ANGRY residents have issued a formal complaint to Warrington Borough Council over the handling of the controversial Trident Business Park planning application at Risley.
The planning application 2021/40696 for the redevelopment of Trident Business Park was approved at the Development Management Meeting on 22nd June 2023.
The Risley Residents Community Group now say they have thoroughly explored their position regarding this application and taken the relevant advice onboard.
A spokesperson said: “It appears that post determination, we cannot challenge the decision. After getting the webcast of the DMC meeting transcribed and upon additional advice, the view is we have more than sufficient evidence to challenge both the technical completeness of the application, the assessment of the application by the WBC Planning Officers and the accuracy of the information provided to the committee members by the planning officer at the DMC meeting.
“We submitted a formal complaint to Warrington Borough Council and provided the supporting documents referenced in the complaint. This complaint was also sent to Charlotte Nicols MP for Warrington North, who had previously expressed her support to the residents during our meeting with her in April, and her support of the residents was also communicated at her request to the Development Management Committee via Cllr Ellis who spoke on behalf of the residents against the development at the DMC meeting.
“After the complaint had been submitted the residents had a further zoom call with Charlotte Nichols MP who stated that although she had little if any jurisdiction over planning decisions, she would ensure that we received a thorough response to all aspects of our complaint.
“WBC has a documented complaints process including service level agreements and we are currently at Stage 1 of our complaint. The service level agreements for complaints as documented in WBC complaints process states an acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint within 5 working days and the outcome of the review within 10 working days of receiving it. The complaint was sent to WBC by Royal Mail Special Delivery and the tracking information confirms delivery on 19th July 2023, so we are now on the 8th working day and are yet to receive an acknowledgment which is not unexpected but nevertheless disappointing.”
Residents, who employed their own planning consultants to help contest the application, were left stunned when the application was approved. The decision also caused a political fall out between local Tory and Labour cllrs.
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “We acknowledge receipt of the complaint and will issue a response within the appropriate timeframe.”
Residents left stunned after planners approve large Trident HGV distribution depot
