Handforth Garden Village work starts, consent ends 26 Sept

Construction has started at the Garden Village at Handforth, the 1,500-home new settlement planned on farmland east of the A34, weeks before the planning permission that allows it runs out.

Cheshire East Council said on 18 August that work had begun on a new gateway entrance to the site from the A34, “implementing the existing planning consent and helping unlock future phases of construction work across the site”. (Cheshire East Council, 18 August 2026)

The council’s own committee papers explain why the timing matters. A report to its Economy and Growth Committee last September said the hybrid planning permission granted in 2023 expires on 26 September 2026, and that the first phase of infrastructure work had to start before that date “so that the permission remains valid”. (Handforth Garden Village Delivery Strategy Review, report EG/21/25-26, 9 September 2025)

The same report put it plainly to councillors: the works “must start on site by September 2026, or the planning permission will expire”.

What is being built, and by whom

The scheme covers land east of the A34 and south of the A555. The permission allows around 1,500 market and affordable homes with a village centre, a through school for pupils aged four to 16, a nursery, extra care accommodation, employment space, a food store, a community hub and open space.

The site is being brought forward by MADE Partnership, a master developer formed by Barratt Redrow, Homes England and Lloyds Banking Group. Cheshire East owns about 70% of the land and signed an exclusivity agreement with MADE on 5 August 2025 while the two sides work out whether to form a joint investment partnership. (The Garden Village at Handforth, Cheshire East Council)

Stephen Kinsella, MADE Partnership’s managing director, said starting on site “represents a key milestone” and that the aim now was “to formalise our relationship with Cheshire East into an investment partnership”.

Councillor Mick Warren, the council’s cabinet member for planning, housing and regeneration, called it “a really important step towards creating a new Garden Village at Handforth that residents can be proud of”.

The plans have changed, and you can comment

MADE has applied to vary the 2023 consent. The Section 73 application, reference 26/2366/VOC, went in during June 2026, and the council says notification letters have gone out to residents, which starts the formal consultation.

The council lists these main changes:

• some of the roads, junctions and infrastructure already approved in detail, known as the Initial Primary Infrastructure Works, have been redesigned
• the main roundabout access points from the A34 stay where they were approved
• green corridors and public open spaces are re-linked to match the new layout
• the earth mound south-east of the Total Fitness site, which was to be moved, now stays put
• the education and extra care plots near the village centre are repositioned to make a stronger “heart” for the new community

The council says the description of the development does not change and no new uses are added or removed. Because the original application was subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, an addendum to the environmental statement has been submitted with technical studies on transport, drainage, ecology, air quality, noise and heritage.

One detail is worth watching. Condition 6 of the 2023 permission reads “no commencement until approved initial primary works complete”. Those initial works are the very ones the Section 73 application redesigns.

Comments go to the council’s planning service, quoting 26/2366/VOC. The project team can be reached at GardenVillageHandforth@cheshireeast.gov.uk. The council has not published a closing date for comments on its Garden Village page, and its planning portal could not be read on the day we checked, so ask the planning service for the deadline before relying on one.

What the developer has to pay for

The 2023 approval came with a Section 106 agreement, and the sums in it are the reason the scheme carries so much scrutiny. The council’s own decision record lists them, along with the point at which each falls due.

The largest is £14,661,362 for education, covering primary, secondary and SEN places, half of it due before the first home is built and half before the 300th is occupied. Off-site ecological mitigation is £5,943,664, due as a lump sum before development starts, with an annual maintenance sum after that.

The transport package is spread across several triggers: £5,047,000 of highway improvements before 300 homes are occupied, £4,661,192 towards the Poynton bypass at the 150th home, £1,714,000 for bus services at the 50th, £980,000 for a Handforth park and ride at the 100th, £500,000 for paths and cycleways at the start, plus £387,522 for Hall Moss Lane and £10,000 for travel plan monitoring.

There is also £1,719,987 for indoor and outdoor sports facilities and £1,530,015 for healthcare in Handforth, the latter due before anyone moves in. Affordable housing is set at 30%, triggered once half the market homes are sold or let. Added up, the cash sums come to about £37.2 million, alongside obligations to hand over land and transfer open space that carry no price tag. (Decision record, 19/0623M)

The money question the council has already asked itself

The council is not only the landowner here, it is also funding the early infrastructure. Its September 2025 report set out the position in unusually direct terms.

• Homes England has awarded a Housing Infrastructure Fund grant of up to £21.7 million, and the money is available until 31 March 2027
• the council’s medium term financial strategy for 2025/26 to 2028/29 carried a £57.9 million budget for the Garden Village, plus £6.8 million for Section 106 obligations
• spend at that point was £12.2 million, of which £5.4 million came from prudential borrowing, with a further £8.8 million of borrowing earmarked
• the report told councillors “it is accepted that the current budget is not sufficient to complete the project in the way set forth under the planning agreement”

That is the reason for the search for a partner. The report said the outcome of the work with MADE was not expected to be known for 12 to 18 months, and that the council would have to keep spending in the meantime. Those figures are from September 2025 and no newer report on the Garden Village has been to the Economy and Growth Committee since, so treat them as the latest published position rather than today’s.

Early construction on the A34 corridor is being carried out under the Scape National Civil Engineering Framework, with Ringway Jacobs providing project management and site supervision through the council’s highways contract.

What it means for you

If you live in Handforth, Wilmslow or Styal, the practical change this year is traffic and works at the A34 end of the site, not houses. The homes cannot start until the initial infrastructure is finished, and the layout of that infrastructure is exactly what is now out for consultation.

If you want a say, this is the moment. A Section 73 application is decided on its merits like any other, and the council has confirmed it is taking comments on 26/2366/VOC now. Quote the reference, be specific about which plan or condition concerns you, and get your comments in early rather than waiting for a committee date to appear.

If you are watching the money, the triggers above are the thing to track. Bus services at 50 homes, park and ride at 100, the Poynton bypass contribution at 150 and highway works at 300 are the milestones that decide when the mitigation arrives, and they are tied to occupation rather than to any calendar date.

You can follow local decisions on our Macclesfield planning news page, and check what is happening on the roads on our Macclesfield roadworks and travel page.

Sources

• Ground broken at the Garden Village at Handforth site as updated plans submitted, Cheshire East Council, 18 August 2026
• The Garden Village at Handforth, Cheshire East Council project page
• Handforth Garden Village Delivery Strategy Review, report EG/21/25-26 to the Economy and Growth Committee, 9 September 2025
• Decision record for planning application 19/0623M, Cheshire East Council