Cheshire East has raised the Poynton Pool dam safety budget from £1.38m to £3.246m and says it has agreed a way forward with residents. What happens next.

Cheshire East Council has more than doubled the money set aside for safety works on the dam at Poynton Pool. The budget rises from £1.38m to £3.246m.

The decision record also says the council and the community have reached “mutual agreement” on “an acceptable way forward”. That follows nearly four years of dispute over how many of the pool’s trees the works would remove.

The decision was taken on 18 September by the council’s Executive Director of Resources and the Interim Executive Director of Place. It was published on 24 September. (Officer decision record, Cheshire East Council)

Where the money comes from

Bar chart of the Poynton Pool dam safety budget in pounds million: original budget 1.380, added from capital contingency 1.616, added from revenue reserve 0.250, new total 3.246, already spent 0.748, left to spend 2.498
Poynton Pool spillway improvements budget, capital project CAP-10161. Source: Cheshire East Council officer decision record, 18 September 2026. Chart by The Macclesfield Times.
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The decision record sets out the figures:

  • the original approved budget was £1.380m
  • £1.616m moves across from the council’s capital programme contingency
  • a further £0.250m comes from a revenue reserve already held for the works
  • the new total is £3.246m
  • £0.748m has already been spent in earlier years, leaving £2.498m

Cabinet approved the transfer on 3 September, as part of the council’s first-quarter budget report.

What the money is for

The extra money pays for the stages before any construction starts. The record lists:

  • design and pre-construction work
  • getting the statutory consents the scheme needs
  • procuring and appointing contractors for a phased programme of works

The works themselves cover the embankment, the weir and the drainage outfall. Alongside them, the council plans a tree management plan for the trees that stay on the embankment. It also plans to replace the outfall pipes that drain into the nearby watercourse.

The record does not say what the agreed design is, how many trees it affects, or when work on the ground will start.

Why the council has to act

Poynton Pool is a reservoir in law. The council’s project page says it holds up to 130,000 cubic metres of water. It is designated “high risk” under the Reservoirs Act 1975, meaning an uncontrolled release of water would endanger life.

The dam is the earth embankment between the pool and London Road North. It runs for about 800m along the pool’s western edge. A flood study found the spillway could not cope with an extreme flood to national standards, and that low points on the embankment would overflow.

The decision record says progress had been slow, “primarily due to strong opposition from the local community”. It says a formal Compliance Action Plan has now been agreed with the Environment Agency, the regulator. Failing to meet it “is highly likely to result in enforcement, prosecution and fines”.

How it got here

  • Autumn 2022: the council first proposed spillway works. The Friends of Poynton Pool say the consultation drew more than 1,200 negative responses. (Friends of Poynton Pool)
  • April 2024: the Strategic Planning Board deferred the application. The group says a petition had 5,800 signatures and there were 1,700 formal objections.
  • 16 January 2026: the board refused the resubmitted application, 23/4152M, over tree loss and inadequate technical detail, according to the group.
  • 18 March 2026: the council said it was holding technical workshops with Poynton Town Council and the Friends of Poynton Pool. It also said interim works would need the water level to be lowered temporarily, with footpath and parking closures and short lane restrictions on London Road.
  • 18 September 2026: the budget increase was approved, with the record reporting agreement with the community.

What it means for you

If you use the park: nothing changes yet. This decision pays for design, consents and finding a contractor. The council said in March that it would publish details of any closures before work starts.

If you want a say: the agreed scheme will still need consent. The record does not say whether that means a new planning application. When one is lodged, it will appear on the council’s planning portal, and we will report it.

The call-in window: the decision can be called in by councillors until 1 October. If it is not, it takes effect on 2 October.

When we checked on 25 September, the Friends of Poynton Pool’s website did not yet mention the agreement.

Sources