End in Sight for Cheadle Residents After a Four-Year-Long Over-Height Home Construction Battle

For the past four years, residents adjacent to the Persimmon Homes Pottery Garden Estate in Cheadle have lived in fear that a large earth pile could collapse at any moment, inundating their homes and gardens with soil. Supported merely by gravel boards, it has taken four long years for a solution to this hazardous issue to become actionable.

Persimmons management team looking over the work.

Councillor Bernie Charlesworth of Cheadle Town Council has been representing residents by negotiating with both the developer and the district council (SMDC) to find a workable solution and fair compensation for the affected homeowners. This follows the discovery that some homes were constructed significantly taller than permitted, a situation that received extensive coverage from the BBC and other media outlets. It was a complete failure of the planning and building processes and should never have occurred. There are procedures in place to ensure buildings are constructed safely, effectively, and equitably. The Ombudsman found SMDC negligent in their duties recently on two occasions, which were reported to COGNEWS. Ordering compensation for some residents, whilst developers became unpopular in the local community as a result.

In his efforts to reach a harmonious resolution, Councillor Charlesworth shared the latest developments: "After numerous meetings with both the district council and the developer, the soil retaining wall will be replaced with a combination of block-work and fencing, split 50/50, to create a more aesthetically pleasing structure."

"Residents have lived with the fear that the fence could collapse at any moment for the past four years, and it's a relief that the end of this ordeal is near. A fence collapse would cause the earth behind it to fall, potentially damaging property and posing a significant risk to the lives of our residents."

"I am grateful for the efforts of Quinn Cordeux - Persimmons site manager, for his cooperation and sympathetic consideration in working toward this solution, and his promise that Phase II of the development will not repeat any of the mistakes involved in this Phase I of the build."

"It is an ongoing concern that the district council, despite having the legal responsibility to keep all parties safe during a development such as this, does not have the civil engineering skills in place going forward, particularly as there is so much building work going on locally with more to come."

To counter this, Councillor Charlesworth has organised two local civil engineers and a water engineer to volunteer their time to review new project drawings and comment on them as the plans come in.

Councillor Charlesworth concluded. "It is of great importance that the district council takes this civil engineering advice seriously, especially in the absence of civil engineering expertise within their own planning department. This will help keep us all safe and hopefully help existing residents retain both their peace of mind and the value of their existing homes in the future. This will also help prevent further fines by the Onbudsman which have to be met from the public purse."

We are grateful to Councillor Charlesworth for his ongoing work in this area.

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End in Sight for Cheadle Residents After Four-Year-Long Over-Height Home Construction Battle - created 9.8.25