Update 1
The Cheshire East Council planning application recommending the felling of 78 trees, and the cutting back of many more at Poynton Pool might have been deferred – but the threat has NOT gone away.
That’s why we’re still standing up to it!
In the four months since the plan was deferred, we have been working tirelessly on our campaign to get the Council to re-think its spillway improvement scheme at the pool.
Up next, is what’s known as a bathymetric survey of Poynton Pool on 27th and 28th of August, instigated by the Environment Agency.
In simple terms, this means the pool’s volume of water is to be measured by suitably qualified engineers.
You may recall our Myth Busters campaign earlier this year poured scorn on the Council’s assertion that Poynton Lake, as they called it, was a large, raised reservoir with a capacity of 130,000m3, (according to Jacobs’ Flood Risk Assessment 2023, submitted with the Poynton Pool planning application in November 2023).
Based on 82 depth measurements instigated by Friends of Poynton Pool, and the contour lines on a 19th century Ordnance Survey map, the pool’s volume has independently been estimated to be in the region of 61,500m3.
We’re eagerly awaiting the outcome of this month’s latest survey – it could be a milestone in our campaign to ensure that 78 trees remain standing.
Update 2
As well as the survey of Poynton Pool’s volume of water, known as a bathymetric survey, taking place on 27th and 28th of August, a second inspection known as a Section 10 is to take place in September 2024.
This means the Cheshire East Council (CEC) plan for spillway improvements at the pool is now officially in abeyance.
The Section 10 refers to the Reservoirs Act of 1975 and says any ‘high risk reservoir’ must be inspected no more than 10 years from the last inspection by an independent qualified civil engineer, who will then submit a report on the findings.
A Section 10 Inspection was carried out in August 2016 which identified there were two measures in the interest of safety to be carried out at Poynton Pool. An Emergency Drawdown Plan needed to be prepared and a Flood Study Assessment. These were completed and certified. The flood study concluded that the spillway capacity did not meet the required standards which has resulted in the current planning proposal for Poynton Pool.
An independent Inspection Engineer has been appointed by CEC and we are keen to liaise with them – something that’s not been agreed by CEC, despite repeated requests and a proposal by CEC’s Strategic Planning Board for collaboration with us and Poynton Town Council.
Ultimately, the bathymetric survey and the S10 inspection, have the potential to have material implications on the current planning application and our campaign to ensure 78 trees remain standing, any cutting back is done with care and as little damage as possible is done to wildlife habitats.
Update 3
We’re still standing in the hope that 78 threatened trees and 80 metres of hawthorn hedgerow will still be standing at Poynton Pool when the park hosts Poynton Show in 2025.
That’s why we’ll have a significant presence at this year’s Poynton Show, on Saturday 24th August, to garner support for our campaign to find a better solution to proposed spillway improvements at the pool.
We’ll be asking visitors to stand up and be counted by making a donation or pledge to our fighting fund in case we have to pursue a legal challenge to stop the felling of 78 trees and the cutting back of many more as part of the ill thought out plans for Poynton Pool.
Look out for us and our stall at the show. We’ll be handing out flyers about our crowdfunding page and providing an update on developments.
Update 4
It’s now four months since the Cheshire East Council (CEC) plan for spillway improvements endangering 78 trees at Poynton Pool was deferred by its Strategic Planning Board (SPB) in April.
But the threat has not gone away – 78 trees could still be felled, 49 trees could be affected, 80 metres of hawthorn hedgerow removed and natural wildlife habitats destroyed.
That’s why we’re still standing!
At the time the plan was deferred, it was stated that it would allow for engagement with third parties, such as Friends of Poynton Pool and Poynton Town Council, and for 23 possible inaccuracies in the original submission to be looked at again.
We expected ‘engagement’ to consist of more than the 20-plus emails that have gone backwards and forwards between ourselves and CEC. We even had hopes of a meeting with CEC. It hasn’t happened yet, but we’re still pushing.
In the meantime, we posed a question to the legal firm we have consulted to help our campaign:
“Would there be an error in the process if SPB has deferred the decision for a review of the proposal with technical experts from Friends of Poynton Pool, and then Cheshire East take no account of our input?”
The answer: YES.
Update 5
We are prepared to fight all the way to stop the felling of 78 trees and the cutting back of many more at Poynton
Pool as part of a Cheshire East Council plan for spillway improvements at our local beauty spot, but we need
your support.
That means mounting a legal challenge if necessary. But standing up for our trees and wildlife habitats comes at
a price – it could cost more than £50,000.
Please support our crowdfunding campaign to finance our legal challenge if it comes to it. (It it’s not needed;
we’ll spend the money on local environmental projects, which might include Poynton Pool.)
£1, £5, £10, £20, £50, even £100 or more…
You choose what the beauty of Poynton Pool is worth to YOU.
Thank you.
https://poyntonpool.org/donate/
Update 6
Spot the difference? Of course, the left picture is Poynton Pool, the one on the right is the Grade ll listed Tredegar House Lake managed by the National Trust in Wales.
What’s the significance? A spillway improvement scheme at Tredegar House has been completed using ground screws – an anchoring system used for building deep foundations.
This was a possible solution our Chair, Mike Ellison, an arborist, suggested to Cheshire East Council (CEC) for the spillway at Poynton Pool, only to have it dismissed out-of-hand as being ‘non-standard’.
The crux of the situation here is that NO trees were felled at Tredegar House Lake, to enable the installation of ground screws. Whereas 78 trees will be cut down and many others cut back at Poynton Pool if CEC planners push through a spillway improvement plan currently deferred for further consultation.
In fact, avoiding any damage to the trees at Tredegar House informed the design solution from the very beginning. It was made clear during the planning process by Newport City Council (NCC) Planning Department that no application would be approved without providing assurances that the trees would remain standing.
We accept some improvements are necessary at Poynton Pool, but we think there is a better way than cutting down trees, as illustrated by those enlightened planners in Newport!
