The relentless pace of change in Wilmslow has been laid bare by the publication of historic photographs.

Pictures taken from the air in 1932 show acres of untouched green land that has since been handed over to developers.

A corresponding photograph of the same area of land to the north-east of Wilmslow Cemetery taken from Google Earth shows the extent of the development that has taken place in the last 80 years.

It comes as a new battle is raging over the future of greenbelt land in Wilmslow.

Jim Crockatt, Wilmslow Town Council member, said: “When you compare the two pictures you can see how much the landscape has changed.

“Development on the green belt is a big issue nowadays, the massive amount of change in these photos shows how important an issue it is.”

The historic photographs of Wilmslow were taken from the Britain from Above website, which are being featured in a new regular column in the Express. The latest draft of Cheshire East’s Local Plan sets out development until 2030 and proposes removing land at Upcast Lane and Cumber Lane from the green belt for development after that year.

The council says that a new settlement on council-owned green belt east of the Handforth bypass is also needed, with 2,300 homes planned.

Green belt off Prestbury Road is also to be set aside for future development.

But local residents, councillors and pressure groups have warned that development must be planned carefully to ensure Wilmslow does not lose its identity.

Coun Crockatt, who has lived in Wilmslow for more than 50 years, said: “In a way it is upsetting to see that green belt has been built on but we wouldn’t have anywhere to live if we had not built on it at some point.

“When you look at the modern photo, the Summerfield estate is there as well as the Colshaw estate, so it’s quite a significant amount of building on the green belt that’s taken place.”

“We have to make sure we have the right balance of commerce and industry and we will solve it by being careful when planning.”

Cheshire East Council’s local plan also includes plans for ‘Woodford Garden Village’,  a proposed residential development of 950 houses on the former BAE Systems Woodford Aerodrome site, as well as plans for 200 houses on greenfield off Adlington Road and 75 homes and offices built on the green belt Royal London site on Alderley Road.

Mavis Timson, of Sandown Close, has lived in the town since she was born and is vice president of Wilmslow History Society.

She said: “I’m not too worried about the current plans to build on green land in Wilmslow. People should be more worried about what’s going to happen on the old Woodford site, they’re going to be building 900 or so houses there, that will affect all our roads and that will be a big problem.”

Martin Hoyle, Secretary of the Wilmslow Trust, a local community group which aims to preserve green belt land in Wilmslow, said: “We are totally opposed to building on green belt land.

“If all brown field was built on and there is not enough space for people to live, then I would agree we need to build on green belt, but that is not the case.”

Cheshire East has insisted it has listened to residents' views over five public consultations on the Local Plan and that only one per cent of the borough's green belt will be lost.

Councillor Michael Jones, Cheshire East leader, said:  "We’ve listened and we’ve acted. The proposed selection of sites will support not just the Council’s vision for sustainable growth, but most importantly the people’s vision too.

“There are some difficult decisions to make but we believe that what we are now proposing will set out a solid blueprint for our future that will protect us from speculative and opportunistic developers.”