet its requirements are much more likely to be supported.

No. The Working Group is meeting landowners and developers to identify which land could come forward. Six meetings took place between April and June 2026 — with Jones Homes, Carden Group, Robinsons, Walley, Bridgeman and Newport — and notes from each are published on this website.

Some landowners have responded that they do not wish to develop their land.

Facilities are part of the work, not an afterthought. The Plan looks to identify land for a new Health Centre, sports pitches and car parking alongside any new housing.

Primary school capacity has been confirmed with the school, and a Health Centre meeting was held in April 2026.

The village has far less influence over planning applications, and development tends to deliver only the minimum infrastructure — which does not support the community.

This matters particularly now. Cheshire West and Chester has confirmed it does not expect to meet the December 2026 deadline for its Local Plan and must start again under the new system, leaving a policy vacuum of two to three years.

Developers pay a Community Infrastructure Levy to Cheshire West and Chester Council. Where a parish has a “made” Neighbourhood Plan in place, a larger share of that levy comes back to the parish to spend on local infrastructure, and the cap that would otherwise apply is lifted.

There will be a formal six-week consultation once the policies and site allocations are ready, including a public meeting and drop-in sessions where you can ask questions and make comments. The results will help shape the draft Plan.

Dates have not yet been set. The best way to hear about them first is to join the Parish Council’s email list — contact the Clerk at clerk@tarporley.org.uk.

Yes. The final stage of the process is a village referendum, where residents vote on whether to accept the Plan. If it is accepted, the Plan is “made” and its policies must be taken into account when planning applications are decided.

If the Plan is rejected, then developers have no necessity to contribute towards building Community services and infrastructure. The houses still get built but without any benefit to the village.

If the Plan doesn’t proceed to referendum, or isn’t approved by residents at referendum, Tarporley would not have a “made” Neighbourhood Plan. As above, the village would then lose the extra weight a made Plan carries in planning decisions and the larger, uncapped share of developer contributions that comes with having one.

Housing numbers for the village would still be set through the wider Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan process — just without the Parish Council’s allocation role in deciding where they go.