A plan which has been years in the making and earmarks swathes of green belt for development has gone out to consultation - again.

The Local Plan has undergone various stages of consultation as Cheshire East aims to come up with a version which the government planning inspector will approve. It submitted the plan - which guides where homes will be built until 2030 and beyond - to the Secretary of State two years ago but the planning inspector found ‘serious failings’ and ordered the council to find land for more homes.

Now the council has started a six-week consultation until April 19 on the latest draft of the plan with extra development sites.

It includes an increased 4,250 homes for Macclesfield, with an extra large area of green belt in south west Macclesfield for development after 2030 - known as ‘safeguarded land’. New sites also include 200 homes south of Chelford Road, an extra 150 homes at Gaw End Lane and 150 homes between Chelford Road and Whirley Road. There will be a link road connecting Chelford Road and Congleton Road.

Sites already on the plan included 250 homes on the King’s School site at Fence Avenue, 150 homes at Gaw End Lane in Lyme Green and 300 homes off Congleton Road

Campaigners from the Save Macclesfield Green Belt group have sprung into action to try and protect the land.

Tim Whiteley, from Save Macclesfield Green Belt, said: “People need to read and understand what is going on and how it will affect them. It’s continuous development by house builders on land that really belongs to the people as the councils owns a major chunk of it.

“The majority of respondents in the previous consultation said they didn’t want to lose the green belt around the South West of Macclesfield or a new link road - which is back in the plan now.”

Coun Ainsley Arnold, who is now overseeing the Local Plan, said: “There have been more than 40,000 responses on the draft plan. This has been an unprecedented amount of interest and I hope this additional consultation will allow everyone to have their say.

To register views visit cheshireeast.gov.uk/localplan, complete a form at the library, council headquarters in Sandbach or customer service at Macclesfield Town Hall.