Local councillors disheartened after being accused of “shabby politics” by Peel Hall campaigners

LOCAL Cllrs. say they feel disheartened after being accused of “shabby politics” by Peel Hall campaigners.

Peel Hall campaigners say they will be treating a recent ‘invitation’ from Labour’s Poplars and Hulme Ward councillors for closer engagement regarding concerns over Peel Hall, with nothing but ‘cautious optimism’ at best.

The invite came on the day the sale of the 65-hectare site went public in a £100m deal to Countryside Properties and Torus Housing. The move has irritated campaigners who say the councillors’ initiative is far too little too late.
Campaigners say that as soon as the January deal was sealed, local Cllr Nathan Sudworth posted on social media claiming that ward councillors knew nothing about the imminent sale and, like residents, he said, they had no knowledge of it. But campaigners say they had been easily tracking the sale for months and were “dumbfounded” over local councillors’ claims that they knew nothing about such a ‘monumental’ stage in their 30+ year fight to save last natural green space in north Warrington.
In his post Cllr Sudworth said: “Like you, your local Poplars & Hulme Ward councillors learned of the news of the sale today. We are making enquiries to further understand the unfolding situation and have already been in touch with council teams this afternoon. We will be looking to speak with the new owners as soon as possible and as a matter of urgency.”
He added: “We are hoping for a more responsive relationship from the new owners vs the difficult unresponsive one we had with Satnam. If you have any questions or concerns you would like us to raise please send us a message or email and we will ensure we take these with us”.

Campaigner Dave Sawyer was quick to comment on the post and said: “My wife Shirley and myself have spent over twenty years fighting to stop Satnam developing this site. We have walked miles, written enough words to write a novel and watched with growing alarm as the local Labour Party continuously looked the other way. For Cllr Sudworth to now come on here (Facebook) and start talking about ‘if we have any problems or questions then we should contact our local councillors’ under the banner heading of Peel Hall Update is an insult to all the good people who took this fight to the developer for all those years. I am appalled but not surprised!”
Fellow fighter Wendy Johnson-Taylor said she was ‘wary’ over the late invite to interact and said: “In all the years I have been campaigning this is a first, our councillors have wasted no time in jumping in now, where were they when we were fighting Satnam? To date, the engagement with our local ward councillors representing Pops & Hulme has been questionable. You would have thought they would have been more hands on with such a major issue, but no. This invitation has come when this horse has well bolted. Our group has campaigned the majority of the Peel Hall fight alone. We are not associated with any political party but it would have been nice to know our local councillors had put their necks on the line and voted to take our Hall out of the local plan when it mattered, but they didn’t did they? There is only one councillor representing an adjoining ward who has really been behind us and he knows who he is. One councillor out of the pack, just ONE who really cared. This is just a shabby political reaction to keep their votes secure for next the election. I hope residents can see through this. This move has incensed our loyal supporters.”
Another campaigner Jim Sullivan said: “Some councillors were sympathetic to the campaign, but I was incredibly disappointed when they toed the party line and supported the draft Local Plan, which included Satnam’s plan for Peel Hall. We don’t just elect ward councillors to do whatever their Party tells them to do, we expect them to represent us and to show some spine”.
Wendy concluded: “We will endeavour to liaise as closely as we can with the developers and we intend to scrutinise technical matters. Residents are assured, we will work hard to get the best for our community. Now that our ward councillors have shown their hand, albeit so late in the day, we would like to take them up on their invitation and look forward to liaising with them. I encourage residents to contact them too. It will be interesting to see if they stick to their word. We will be very cautiously optimistic because they haven’t bothered to contact our group, we are still waiting and there has been no further update on their Facebook promises.”

In response, Cllr Sudlow said: “For more years than I have been alive, councillors in Poplars and Hulme and the MPs for Warrington North have stood against the unsuitable development of Peel Hall.
“Residents will know that the only reason houses will now be built on the site is that Michael Gove, the Conservative Secretary of State, overrode the decision taken by our council and granted the developers permission.
“The Council has over many years refused to grant planning permission. Unfortunately, the decision was taken out of our hands, made instead down in London, against our resident’s wishes here in Warrington.
“I’m elected to represent the residents of Poplars and Hulme and they take priority. Since I was elected in 2021 I’ve spoken to many people about their opinions of Peel Hall.
“Any resident who has reached out and engaged with me on the topic I have been happy and willing to talk to. There have been some really productive conversations.
“The residents issues are not one size fits all, they typically have very different concerns that are not always represented by a single group.
“As always, and like so many have already done, If any resident wants to raise any concerns or have a chat they can get in touch via [email protected]
“We found out about the sale of the land at the same time as local residents did. As a matter of urgency we have arranged a meeting with the new owners. We will be meeting this week for the first of a series or meetings.
“After many years of a difficult and unresponsive relationship with Satnam we are hoping that the new owners will listen to concerns of local councillors and residents and ensure these are properly taken into consideration.
“It’s truly disheartening to suggest our motives are anything but to represent the residents of Poplars and Hulme. We represent one of the most deprived areas of Warrington, doing all we can to ensure the best for our communities. This isn’t about politics for us, it’s about supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our town and trying to improve outcomes for everyone.”