A development that would "improve" water entering watercourses which would deal with increased wastewater due to increases in population in Alsager and its surrounding areas has been approved.

United Utilities applied for installation of infrastructure to facilitate improvements at the Alsager Wastewater Treatment Works on Hassall Road, Alsager, including a change of use of land to operational land.

Cheshire East felt the plans would allow for an "improvement" to water entering watercourses and would deal with increased wastewater due to increases in population.

The application was discussed at Wednesday's Southern Planning Committee by Cheshire East councillors.

The site incorporates both existing operational and non-operational land within the confines of the existing Alsager Wastewater Treatment Works fenced boundary.

Development was sought on the area of non-operational land to the southeast within the fenced boundary of the treatment works (approximately 5,400m2), which previously housed a large, derelict storage building and existing hardstanding forming part of the access road.

The storage building has now been demolished. Dense shrubs and scattered young to middle age trees are present throughout the area and surrounding the building.

Development on the operational land was largely within open grassland and existing hardstanding. The site was designated as being within open countryside within the adopted local plan.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Alsager ward councillor Phil Williams did not want the application to be refused as he acknowledged the work to the "essential" facility "had to be done", but he did have a "simple" and "direct" appeal.

He pressed for more details regarding the planting to replace a section of hedgerow that would be removed.

The Liberal Democrat councillor also pressed for further mitigation works for the loss of hedging and habitat.

In a related application, Cheshire East granted permission for United Utilities to remove ten metres of mature hedgerow despite concerns expressed from Alsager Town Council relating to NBE4 (Woodlands, Trees and Hedgerows) in the Alsager Neighbourhood Plan.

That policy states the 'removal of a mature hedgerow will not be supported unless any new planting mitigation is accompanied by due care and maintenance'.

Considering those comments, Cllr Williams was pleased to see that the revised plans from United Utilities for that application contained protective fencing and other measures to ensure that when the hedgerow was replaced it would be allowed to grow.

Alsager town councillor Jane Smith recently stated at a full council Cheshire East meeting: "A recent survey showed that 10m of a similar hedgerow in Devon was home to 235 different species and the loss of these incredible biodiverse habitats is a key driver of habitat fragmentation."

Cllr Williams added: "The biodiversity of our hedgerows is truly remarkable and a cherished feature of our landscape. The loss of thousands of miles of native hedgerow particularly during the 1970s has contributed to the fragmentation of wildlife habitats.

"And although the pace of replacement hedgerow has slowed in recent years, we would need 300,000 kilometres or over 186,000 miles more hedgerow just to get back to where we were 60 years ago."

The town councillor was "pleased" to see hedgerow replanting had been included in the conditions of the application and expected protective fencing and other measures to be included as per the previous approved application.

However, Cllr Williams added: "Given the scale of habitat loss across the country and Cheshire East's declaration of a climate emergency in 2019, I would encourage the panel [Southern Planning Committee] to consider further environmental mitigation to ensure the site quickly recovers from the very necessary work being carried out by United Utilities."

Daniel Evans, a Cheshire East planning case officer, stated that the application also included plans to provide a grassland and wildflower meadow enhancement habitat area to the northern section of the site alongside the planting of trees and shrub throughout.

Mr Evans said: "They [the ecologist] acknowledged that there is going to be a minor loss of biodiversity, but I suppose what you have to bear in mind is it is a relatively constrained site, and you have to balance that minor loss against the benefits of providing improved wastewater treatment facilities for Alsager and the surrounding area.

"It is not encroaching outside the main part of the site into the larger open countryside, so for that reason we recommended approval."

The development would be more than 200m away from the nearest residential property and as such, it was not considered that there would be any adverse impact on residential amenity.

No alterations were proposed to the main access to the site and it was not anticipated that the proposed development would lead to an increase in vehicle movements, other than during the construction phase.

A temporary construction compound has been approved on the opposite side of the road and vehicles would enter the site via a temporary access opposite this.

The proposals would require the removal of several trees, mainly internal to the site although some roadside vegetation would be impacted. A Cheshire East planning officer's report stated the loss of these trees was "not considered to be significant".

The application was unanimously approved by the Southern Planning Committee.