How Well Do You Know Adlington?

Adlington has over a thousand years of recorded farming and settlement history. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name “Eduluintune”, which later became “Adelinton” in the 13th century. The place-name comes from the Old English meaning “farmstead associated with a man called Ēadwulf”.

Belport’s overall “Masterplan” covers an area of 1,470 hectares which is equivalent to 5.6 square miles or more than 2,000 football pitches!

That’s roughly the same population as the whole of Macclesfield!

In the UK, the average household owns around 1.5 cars, meaning a development of 20,000 homes could introduce around 30,000 additional vehicles onto local roads.

Around 167 hectares (413 acres) of woodland exists in Adlington — the equivalent of more than 230 football pitches of trees and wildlife habitat. Around 18 hectares (45 acres) of it being classified as “Ancient woodland” i.e. continuously wooded since at least 1600AD.

Adlington’s countryside contains around 48 miles (78 km) of hedgerows, forming a huge natural network across the parish. That’s roughly the distance from Adlington to Liverpool. These hedgerows act like wildlife corridors for animals such as bats, birds, and hedgehogs, allowing them to travel safely between woodland areas and surrounding farmland. Many of these hedgerows are centuries old, dating back to the original medieval farms and field systems from the 14th century.

Local Wildlife Sites are areas recognised for their important habitats and species. Seven of these sites have been identified across the countryside around Adlington, including woodland, grassland, ponds and traditional orchards that provide vital habitat for a wide range of wildlife.

Wildlife surveys have recorded more than 70 species of conservation concern, including European otter, great crested newt, brown hare, hedgehog and rare bees, butterflies and orchids. Because of this rich biodiversity, the countryside around Adlington is considered to be a regional hotspot for wildlife.

Red-listed bird species of highest conservation concern meaning their populations have declined sharply or they face serious conservation pressures. The farmland around Adlington still supports 31 red-listed birds including the Lapwing, Cuckoo, Yellowhammer and Grasshopper Warbler and 40 amber-listed species that have disappeared from many other parts of the UK.

The European Otter, once nearly extinct in England, has been recorded again along the River Bollin near Adlington, showing improving river health.

After improvements in water quality, Atlantic salmon have once again been recorded swimming upstream to spawn in the River Bollin, something that had not happened for many years.

There are official recordings of the Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, Noctule Bat and the Brown Long-eared Bat, all of which are legally protected in the UK. Adlington is the perfect habitat for bats as they rely heavily on the hedgerows, woodland edges, ponds and waterways as navigation routes.

15 working farms could be affected that support dairy herds, beef cattle, sheep flocks and crop production all of which are an important part of the local food supply chain feeding thousands of people each year.

Many of the farms also share machinery and equipment, working cooperatively to manage the high cost of modern farming.

Agricultural land is graded on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 5 (very poor).

Across Adlington there is around 2,500 acres of agricultural land and the majority is classified as Grade 3a - Good quality farmland, with pockets of Grade 2 land - High productivity.

Adlington farmland sits in the upper part of the UK’s national scale and a large part of it qualifies as “best and most versatile” farmland.

Dairy farming has long been part of the local economy. The farms around Adlington produce over 4.5 million litres of milk every year — enough to supply around 22,000 families for an entire year!

The farms on Adlington together produce around 115 tonnes of beef each year — enough meat to make around 1.25 million Big Macs!

A town with 55,000 residents would require around 20 primary schools and 4 secondary schools to support the population.

250,000 GP appointments would mean hundreds of extra appointments every single day and would require dozens of additional doctors as well as a major expansion of local health facilities.

55,000 residents would require around 10,000 extra hospital admissions each year, placing major pressure on nearby hospitals like Macclesfield and Stepping Hill as Adlington New Town wouldn’t have any new hospitals.

A town of this size would require around 8 million litres of drinking water every day — the equivalent of around 300 water tanker lorries daily, forming a convoy almost 3 miles long and carrying enough water to fill more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Almost every litre of water used in our homes becomes wastewater. That means around 3 billion litres every year — the equivalent of 1,200 Olympic swimming pools of sewage — would also need to be treated before being safely discharged. Much of this treated water would eventually flow into rivers such as the River Bollin, placing additional pressure on local wastewater infrastructure and river systems.