Seven parish councils unite to fight Green Belt housing

ALL the parish councils in the South of Warrington have agreed to unite to fight the borough council’s proposals to allow the building of about 6,000 new homes on Green Belt land.
A working party representing the seven councils – Appleton, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Hatton, Lymm, Stockton Heath, Stretton and Walton – has already met twice this year.
Chairman Cllr Cliff Taylor, of Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council, said: “We have agreed to unite on this issue and to prepare for battle.”
It was in July last year that the borough council issued its “Preferred Development Option” – a precursor to the Local Plan.
It proposed taking a large part of South Warrington out of the Green Belt and to allow the building of about 6,000 homes over a 20-year period.
The public consultation which followed revealed deep seated anger among residents.
All seven parish councils opposed the proposals and there were more than 4,000 responses from members of the public and local organisations.
Cllr Taylor said: “There was enormous public anger at the proposals themselves and also at the unsatisfactory way in which the consultation was handled, with a deadline that was too tight and with queues forming to view the proposals. The borough council now intends to issue an amended plan, which is expected in the autumn or winter.
“When the revised plan is issued for consultation, we will have a fully-briefed professional planning consultant already in place and ready to argue our case.
“The existing Green Belt was only put in place by the borough council itself in 2015 and the united parish councils have already prepared a brief for the consultant with the objective of defending the Green Belt as it stands today.
“The consultation made it very clear that our Green Belt is highly valued by the people of South Warrington. We all know that if it goes, it will be gone for ever. That is simply unacceptable.
“If the borough council decides to push ahead with its original proposals in spite of the feelings of residents, we are determined to be in a position to defend the Green Belt to the very best of our ability”.

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