Residents of a 263-home estate that was constructed without proper planning permission await Cheshire East Council’s decision on the future of their homes.

Countryside Partnerships was granted planning permission for Coppenhall Place in Crewe in December 2018.

In 2020, the developer applied to Cheshire East Council for the discharge of conditions relating to land contamination.

The council said it spent ‘considerable time and effort’ reviewing information before coming to a decision in 2022 to refuse the application to discharge the condition.

During this time, Countryside Partnerships had started, and continued, to build on the site.

The council said it decided not to begin enforcement action against the developer amid ‘ongoing efforts to resolve matters’.

Because the developer had started work before the contamination condition was discharged, the council revoked planning permission.

In March this year, Cheshire East’s strategic planning board deferred an application from Countryside Partnerships for a review of the contaminated land issue.

The planning board has not yet undertaken a review.

A spokesperson from Countryside Partnerships said: ‘Since the original planning application was deferred in March, we have worked closely with the council and other key stakeholders to ensure these outstanding issues are resolved.’

The council also said it was working with developers ‘to ensure that each reason for the application being deferred is addressed, and so that strategic planning board members have all the necessary information once the application is presented back to them.’

The authority said it expected the application to be presented back to the planning board this month. The board’s next meeting is on 20 September.

The issue was raised in parliament earlier this year, with the leader of the house Penny Mourdant asking: ‘How on earth does a local authority enable and watch homes being built, in the full knowledge that they have not been through the systems in its planning department?’