Peak Cluster has moved its CO2 pipeline boundary south-west of Gawsworth and cut the corridor to about 100m. Cheshire's next consultation opens in November.
The company behind the Peak Cluster carbon dioxide pipeline has redrawn the land it wants for the scheme. One of the five places it names as a key change is south-west of Gawsworth, about three miles from Macclesfield town centre.
Peak Cluster published the updated boundary on Monday 21 September. Six days later, campaigners opposed to the pipeline held a protest along the whole route, including a tractor run through the villages around Macclesfield. (Peak Cluster)
What has changed
In most places the corridor Peak Cluster consulted on earlier this year has been narrowed from 300 metres to about 100 metres. The company says that is still wider than the land the pipeline would need permanently. (Peak Cluster)
It says around 15% of the proposed route has been amended. The key changes it lists are:
- south-west of Gawsworth and Moss Houses
- south-east of Holmes Chapel
- south-east of Dove Holes Quarry, on the stretch to the Tunstead above ground installation
- south of Abbey Green, near Leek
- north of Hargrave and Cotton Abbotts
The changes follow the first round of consultation, which ran from 12 January to 27 February 2026 and drew more than 5,500 responses. (Peak Cluster progress updates)
The new boundary does not show land needed only during construction. Nor does it fix where the above ground installations will go, which the company says are “still being refined”. Peak Cluster’s announcement does not describe what the Gawsworth change involves on the ground. It points people to an interactive map on its consultation site, which shows the old and new boundaries side by side.
The company says it has begun talking to landowners about the changes and arranging surveys. (Peak Cluster progress updates)
What the pipeline is
Peak Cluster would capture carbon dioxide from cement and lime works in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It would carry the gas through Cheshire and the Wirral in a new buried pipeline, for storage under the East Irish Sea. (Peak Cluster)
According to the company’s own answers to common questions:
- the onshore pipeline would be around 200km long
- it would be up to 91.4cm (36 inches) in diameter
- it would be buried at least 1.2 metres deep, or below normal farming depth, whichever is deeper
- it would carry over 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year
- block valve stations along the route would each cover around 50m by 50m
(Peak Cluster, above ground infrastructure factsheet)
It is a nationally significant infrastructure project. That means the decision will not be made by Cheshire East Council. Peak Cluster will apply for a Development Consent Order, and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will decide.
The protest on 27 September
Action Against Carbon Capture and Storage, the campaign group opposing the scheme, organised what it called a PipeWalk on Sunday 27 September. In a press release on 29 September it said nearly 1,000 people took part across five counties, covering 128 miles on foot, by bike, by tractor and by car. (Action Against CCS press release)
The group’s East Cheshire branch ran its stretch as a tractor run. Its published route was in three sections:
| Section | From and to | Via |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dandy Farm, Adlington, to the Harrington Arms, Gawsworth | Bollington, Prestbury, Mottram St Andrew, Alderley Edge, Macclesfield |
| 2 | Gawsworth to Lower Withington village hall | Eaton, Marton, Siddington |
| 3 | Lower Withington to Bidlea Dairy, Twemlow | Jodrell Bank, Holmes Chapel, Cranage |
(East Cheshire tractor run, Action Against CCS)
The branch says its members include residents, farmers, landowners and business owners on or near the route. It lists their concerns as the effect on homes, farms and land, disruption during building, safety, and whether consultation has been adequate. (Action Against CCS, East Cheshire)
The campaign says there would be above ground installations near Macclesfield and Holmes Chapel. Peak Cluster has not yet published where they would go, and says it will consult on the locations in November.
What happens next
Peak Cluster says it will publish details of its next consultation events in October. (Peak Cluster September 2026 newsletter)
- November 2026: consultation on where the pipeline infrastructure would go in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire. That covers above ground installations, block valve stations, temporary construction areas and access.
- January 2027: the same consultation for the Wirral.
- Summer 2027: a full second phase of consultation on the developed design, with early findings from the environmental assessments.
The November and January consultations will each last about six weeks. (Peak Cluster)
What it means for you
If you live or farm around Gawsworth, check the interactive map now. The boundary is the land within which the company proposes to build, so it shows whether your property is inside it.
Landowners can reach Peak Cluster’s lands team at peakcluster@adas.co.uk or on 08000 129135. General questions go to consultation@peakcluster.co.uk or 0800 0129 167. (Peak Cluster)
The November consultation is the point at which comments on where things go in Cheshire will be taken. We will publish the dates and drop-in venues for the Macclesfield area when Peak Cluster announces them.
For other plans affecting the area, see our Macclesfield planning news.
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