So the usual developer suggests a station could be built in order to get permission for whatever they're planning, then it never actually gets built?
You don't say - see Tavistock for details.
250,000 sounds ambitious, to say the least – that would put it on a par with actual towns like Melton Mowbray, Larkhall, Stone and Alderley Edge – and double what Aylesbury Vale Parkway gets, which is serving a similar kind of purpose but with direct trains to London in about an hour.
When matters such as that stated above is mentioned, I always think of the 750 home propoal by the Kilbride Group which would have been instrumental (if ever built, but was not) in the proposed reopening of Tavistock railway station.
Talking of bus services, how well is the Leighton area currently connected with Crewe?
Although Chester is not that big a town, so while it may be popular for leisure, as an employment destination it'll be limited. If people are working in Crewe they'll get a bus (same as you're Bletchley to MK example). Manchester would be the place to go, but from there I'd be astonished if anybody was bothering with getting an hourly train 1 stop to interchange instead of driving (/lift) to Crewe station directly.
Taking the stop on the railway as an example, admittedly not wonderfully, with an hourly bus: https://bustimes.org/stops/0600CR234?date=2026-08-26&time=06:31
See also Cottam in Preston. Housing built, station still not.
At the moment, it isn't. Largely because it doesn't actually exist yet. There is one small residential area that is within theoretical walking distance of the station site if a new path was to be built (which has an hourly bus running nearby), but apart from that it's surrounded by open fields.
I was a Borough Councillor for 20+ years and sat on the Development Control Committee for seven years.
The bus stop you refer to here is nowhere near the proposed station.