Plans for a major new industrial development on the 40-acre site at Radway Green have been objected to by Alsager Town Council.

Applicants Corbally Holdings Limited and Tilstone Industrial Limited have submitted plans to Cheshire East Council for the development of six warehouses at the former BAE Systems site, on land off Radway Green Road to the west of Alsager.

Detailed planning consent is sought for three commercial units (1,2 and 6) 34,650sqm and outline consent for a further three units (3,4 and 5) 39,960sqm. Infrastructure improvements would be included around the site's access off Radway Green Road.

The brownfield site is designated for employment land under Cheshire East's Local Plan.

The approach route to the proposed development would be south of the railway crossing on Radway Green Road. Service vehicles would enter and exit the development from the existing junction on Radway Green Road although there would be a new section of road connecting the existing estate road to the main road.

The buildings would combine manufacturing/assembly with associated ancillary office-based functions and elements of storage. The buildings would have a maximum external height of approximately 18.5m.

The plot is part of a larger site that used to house a Royal Ordnance factory supplying vital munitions during World War Two, and which was acquired by defence firm BAE Systems in 1987 for continued production of bullets and other ammunition.

The overall application site including access, has a gross area of approximately 18.65hectares. The site, for the most part consists of industrial units and buildings of which there are 10 in total.

In terms of current occupancy of the site, BAE Systems are located to the east and south and are subject to stringent security arrangements. To the west and south are a number of commercial premises which make up the Radway Green Business Park.

The application was discussed at Tuesday's Alsager Town Council meeting, Cllr Derek Hough, told the committee that he did not see "anything wrong" with the application and was confident that the proposal would result in a "decent modern site", which "everyone will hopefully be proud of".

However, Cllr Sue Helliwell disagreed with Cllr Hough and highlighted that the last bus going to Crewe from the site Monday to Friday would be 9:10pm and 9:15pm on Saturdays. If employees were travelling to Hanley the last bus Monday to Friday would be 9:02pm, Saturday the same time.

The meeting was told by Cllr Helliwell that if employees used the 317 D&G bus, there would be no Saturday service, and the first bus service to the site from Leighton is 9:51am and the last service to the site is 2:51pm.

Cllr Helliwell added: "Their travel plan doesn't co-ordinate with the shift workers at the site."

The conservative councillor also had concerns regarding the Health and Safety Executive, who are yet to comment on the application, but there was a comment from Patrick Mann & Associates, who are a blast design summary specialist and their comment stated: "The design of the buildings to resist blast loading is outside the scope of normal UK and European design codes."

Cllr Helliwell: "We don't know if these buildings are going to be suitable because we don't have any legislation to begin with."

The existing small clock tower, which is located towards the north of the site, which was constructed in the late 20th century has been identified to have some historical merit in the applications heritage statement. Cheshire East suggested the tower is retained and relocated when the site is redeveloped.

Cllr Julian Goodrich's reservations about the application was the "lack of overall picture" for the whole town. The other side of Radway Green will have five warehouses constructed on it, and earlier this week Cheshire East's Strategic Planning Board approved a reserved matters application for the site.

Cllr Goodrich added: "My problem with this is the amount of traffic it will generate. They talk about 816 cars parking on the site and other vehicles as well.

"Your going to have multiple HGV traffic throughout the day every day, the idea it goes south of the railway is fine and that should take some of the pressure off, but the idea that all goes to the motorway south that's not how trucks work.

"Trucks will go the shortest possible distance to save fuel, they will come through the town if they are going north and therefore the town will get yet more traffic on top of the other development, I think this is just over development for Alsager.

"If this would have been the first one [employment site], I actually think it would have worked well because it is away from the residents on a brownfield site, I think this would have been a really good development, but on top of the other development that was lost on appeal, I think it is just too much.

"I also have major worries about the roundabout with the M6 junction and the A500 of how another 1,000 vehicle movements a day are going to get on that roundabout. It's bad enough now with very small movements. I object to this plan."

Cllr Helliwell's understanding was not all the site was in Cheshire East Council's Local Plan, she felt that units 3, 4 and 5, 6 were not included, but units 1 and 2 were.

Cllr Hough felt the concerns raised by fellow councillors would be addressed during the planning process, but he felt there would be problems with the "overall picture" if the application was turned down.

The Liberal Democrat councillor added: "There are so many good things about this scheme that I think we should be welcoming it with those comments. We must make it safe for people.

"But when people talk about overdevelopment, we have not even started on the Radway Green extension, which is part of the local plan and is 25 hectares and that spreads from the existing Radway Green site to junction 16.

"We have to accept it is part of the allocation and we have to now accept that jobs are precious, and I think that will carry on after Covid-19. This will be a modern development; warehousing is modern employment."

Cllr Pauline Hubbard said: "We have to do whatever we can to protect Alsager from the negatives that will come with these schemes."

Alsager Town Council objected to the application due to the scale of the development, the volume of traffic and the traffic survey submitted not being up to date.

According to Cheshire East Council's planning portal, the application is scheduled to go before the borough's Strategic Planning Board 14 October.