Almost 1,000 homes are set to be built on the Woodford Aerodrome site after the secretary of state decided not to hold a public enquiry into the application.

Developer Harrow Estates is to build 920 homes on the former BAE Systems site on the former Woodford Aerodrome site, near Poynton.

Alongside there are plans for business units, a pub, a school, shops, a care unit and community facilities.

The scheme was approved by Stockport council in October.

But Poynton town council complained that the plan contravenes government guidelines that Green Belt boundaries should be altered only in exceptional circumstances through the Local Plan.

It was then up to the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP to decide whether or not to hold a public enquiry into the plans.

Mr Pickles department confirmed last Tuesday that they did not want to ‘call-in’ the application.

In a letter to Cheadle MP Mark Hunter, minister of state for housing and planning, Brandon Lewis from the DCLG, said: "I have decided not to call in this application. I am satisfied that the application should be determined at a local level."

The news has come as a disappointment to Cheadle MP Mark Hunter who campaigned against the size of the development.

He said: “I have supported local residents from the outset; the size and scale of the proposals are just too large and they could permanently damage the unique characteristics of Woodford Village.

“It is hugely disappointing that the government have decided not to take a closer look at this, or forced a rethink. This is an early Christmas present the people of Woodford definitely did not want.”

The development includes business units, a pub, a school, shops, a care unit and community facilities a heritage museum to house the history of the site and plane builders Avro.

Woodford Community Council and the Woodford Neighbourhood Forum have raised concerns over the size of the scheme, development on green belt land, too few employment opportunities, traffic ‘chaos’, a lack of community facilities and disruption during construction.

Harrow's plans are different to the council's Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which guides development, as it recommended 750 to 850 homes.

BAE Systems closed the site in 2011 after almost 87 years of manufacturing aircraft.