The campaign against controversial plans to build over 100 houses on a greenfield site near the boundary of the Peak District national park in Whaley Bridge has forced a new vote from High Peak borough councillors.

Whaley Bridge Matters (WBM), now into its second year in the fight against developer Gladman’s plan for 107 homes on the site between Macclesfield Road and Linglongs Road, is taking legal advice in advance of a meeting of the Development Control Committee on Monday 16 February.

The committee has been forced to hold a new vote on the plan after a legal challenge to their decision last autumn. WBM representatives are expected to be given a short time to make their views known at the February meeting.

Whaley Bridge campaigners against building plan at a key meeting last summer

Francesca Read, a member of the campaign, said: “We have succeeded in getting the committee to rethink their earlier vote, which we always argued was unsound. We have been shown the draft of their new report, which still recommends approval, but believe that this report is also open to significant challenge and are consulting with our legal team.”

WBM was set up in January 2014 after the building plans became public just before Christmas, 2013. Members and supporters have been donating to a new fighting fund to obtain expert advice, including a detailed legal assessment of the latest HPBC report.

Francesca said: “People have been incredibly generous. This is a campaign which caught public imagination in Whaley Bridge. Since then we have appeared in the local media and national and regional newspapers and TV.

“We hope that, given a second chance to consider this application, the committee make the right decision for the future of Whaley Bridge by protecting this beautiful site from development”.

For further information, visit http://whaleybridgematters.squarespace.com