North West Crewe Package
The scheme
The North West Crewe Package (NWCP) scheme will see a series of highways and junction improvements made around the Leighton area in North West Crewe to ease congestion and improve access to Leighton Hospital, bringing opportunities for local businesses to expand, as well as new and existing housing developments.
The NWCP scheme will include the construction of a new 2.6km single carriageway road and seven new roundabouts as well as the realignment of Smithy Lane, Flowers Lane and existing junction improvements on the A530 Middlewich Road and Minshull New Road.
The package also includes the extension of the Connect 2 walking and cycling route to Leighton Hospital and north west Crewe.
In addition, a section of Minshull New Road located outside Leighton Academy will be closed to traffic and will create a safer environment for children arriving and leaving the school.
Latest updates
The current phase of work at roundabout 4 on Flowers Lane is due to open to the public on Friday 8 December. Following engagement with Leighton Hospital, the emergency services and local stakeholders, we are happy to report there will be no further planned works on the local roads prior to Christmas. This will remove all traffic management from Flowers Lane, Middlewich Road and Smithy Lane on the run up to the festive season.
Early in the new year, there will be a daytime closure of the A530 Middlewich Road from the entrance of the hospital to Eardswick Junction. These will apply from Monday 8 January through to Friday 9 February.
The closure will only apply from 9.30am to 3.30pm and will not be in place at weekends. We will also be continuing with the construction of the internal road network.
For information on the relevant areas of works please refer to the plan contained in the ‘Main construction works’ found via the related pages link.
Our newsletters
Public engagement
To answer any scheme-related queries, weekly meetings with Balfour Beatty are held from 12-1pm every Tuesday at their site compound at Leighton Hall Farm.
Public exhibitions relating to the scheme were held between March and April 2018 at Leighton Academy in North West Crewe to inform members of the public and others with an interest in the scheme of the council’s proposals and receive feedback for consideration in the further development of the scheme.
North West Crewe package engagement report (PDF, 9MB)
Planning
The scheme has full planning consent with conditions.
A planning application for the North West Crewe Package was submitted to the Local Planning Authority in December 2018 and went before the planning committee in March 2019. A decision notice approving the scheme was received in July 2019, (see planning application details).
Full details of all applications can be found on the planning portal or within the documentation on the statutory orders page.
Prior to works commencing on site, a number of the planning conditions need to be formally discharged by the council’s planning department and the work to achieve this is at an advanced stage in relation to proposed construction works described below.
Following planning approval for the North West Crewe Package, the Local Planning Authority resolved to approve outline applications from developers of the adjacent Local Plan sites at the Council’s Strategic Planning Board in November 2020.
It is intended that delivery of the NWCP scheme and adjacent residential housing development will be coordinated so that the majority of the highway improvements are delivered in advance of the planned housing at Leighton West.
The scheme, which is supported by £10m of funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund, will bring opportunities for local businesses to expand and help to unlock the delivery of more than 1,200 homes and a sustainable community with new local services, green infrastructure, allotments, walking and cycle links, outdoor sports and recreation facilities and a new school.
Statutory orders
Following the council’s making of statutory orders on 11 August 2020, the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed with modifications the following orders on 30 April 2021:
- The Cheshire East Council (North West Crewe Package) Compulsory Purchase Order 2020
- The Cheshire East Council (A530 Middlewich Road Classified Road) (Side Roads) Order 2020
- The Cheshire East Council (B5076 Flowers Lane Classified Road) (Side Roads) Order 2020
- The Cheshire East Council (B5076 Flowers Lane Classified Road Fairfield Roundabout) (Side Roads) Order 2020
These orders are required in order to facilitate the construction of the North West Crewe Package highway scheme and start the formal process of obtaining powers to construct and improve the highway network, including using powers of compulsory purchase where necessary to acquire the necessary land as a matter of last resort.
A full description of the orders and supporting documents can be found on the statutory order details page.
Contact information
Email: nwcp@cheshireeast.gov.uk
For any site related queries, contact our Contractor’s Public Liaison Offer contact Steve Doolan (Balfour Beatty)
Email: Steven.Doolan@balfourbeatty.com
Telephone: +44 (0)7708487463
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Page last reviewed: 23 June 2023
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