Anger at Lymm Hotel Planning Decision

Lymm Councillors and local residents are extremely disappointed and angry with the decision to award planning permission for a large development on the site of the Lymm Hotel.

At a meeting of Warrington Council's planning committee, permission was granted to remove all the existing buildings on the site to be replaced by a children's nursery, a residential care home and retirement with care apartments.

In a joint statement, Lymm Liberal Democrat Councillors Anna Fradgley and Ian Marks said, "We are absolutely devastated with the decision. We are saddened and very angry that the concerns of over one hundred and eighty residents have been ignored and the decision has been made by people who don't even live in Lymm so cannot have direct experience of our worries. We think Warrington Borough Council has let us down.

We want to apologise to future generations of Lymm for demolishing their history. The Lymm Hotel may not be an architectural gem but it has a distinct charm and character. It has a heritage with links to the old railway and to famous people who have been associated with it.

We are losing a hotel and gaining a nursery but we have seen no evidence of a need for more nursery provision. There are serious issues for neighbours with noise from the proposed nursery and, as it stands, a lack of control over its opening hours. The site will be over-developed and the surrounding area will not be able to cope. There are major highway safety issues on the nearby roads and parking will be a big problem. There has been no change to the public transport provision although when officers turned the previous proposal down, this was a concern. Both doctors' surgeries claim they will not be able to cope with the extra numbers of elderly people.

We are grateful to residents for turning out in force at the meeting to show their opposition and to Alan Williams who led the campaign to save the Hotel. All we can do now, is lobby to tighten up some of the planning conditions that were vaguely suggested at the meeting."