Cheshire council leaders urged to resign after proposing new town without local support

"Residents said they were blindsided when Adlington appeared on the government's list of 12 proposed sites for new towns across England, with work on at least three due to start this parliament. It later emerged the Labour leader of Cheshire East, Nick Mannion, and his deputy, Michael Gorman, had written a letter to the New Towns Taskforce in June on behalf of Cheshire East council to reaffirm our support for the [redacted] new town proposals currently under consideration."

"Mannion has apologised for the letter, saying it was badly worded and he regretted the confusion, anxiety and concern it created. He and Gorman said it was intended to express a more general view in support of the principle of new towns. They have since written to the government saying there were fundamental flaws with the planned new town in Adlington, and it was unacceptable to Cheshire East council."

"The Conservative group on the council has submitted a motion, to be debated next week, saying it no longer has confidence in the leader or deputy due to their original letter, and calling on them to resign. Opposition councillor Hayley Whitaker said the letter sealed the fate for Adlington and was written with no consultation, no scrutiny, no public or councillor opinion."

Residents were blindsided when Adlington appeared on the government's list of 12 proposed sites for new towns, with work on at least three due to start this parliament. Labour leader of Cheshire East Nick Mannion and deputy Michael Gorman wrote a June letter to the New Towns Taskforce reaffirming support for the proposed new town. The taskforce said it had explicitly asked local authorities if they were happy for areas to be listed. Mannion apologised for the badly worded letter and said he regretted the confusion and concern it created. Mannion and Gorman later told government that the Adlington plan had fundamental flaws and was unacceptable to Cheshire East council. The Conservative group has tabled a no-confidence motion and called for resignations, while a petition gathered signatures.

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