THE public hearings into Warrington’s Local Plan resume this morning at the Halliwell Jones Stadium Conference Centre, after local resident groups accused the council of “woeful engagement” at last week’s hearing.
Today’s hearing will start with two minutes silence out of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Taking place over a period of four weeks, week two will be followed by the third week in Warrington Council Chamber and the fourth week virtually, giving local residents, campaign groups and developers a chance to comment on the Local Plan.
At Winwick, Warrington Borough Council was accused of “woeful engagement” with a residents group organising their own delivery of 1,500 leaflets to help raise awareness.
Speaking on behalf of nearly 600 Winwick residents who opposed the Local plan, local resident Stuart Mann said:”The inspectors worked through the examination process in sections, with the first 2 days focusing mainly on the consultation process itself and the spatial strategy.
There are, depending on the subject, significant differences of opinion between the council, the different developers involved, and groups of residents such as ourselves.
“Our position, shared by other groups across Warrington, is that the consultation process did not meet the policies set out by the Council.
“We believe that the local plan does not provide the right balance between providing homes and jobs, together with the required infrastructure and services, and protecting our valuable green space and farming land.
“There is also an overreliance on logistics space and jobs, which we believe will seriously impact traffic and air quality across the borough.
“We feel that the inspectors are overall giving opportunities for the attendees to make their statements and ask questions of the council.
“Hopefully they will listen to the voice of the residents, something WBC has not appeared willing to do, especially in the final round of consultation in 2021.”
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “In consultation with the Planning Inspectorate, the examination in public of the Local Plan will continue, with a two-minute silence observed on Monday 12 September before proceedings commence.”
In response to cliaims the council had not consulted properly the spokesperson added: “We are confident that the rounds of consultation we undertook in forming the proposals in Warrington’s Local Plan were accessible and robust, with multiple ways for people to share their views and make representations.
“However, we respect the views of parties who have put forward their opinions on the consultation and how it was delivered, and equally respect that the independent inspectors will come to their own conclusions about the soundness of the consultation as part of the examination hearings.”
Public hearings into Warrington’s Local Plan set to get underway
2 Comments
The muppets in town hall want Warrington turned into a city noing full well locals do not want this to happen they have there own reasons behind this ripping up our local Green belt for more houses is against our wishes
Winwick has been trashed by this council, they could not care less about our village and they won’t be satisfied until they have let as many greedy developers as they can possibly get their hands on concrete over every last blade of grass left in our once beautiful village. Well done to the local group who have been steadfast in their efforts with little, if any help from the Parish Council bar one local councillor.