Mayoral candidate pledges town revival and new homes

The Conservative candidate standing to become Cheshire and Warrington's first mayor said he would create plans to revive town centres across the county and build thousands of new homes.

Ben Fletcher said if he was elected he wanted 50,000 homes built, in the process of being built or in the planning system by the end of the first mayoral term.

He said his plans would add new housing "in a way that increases public confidence" in the planning system.

Labour's candidate Dan Price has pledged to build homes for under 35s, which he said would be paid for through the mayoral investment fund.

Ben Fletcher claimed his Cheshire Plan, which he launched at the Conservative Party Conference, would "make Cheshire and Warrington the easiest place to get on the housing ladder in the UK".

He said if elected he would require every town in the area to create a town revival plan and each village to submit a village plan which would identify land that could be used for housing.

He has also said he would introduce mayoral development corporations for Crewe, Ellesmere Port and Warrington.

Mayoral Development Corporations are organisations set up by mayors for regeneration and development in certain areas.

They have various powers including the ability to acquire and develop land, and provide infrastructure. Many also have the power to grant planning permission for schemes.

There are currently 10 Mayoral Development Corporations in England, including in places such as Stockport in Greater Manchester, Birmingham and a number in London.

When questioned on how the housing plans would be paid for, Fletcher said it would be through a fund that brought together public and private money, including cash from the mayoral combined authority, Homes England, the British Business Bank, and transport funding to attract private investment.

"It's true public-private partnership with the public money doing the development work as in developing the plan and then builders coming in to deliver the result," he said.

As well as criticism, there have been protests in recent months over housing schemes given approval in parts of Cheshire.

In Cheshire East, the local authority no longer has a five-year housing land supply.

For one recent scheme, councillors said they were approving a plan with "heavy" hearts because the council did not "have a chance in hell of actually winning an appeal".

Fletcher said people in Cheshire were "fed up" with "inappropriate development".

"The case that I am making is if we really focus on town revival that's the key to unlocking it and I want Cheshire to be famous as a place that led urban regeneration in the UK."

Labour's candidate, Dan Price, has also made a pledge on housing.

He said he would build 1,000 "genuinely affordable" homes for under-35s, funded through the mayoral investment fund.

He said he would aim for small developments of between 10 to 30 homes with brownfield land prioritised, and about half of them would be reserved for those living within two miles of the scheme already.

Other major parties have not yet declared their candidates for the mayoral election, which takes place in May 2027.

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