Victory in war against
seven-storey apartments
by David Skentelbery
RESIDENTS ? backed by two parish councils ? have won a battle to block plans for a controversial housing development which would have resulted in seven storey blocks of apartments overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal at Warrington.
The scheme, put forward by canal owners Peel Holdings, involved 275 homes in blocks ranging from two to seven storeys on the site of the former Naylor?s timber planning mill off Chester Road, Lower Walton and adjoining land.
Planning officer had urged councillor to approve the scheme, even though they admitted the scheme would add to the oversupply of housing in Warrington.
They argued that the benefits of the development would help regenerate inner areas of the borough.
These include a pledge from Peel Holdings of more than ?2.2 million towards improvement of open spaces, highways and health care facilities.
Stockton Heath and Walton parish councils lodged strong objections, together with local members of the borough council and more than 20 nearby residents.
The developers had offered ?1.5 million towards the cost of open space enhancement, ?634,000 towards highway improvements, ?53,075 for health care facilities and ?13,000 towards improvements to the Trans Pennine Trail.
Objectors, including the two parish councils, argued that the buildings should not be higher than four storeys and that the development would lead to traffic and parking problems.
In particularly they were opposed to a traffic light controlled junction in Chester Road, at the former Brian Bevan island, which they claimed would cause traffic chaos.
Coun Ted Finnegan (pictured) said traffic would affect the whole Chester Road area and the new traffic light junction would benefit only Taylor Street. Increase traffic would made access from Gainsborough Road more difficult.
He said anything over three storeys high would rob residents of Cranborne Avenue and Landseer Avenue of privacy.
They claimed the sheer size of the buildings would dominate the skyline, having an adverse impact on listed buildings and wildlife.
Stan’s 50-year “temporary
job” comes to an end
by Lesley Wilkinson
WHEN the vicar asked draughtsman Stan Worrall to wind the clock at St James’ Church, Latchford, Warrington on a temporary basis, he was pleased to oblige.
But that was 50 years ago – and now Stan, who has climbed the 40 ft vertical ladder in the church tower an estimated 2,600 times and turned the clock key approximately 145,600 times since then, has decided the temporary job has lasted long enough.
He has retired from the part-time post of clock and tower caretaker after a “career” which, over the years, resulted in him pursued by police, reported to the RSPCA and trading pigeon droppings for flowers!
Stan of Newlands Road, Stockton Heath, was originally recruited when the vicar noticed he was pretty nippy on ladders while building sets for the church’s annual pantomime.
His first trip to the top of the landmark tower in Wilderspool Causeway was in November 1956.
The clock – installed in 1892 – requires 56 turns of a large key to run for a week. It is operated by a 190lb weight on a 50yds long cable, with a pendulum 5ft 6ins long with a 175lb weight on the end.
Stan’s work has landed him in some scrapes. His efforts to keep the tower free from pigeons resulted in a women reporting him to the RSPCA when she saw him throwing birds from the roof. She didn’t realise they were dead!
On another occasion the church was surrounded by police who mistook a sack of pigeon manure he was carrying for a bag of swag.
“I felt a tap on my shoulder and was ordered to empty the bag of pigeon droppings onto the floor as they thought I had stolen lead,” said Stan.
Later one of the officers agreed to take droppings regularly for his garden – and in exchange he gave Stan flowers for the church.
On two other occasions passersby reported intruders on the roof and called police – only to find it was Stan. On one occasion, two bus drivers held him captive until the police arrived!
Father of two Stan has seen five vicars come and go, replaced the church flag four times and, he estimates, shifted almost a ton of pigeon droppings.
He said: “The tower does seem a lot higher than it did when I first started. My wife Barbara has been suggesting I stop for a couple of years now. She says I’ve been lucky because I’ve not suffered from any falls or injuries during those 50 years.”
The clock will be wound in future by Peter Radcliffe – but Stan will still turn out on special occasions when the flag needs hoisting and there is an extra 30ft to climb.
Nurses in bid to send
medical goods to Africa
by David Skentelbery
A LYMM nurse involved in collecting hundreds of items of discarded medical equipment is appealing for funding to ship it out to struggling clinics in Gambia.
The equipment – collected from closed GP practices across Manchester – would otherwise end up on the scrap heap.
Julie Graham, from Lymm and Frances Switala, from Marple are both practice nurses at Wythenshawe.
They decided to collect the old equipment after realising just how many GP practices were moving out of old accommodation and moving into new, state-of-the-art premises.
Julie said: “We have collected enough to fill a 20ft container – but the cost of shipping it to West Africa is ?1,700.
“We are hoping there are some local firms, or individuals, prepared to find the money. There must be 17 firms who could spare ?100 each.”
The equipment includes sterilisers, couches, suction equipment, minor surgery instruments, refrigerators, sheets and blankets.
Julie has already visited Gambia and identified five rural clinics in desperate need for equipment.
She said: “You would not believe the difficulties health workers face over there. We are throwing away equipment in this country that they would treasure.”
Julie will be visiting Gambia again, early in the New Year, to help distribute the equipment, but will be paying her own travel costs.
The shipment is going out under the auspices of the charity ClearWaters for Gambia, which is primarily concerned with providing clean drinking water.
Anyone who wants to help can email [email protected] or write to Julie or Frances, c/o Tregenna Medical Practice, Portway, Wythenshawe M22 0EP.
Festive cheer from
local schoolchildren
by Mark Hemmings
CHILDREN who may miss out on Christmas this year in Brazil will still be filled with festive cheer thanks to pupils at Statham Primary School in Lymm.
The Brazilian Government suddenly stopped allowing shoeboxes to enter the country without a ?7000 tax payment.
Appeal co-ordinator from Cedar Mount High School in Manchester worked to find a solution.
Now, the ?242 from the shoeboxes sent by Statham pupils will be used by Operation Christmas Child to organise a party and buy gifts for the children at Eduardo Gomez School with the help of teachers in Brazil.
The contents of the boxes initially intended for Brazil will now go to orphanages in Belarus meaning that this year Statham Primary will have helped many more children than usual.
French connection
for town’s schools
PUPILS from across the town converged on Warrington?s Pyramid Arts Centre to be entertained, not in English but by a French play entitled ?Qu’est-ce que je vais faire??
The performance by the Warwickshire based Onatti Theatre Company was organised by Priestley College and funded by the cross-town 14-19 pathfinder partnership.
Six secondary schools – Birchwood, Culcheth, Newman, St Gregory’s, William Beamont and Woolston – attended which was a record number for the yearly show and again proved the depth of interest in languages among high school pupils across the borough.
The play itself had a num
ber of valuable messages for the pupils as the narrative was based around a Careers Office and followed two main characters; the Careers Officer himself and a wayward teenager with no idea of which path to go down.
The performance was specifically written to tie in with the vocabulary and topics offered at Key Stage 3 and its comical script ensured the room packed full of year 9 and 10 pupils were kept entertained.
Carol Mtitimila, head of Modern Foreign Languages at Priestley said: “The number of schools who responded to our invitation this year was phenomenal and at one stage I was wondering whether we could get everybody in the theatre, to see what was a superb performance.
“It isn’t every day that seven separate educational institutions from all over the town can come together in these circumstances and the results of this benefit the pupils on a direct level.”
News in brief
Hospital lottery
WINNING numbers in the weekly lottery run by the League of Friends of Warrington were 11, 13, 15 and 16. The ?241 jackpot went unclaimed and will be rolled over to next week.
Driving ban
WARRINGTON Borough Council is to make an order temporarily prohibiting driiving in part of Birchdale Road, Stockton Heath for about five days from Monday, December 11 while maintenance work is carried out on an existing sewer.
Zebra crossing
PLANS have been announced for a new Zebra Crossing in Brock Road, Birchwood, Warrington, following requests from local people. Anyone who wishes to object must write to John Holmes, the the borough council’s legal department by November 30, specifying the grounds of the objection.
Surgery extension
PLANS for a side extension at The Surgery, in Thompson Avenue, Culcheth, with a waiting room at the front, have been approved by Warrington planners.
[ 13.11.2006, 17:44: Message edited by: DS ]
