WORRIED residents are opposing an application to amend existing warehousing proposals at Warrington’s Omega South development site to cater for a firm supplying home-cooked meals in boxes.
The company would employ 1,700 full and part-time staff working in shifts around the clock at the food distribution plant.
Objectors fear increased congestion at Junction 8 on the M62 and that Kingswood Road and Burtonwood Road would be unable to cope with the increased traffic.
They also believe there would be increased light, noise and air pollution.
Warehousing development was carried out some time ago when the end-user of the buildings was not known.
But a purely storage use was envisaged.
Now a rapidly expanding firm supplying fresh, home-cooked meals wants to move in – requiring a number of amendments to the approved plans including increasing the number of parking spaces from 289 to 428.
A report to Warrington Borough Council’s development management committee states the company has two existing manufacturing facilities elsewhere in the country, producing 120,000 food boxes each a week. The Omega facility would be capable of scaling up to 240,000 boxes a week and would be their main distribution centre.
Officers are recommending the application be approved. They say the additional parking provision is acceptable given the more technically advanced and labour-intensive use of the site now proposed as part of a £40 million investment.
They say the proposals would not prejudice the quality of the originally approved development.
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