LOCAL campaigners say Warrington Borough Council’s decision to perform a u-turn on some of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes at Westy doesn’t go far enough.
While acknowledging “a good day in terms of the council acting on concerns, something which up until that point they had not done, it didn’t go far enough,” says Central 6 opposition spokesperson Rachael Harper, with plans for a town centre protest on October 29, still set to go ahead.
Rachael said: “Myself and the campaign team have been studying the council’s revised changes for Westy extremely carefully over the past 24 hours and while we appreciate the council taking action, we have come to the conclusion that this is ineffective action only. They’ve basically offered us something, based on a handful of concerns, that is going to have little impact on the increase in traffic and journey times which were the biggest concerns.
“The real issue remains access to Grange Avenue. If I didn’t know any better I would say the council are trying to appease residents without actually making any significant changes. While we can all get behind the principles of cleaner, safer and green streets, we fail to see how restricting access as part of this scheme achieves them. The truth is the restricted access to Grange Avenue and its side streets is costing people more time and money in a climate where most people are already struggling with the cost of living.
“If the council really believed in this scheme, they would be out there promoting it to their residents via communication, education, and demonstration via evidence. Also just out of curiosity, how many councillors ride their bikes to work? How many of them help to look after the planters through community garden projects? In fact I can’t find a single one of them wanting to speak about this publicly, either on their social media platforms or otherwise, which doesn’t exactly bode well for their debate not hate campaign. Though nobody is suggesting that things shouldn’t be kept respectful and done in the correct manner.”
Rachael added: “Based on the fact that the changes are not substantial enough to warrant a positive impact combined with the less than adequate consultation carried out prior, we still feel more action from the council is needed. We want all the planters removed because there is no real evidence that they meet the key principles they were implemented for and because it’s having a negative impact on community life.
“In their revised plans the council refer to a survey being done in April 2023, which suggests they need more than the initial 6 months minimum implementation to see if this is working. They seem to have very little evidence to suggest it is and the majority of residents who have to live and work in the area are clearly opposed. We know it’s not working and that’s why we must continue to fight against this chaos of injustice!
“WE WILL still be proceeding as planned with our protest rally on the 29th of October at 1pm in the town centre (on the skittles). We need as many people as possible to show up and help us make some noise to let our council know enough is enough. For three months people have been suffering thanks to this scheme and for three months they have been ignored. When their concerns have finally been acknowledged; they’ve been met with ineffective action. It’s just not good enough and we are prepared to see this through till the very end!”
Council to implement changes to Westy Low Traffic scheme following public feedback
