Planners think again
on tip expansion
by David Skentelbery
MAJOR opposition from the Culcheth area has made Warrington planners stop and think before considering controversial proposals to extend a landfill site onto top quality farm land.
Members of the borough council’s development control committee decided to go and visit the Risley Landfill site, off Silver Lane, Risley, before reaching a decision.
The plan will now be considered at a meeting on October 17 – although officers are recommending the scheme for approval..
Culcheth and Glazebury Parish Council, local residents, the Ramblers Association, CPRE, Birchwood Town Council and the parish councils at Croft and Rixton-with-Glazebrook all objected to the scheme put forward by Biffa Waste Services.
Borough planners threw out an earlier scheme in April – and the objectors claim the new one is virtually identical.
The existing, approved landfill site covers some 20.5 hectares and the plan involves extending the tip onto adjoining farm land, much of which is classed as the best grade.
Currently, landfilling operations are due to end in October next year. But increasing the size of the tip would extend its life to 2010, with another year for restoration.
Municipal, commercial and industrial waste would be tipped on the site. It would be restored to woodland, scrub, rough grassland and wildflower areas. A footpath and Silver Lane Brook would be realigned.
Ironically, parts of the site no longer used for tipping, provide a habitat for the brown hare, whose numbers are in decline, and have been designated as a sanctuary for the animal.
Residents – and nearby farmers – have lived uneasily with the Silver Lane tip for years.
There have been complaints of smells, noise and litter, including plastic bags, being blown across adjoining farm land from the tip. Silver Lane runs parallel to the M62 and an easterly extension of the tipping area would take it in the direction of Glazebrook.
Changing the way social
workers are trained
by Lesley Wilkinson
AN innovative project in Warrington will change the way social workers are trained, by allowing service users and carers to have their say.
The pilot project at the University of Chester’s Warrington campus will mark a major change in the way social workers are educated at post qualification level.
The change is the result of a successful joint bid to Skills for Care from the Forum of Carers’ and Users’ of Services (FOCUS) and the university, with the support of Cheshire County Council and Warrington Borough Council.
University head of social work Professor Aidan Worsley said the service users and carers will take on a more active role in social work education.
He said: “We will be equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to assess the academic structure of the programmes, and contribute to the development of social work education.”
This would allow service users and carers to be involved in the curriculum, teaching sessions and assessment of social workers.
Once the evaluation process has been completed, the service users and carers will compile a report that will be circulated to employers within the profession and higher educational institutions in the North West.
John Weeks, director of Cheshire County Council’s community services, said: “I welcome this project. Those who use services have a great deal to teach us about what is helpful to them, and a generation of social workers accustomed from the very beginning to listening closely to users and carers must be one of the best guarantees that services will be developed responsively to peoples’ needs.”
Festival biggest
in Cheshire
by Gary Skentelbery
THE highly popular and successful Lymm Festival is now reputed to be the largest community event of its kind in Cheshire.
Festival organiser Honor Giles told members of Lymm parish Council, who back the event with a grant, that all the events at this year?s event had been well attended and many had been a sell out.
She said new events are included each year and many are then retained as regular events in the annual programme.
Honor said Lymm Festival was very grateful for the grant received from the Parish Council.
The members of the Festival Committee are all volunteers with the exception of Honor who receives payment for her role as Festival Organiser.
Honor said more people were volunteering to help each year and more venues were becoming available.
Coun Ian Marks said that Lymm Festival was now reputed to be “the biggest community event in Cheshire” and thanked Honor for the excellent job she has done organising the Festival.
Appeal goes out
for “poppy people”
by Lesley Wilkinson
WARRINGTON people are being urged to support this year’s poppy appeal by Mayor, Coun Celia Jordan.
The appeal for ?Poppy People? is organised by the Royal British Legion. It offers support to those in need who have served and are currently serving in the armed forces, and their families.
Last year the appeal raised almost ?26 million – an all time record and organisers hope to beat that this year.
Coun Jordan said: “The British Legion is developing a welfare programme so that it can reach more people that are entitled to help and support.
“It’s the generosity of the public that helps keep this charity going. It doesn’t take much effort or cost a lot to support this and yet you can make such a difference.”
More information about the appeal is available on www.britishlegion.org.uk
Duck race back
on the agenda
by staff reporter
LYMM Parish Council has agreed to fund any road closures required for the annual Lymm Roundtable duck race event.
This year’s event had to be cancelled at the last minute as the charity group were unable to cover the cost of the road closure.
But now the council has stepped in to cover the cost the event scheduled for next Easter will now be able to take place.
The event involves businesses and individuals sponsoring plastic ducks which are thrown into the top dam and then “race” down to the lower dam in the village centre.
Charity wins top award
for “runaways” project
by Lesley Wilkinson
AN INNOVATIVE project to help young runaways, set up in Warrington, has won an award for its work.
“Talk..Don’t Walk,” delivered by local charity The Relationships Centre, was a winner at the Third Sector Excellence Awards celebrating the achievements of charities and voluntary organisations.
It won one of the main categories – “Small Charity Big Achiever.”
Warrington South MP and chairman of the All Parliamentary Group for Young Runaways, Helen Southworth, said: “This award is illustrative of the impact which the centre has had, not just locally in Warrington and Cheshire, but across the country, and is testament to the hard work of its staff and supporters in the local community.”
Talk..Don’t Walk, launched in April 2004, has had success in reducing the number of runaways in the Warrington area. In the past three years, runaways have reduced by 76 per cent, providing local authorities with cost-savings in excess of ?3.1 million.
The awards were presented by Phil Hope, Minister of the Third Sector, at the ceremony in London.
Army roadshow will
explain the soldier’s role
by Lesley Wilkinson
THE diverse roles of the Army – from providing relief after natural disasters to fighting terrorists – will be the theme of a roadshow being held in Warrington.
A dynamic multi-media show will be staged by the Army Presentation Team on Tuesday October 9 from 6.30pm at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Admission is by invitation only.
It will show how the Army saves lives throughout the world and protects UK citizens at ho
me and abroad.
The show allows front-line men and women to talk directly to the public with ordinary soldiers telling their stories. Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, opens the show with a video message to the audience.
Each year the team travels around the country with a mission to explain how taxpayers’ money is spent and what the public can expect from its investment.
Following the presentation there will be a lively question and answer session in which the team tackles often challenging questions posed by the invited audience.
Teenage girl terrified
by sex attacker
by John Hendon
POLICE are seeking help in tracking down a sex attacker who terrified a teenage girl at Warrington.
The 15-year-old girl was walking along Alder Lane, near Winwick Road at about 4.10pm on Wednesday, September 26 when she was approached by a man aged 19-21.
He spoke to her, but when she refused to go with him, indecently assaulted her. She screamed and he walked off.
Police say the man was about 5ft 7 inches tall, slim and clean shaven. He had short blonde or brown hair and was clean shaven.
He was wearing a red, hooded jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.
Anyone who saw the incident or noticed someone answering the description in the area is asked to call PC Jane Drum on 0845 458 6379.
Kitchen blaze
by staff reporter
FIRE crews from Warrington and Birchwood were called to a house in Wellington Street, Howley, Warrington after a fire was discovered in the kitchen.
They discovered a blaze involving a washing machine.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze with a hose reel and a ventilation unit was used to clear smoke from the property.
No-one was hurt.
[ 01.10.2007, 12:11: Message edited by: DS ]
