Leighton, Minshull Vernon and and Woolstanwood Parish Council has expressed its opposition to the proposed carbon dioxide pipeline, which will take a 120 mile route from works in Derbyshire, through Cheshire and the Wirral to the Irish Sea.
(Council resolution and the response from Cheshire East below)
Cllr. Silvester, who attended the Cheshire East Briefing on the CO2 Pipeline along with Cllr.Arthur, said,
“So far, all of the Councils on the route have objected, except Cheshire East, which is worrying. At the last Parish Council meeting there was widespread objection to the proposals, given the cost (£5 BILLION), safety concerns, the adverse effect of so much land being protected from development and the disruption over many years whilst the pipeline is built.”
Cllr. Neville Layhe said,
“The pipeline is being laid across Cheshire salt mine areas. Salt laden earth has a bad effect on the strength of concrete.
Steel reinforcement rusts, accelerated by wet salt leaching into porous concrete, producing hidden expansion forces and potential local cracking, leaks or worse.”
https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/25922097.wirral-council-unanimously-reject-5bn-pipeline-plans/
What the Parish Council decided.
26/012 PEAK CLUSTER PIPELINE
Cllrs Arthur and Silvester had attended a recent meeting which provided details
about the proposal to build a pipeline for the transportation of carbon dioxide from
cement works in Derbyshire to a storage facility beneath the Irish Sea. The final
route had not yet been decided, but one of the two options would travel through the
northern end of the parish.
There was widespread objection to the proposals, given the cost, safety concerns,
and the adverse effect of so much land being protected from development.
The Council agreed to express its objections to this proposal to HM Government,
Peak Cluster and Cheshire East Council.
Response from Cheshire East.
With regard to your opening comment that the Council has not formally reviewed the subject of Peak Cluster, we would refer you to the Corporate Policy Committee of 30th April 2026. The discussion on the report ‘ Peak Cluster- Update’ can also be listened to via the webcast. Link to the report – https://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/documents/s132595/Peak%20Cluster%20-%20Update.pdf
The Council is not the decision maker so can’t respond to the requests you have made regarding the project, but the Council will be making a further response as part of the next round of consultation.
To be clear, the Council cannot make representations on behalf of the Town & Parish Councils, and you should submit your objections directly to Peak Cluster.
The report to Corporate Policy Committee recommended to :
’Authorise Officers to seek the feedback of members and Town & Parish Councils, and to carry out further investigatory assessment and analysis on the:
- Proposed route
- Negative impacts on Cheshire East including Environmental impact.
- Location and impact of Above Ground Installations (AGIs)
- Benefits during construction and operational phases
- Health & Safety concerns
Therefore, your email is timely and will be logged and considered in the above analysis that will be carried out to prepare a Cabinet Report for the next round of public consultation due Autumn/Winter this year. We are also engaging with CHALC and we note your Parish Council attended the meeting held by CHALC on this subject on the 30th April 2026 which our officers presented at.
Finally, just for clarification and reference, are there any local impacts of the Peak Cluster route to the Parish Council. If there are, it would be helpful if you could make us aware of any so we could review for consideration in any future technical response by the Council.