Belport's November 2025 Adlington New Town public engagement event: what we learnt

On Friday November 14^th and Saturday November 15^th 2025, Belport, the company behind the Adlington New Town proposal, held what they called ‘public engagement events’ at Adlington Hall. We went along.

The events were staffed by various sub contractors and featured a series of explanatory boards and an ‘emerging and indicative masterplan for Adlington New Town’.

These can all be seen on their website at www.adlingtonnewtown.com. (Scroll to the bottom of the home page).

However, the plan was heavily qualified by all Belport representatives present. And we noted multiple errors – the railway line, for example, is labelled as the A523.

Adlington New Town bid history

We were told that:

• the original Belport response to the New Towns Taskforce ‘Call for sites’ comprised ‘two sides of an A4’ – and it was one of 115 bids.
• several months after lodging their initial bid, Belport were asked to expand on what they had originally submitted.
• there was no template that bidders were required to complete.
• they learnt on the Friday before the announcement on Sunday September 28^th that their bid was one of the 12 selected.
• currently – seven weeks after the announcement – they are still at the very earliest stages of pulling the project together.

Next steps

The government has said it will be publishing the strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) on the 12 towns recommended by the New Town Taskforce in Spring and, in its response to the Taskforce’s report, it said it would be conducting consultations on the SEAs.

We were told that Belport would be conducting its own SEA in addition to the government one, and that they would also be working up a much more robust masterplan. We asked the size of the area that Belport were working on and were told ‘2,500 acres’ (1,012 hectares).

CPRE is working with Cheshire Wildlife Trust in opposing the Adlington New Town and is also in regular contact with Tim Roca, MP for Macclesfield, and the affected Town and Parish Councils and representatives of local action groups.

More information

• CPRE Cheshire initial concerns about Adlington New Town
• CPRE Cheshire Adlington New Town October 2025 fact sheet
• Belport Adlington New Town website
• Government New Town Task Force Report (the proposals for Adlington are on pages 32 and 33).
• National CPRE response to the Task Force report. We expect further detail to emerge at the national level as the various CPRE branches consider the proposals affecting their areas.
• Adlington New Town on Green Belt – No! Facebook group
• Supporters of the Adlington Green Belt Facebook group

Help us fight for the countryside

With the countryside under threat as never before, we need to step up our efforts to protect it. Fighting proposals such as this requires expert professional input – which costs money.

You can help, by joining CPRE or making a donation.

You can also get involved as a volunteer.