CAMPAIGNERS are gearing up to challenge Warrington Borough Council’s Local Plan in a bid to save green field sites from development.
The public hearings into Warrington’s Local Plan start today, Tuesday, at the Halliwell Jones Stadium Conference Centre.
Taking place over a period of four weeks, the first two at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, followed by the third week in Warrington Council Chamber and the fourth week virtually, it will give local residents, campaign groups and developers a chance to comment on the Local Plan.
The Save Peel Hall and Rethinking South Warrington’s Future campaign groups will both be giving evidence at the hearings as they bid to save green field sites from development.
Save Peel Hall campaigners have been granted two sessions at the inquiry and they say ‘there is still much to fight for’ as they prepare to meet the inspectors.
First up is stalwart Dave Sawyer who takes to the stand on day one. His 2,000-word submission is highly critical of Warrington Borough Council for failing to comply with its Statement of Community Involvement during the preparation of the Local Plan (Revised).
He said: “The Statement of Community Involvement was produced in September 2021 and clearly sets out guidance for community participation and consultation on planning matters”. He added: “However following the conclusion of the Peel Hall Appeal Inquiry in 2021 our council had failed to engage with any of the local communities or residents’ groups in the vicinity of the Peel Hall site during the pre-production and public participation stages of the Local Plan development.”
Peel Hall
The core campaign group has been invited to participate on September 13th in a session wholly devoted to the Peel Hall development. Headed by Jim Sullivan, Dave and Margaret Steen, Jim explained: “Although the Outline Planning Permission for Peel Hall can’t be revoked by the Local Plan, there is still much to fight for.” He added: “The detailed planning permission is yet to be negotiated, and our Rule 6 Party will press firmly for reasonable mitigations to be present in the Local Plan. These will help to inform the detailed planning work which is yet to undertake.”
Meanwhile, the cross-party campaign group Rethinking South Warrington’s future is preparing to participate in the Examination in Public of the Local Plan.
In reviewing some of the statements that have been sent to the Examiner the group were dismayed to find that several of the developers have not limited their statements to the 3000-word limit set by the Examiner.
For example, Homes England and Miller Homes have submitted a 43-page report, including appendices that are grossly non-compliant with the Examiner’s word limit. Mulberry Homes sent a 16-page report and Taylor-Wimpey an 11 page report. Even the Warrington BC statement exceeds the 3000-word limit by approximately 20%.
A green field site in the south
RSWF also accommodated all the Examiner’s requests to double up statements and reduce attendees at sessions, often due to high numbers of others (mainly developers) registered to attend. We agreed to this in the spirit of assisting the Examiner but it appears to have backfired on the people of Warrington”.
As a result of the non-compliant statements described above RSWF has submitted a formal complaint to the Examiner against the due process of this Examination in Public.
The group awaits a response from the Examiner’s Office.
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are confident that there is no issue with the length of the council’s statement. In their guidance notes, the Inspectors recognise they need to be flexible applying the word limit to the council, due to the large number of responses we are expected to provide.
“In regard to the length of submissions from developers – this is between the developers themselves and the examiner, and is not a matter for the council.”
Public hearings into Warrington’s Local Plan set to get underway
