Warrington Lib Dem News
Two hurdles left to save Green Belt site
There are two more hurdles to clear before residents can be certain about the future of Green Belt land near Junction 20 of the M6 - a Council vote on the Local Plan, and the Six56 Public Inquiry.
Last December planning inspectors told Warrington to remove a large area of Green Belt land from its designation as a site for employment. The South East Warrington Employment Area was not needed and should be deleted if the Local Plan was to be ‘sound’, to use the planning jargon. The Council was not happy about this but went along with it.
Several months later, the Inspectors announced they were going to re-open the Local Plan Inquiry for one day in July to reconsider this recommendation. We are delighted that the inspectors have not changed their recommendation after hearing more evidence. However, we are not home and dry yet because there are two remaining hurdles to overcome.
Firstly, the Labour Council must honour its commitment to delete this land from the allocation for employment by accepting the inspectors’ findings. All it has said is that it will announce its proposed timescale for adopting the Local Plan sometime in the autumn.
The second hurdle is potentially more worrying. The Public Inquiry to consider the Six56 planning application by Langtree has been adjourned until October because of a technical objection by English Nature over an issue to do with Manchester Mosses.
Langtree is desperate to build a vast logistics site on this land and is pulling out all the stops to make this happen. Surely it is highly unlikely that permission will be granted based on a recommendation by a Planning Inquiry Inspector which would be in direct contradiction to the recommendation of the two Local Plan Inspectors. This would make a mockery of the planning system.
Grappenhall Councillor Mark Browne added: Liberal Democrats have played an active role in opposing these excessive developments right from the start. We have also taken an active part as members of the cross-party South Warrington Parish Councils’ Planning Group.
This Group should be congratulated for the fight put up by its planning consultant and its barrister on behalf of residents. The Labour Council was silent, but this Group supported by committed residents fought the battle to preserve the Green Belt against an army of lawyers and consultants.
If less employment land is needed, surely there should be a reduction in excessive housing allocations too? I am sure the Group will not rest until the outcome is known. If we are lucky Langtree will now withdraw their planning application, but I wouldn’t count on it because they have a lot at stake.
