A former Cllr says he doesn’t understand why local Cllrs didn’t oppose controversial plans to start developing the Peel Hall site with 1,200 new homes.
Planners have approved Phase One of the development by Countryside Developments.
Former Poulton North councillor Geoff Settle said: “Thursday night was an ideal opportunity for local councillors from Poplars & Hulme and Poulton North to support their residents’ fight against Peel Hall development but they chose not to. One councillor chaired the meeting whilst another sat on the committee. Both could have stood down and spoken against the application.
“During the last 30 years, councillors and Warrington North MP’s have always stated their opposition to the development, I don’t understand what has changed and why they have withdrawn their opposition when there were so many items that needed resolving.
“As a local resident and former governor at Brook Acre Primary School, I understand well the pressures of pupil numbers on the education system. In addition, the local doctors’ surgeries have little if any spare capacity and appointments are already at a premium. Listening to questions raised by the planning committee information about the distance of these facilities from the new site was not made available to the members either in their briefing pack or on the night. As one councillor pointed out the development is car-centric and roads around our primary schools are already under police scrutiny for parent parking.
“As for the properties next to the M62 that will have windows that do not open. A fan is to be installed to suck in fresh air that will circulate the homes. What fresh air? The only air will be toxic, microscopic pollution from the motorway that will surround the homes and go deep into resident’s lungs. I gave this in my evidence against this application and the application for 27 homes on Mill Lane which is opposite to the Peel Hall fields. It would seem that need for housing outweighs the health and well-being of the occupants, especially the young whose lungs will be very susceptible to the microscopic pollutants. The properties are now under construction at the end of Mill Lane alongside the fields of Peel Hall.”
The Mill Lane site
Members of the borough’s planning committee voted to approve the application.
The detailed application from Countryside Partnerships is for the layout, scale and appearance of 405 houses, playing fields and public open space on land bounded by the M62, Mill Lane, Poplars Avenue and Elm Road.
It follows the granting of outline planning permission by the Secretary of State in November 2021. For a mixed-use neighbourhood with up to 1,200 homes, a care home, pub/restaurant, primary school, food store, hot food takeaway, etc.
The scheme will also require the demolition of five existing houses in Poplars Avenue. Ten objections were received.
2 Comments
Thank you Gary – local residents have been fighting this development for over 30 years. There are so many matters that are left unresolved, serious health and safety issues raised at the inquiry where i was accused of being a militant by the councils advocate, more recently issued raised by the police about the acoustic barriers that they see as attracting vandalism the barriers are unproven for their ability to stop sound…….
WBC aren’t bothered about people’s health all they are concerned about is recovering council tax to pay off the 2 billion pounds debt they’ve created.