Leading growth and regeneration group, Torus, is looking to give the nine-storey high Kingsway House, in Latchford Warrington a £4.3million makeover.

The plans, submitted to our planning department for approval, include improvements to both the external appearance of the building as well as converting current storage areas into two additional residential apartments, asbestos removal, improved insulation and improvements to the entrance. 

The plans also include increasing the number of parking spaces to 46, by removing the unused garage.

We want walking or cycling to be the first choice for everyday journeys in Warrington, and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) helps us to do this.

We created the plan based on local knowledge and information from the evidence base. In 2017 we held transport summits with interested organisations, and there was a public consultation stage for the Local Plan, so we used feedback from both of these.

In 2019 we put the draft LCWIP out to public consultation alongside LTP4.

The final Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan will set out how we can and will improve the town and make sure we can all walk or cycle as much as possible, reducing our reliance on cars.

Delivery of Warrington LCWIP programme. In 2020/21 schemes in hand include:

• TPT upgrade (Knutsford Road to Wilderspool Causeway)
• Chester Road cycleway (Centre Park Link to Lower Bridge Street)

https://www.warrington.gov.uk/LCWIP

The Warrington Town Deal is a £22m investment programme, where seven pioneering projects will be developed that will bring opportunities to central Warrington and beyond. The objectives of Warrington's Town Deal align very closely with the aims of the Central 6, and as part of the Town Investment Plan - the bid for funding - we used a great deal of feedback from the Central 6 engagement work.

The seven key projects of the Town Deal are:

• A health and social care academy
• A health and wellbeing hub in the town centre
• An advanced construction training centre
• A new bus depot
• A comprehensive active travel programme 
• A digital enterprise hub 
• A remastered cultural hub at the Pyramid

£550k of Home Office funding was received which will help to cut crime in Bewsey and Whitecross.

The money will go towards measures proven to cut crime. These include an individual security assessment for every property and improving measures where required. It will also involve the roll-out of Cheshire police’s successful Operation Shield in the area – a DNA property marking exercise which has reduced burglary by up to 83 per cent in other areas of Cheshire.

There will also be simple changes to the design of streets such as increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV alongside intensive work by Local Officers with the community to develop Neighbourhood Watch schemes for every street.

The Bewsey and Whitecross area was selected by the PCC and Warrington local policing unit for the funding as it best fit the outlined criteria and provided the greatest opportunity to invest and realise benefit for the community.

This project supports Central 6 by:

• Contributing to the vision of creating a safer central 6
• Contributing to the promotion of empowered communities with strong links with partners

Work so far

By the end of February 2021, wardens have visited 3419 houses to offer to fit security devices, with more than 600 having a device fitted. This includes: 

• Door locks
• Window locks
• Gate padlocks
• Gate bolts
• Door chains
• Back door sounders
• Front door cameras
• Bike locks
• Solar lights

The new community hub is a project initially developed through the Delivering Wellbeing in Bewsey and Dallam programme. The hub will provide much-needed community and wellbeing facilities for the area. Located on Longshaw Street, opposite the existing playing fields children's play area, it's perfectly placed to serve both Dallam and Bewsey communities.

LiveWire will be operating the building, in line with the existing management agreement in place for the delivery of services in Warrington. The facility will include the operational management of leisure centres, neighbourhood hubs, libraries and lifestyle and wellbeing services. 

LiveWire will work in partnership with our WBC Neighbourhoods team to work proactively with the community to promote the hub as a local facility for local people.

The site is currently under construction with a proposed handover to Livewire and WBC Neighbourhoods by the end of 2020. Once handed over, the facility will be fitted out, with current plans to open the building early 2021.

Bewsey and Dallam community hub

The Youth Zone in Warrington will become home to Warrington Youth Club (est. 1952), an existing well-respected youth charity, who currently operate their main club from smaller rented facilities on the outskirts of Warrington, four nights a week.

This new facility will give all young people, right across Warrington a place to call their own, a state-of-the-art, 21st century youth facility, a safe and inspiring place to spend their leisure time away from the pressures of home and school.

https://www.onsideyouthzones.org/youth-zones/warrington-youth-zone/

Construction on the new artificial grass pitch at Victoria Park will begin this September 2020. With a synthetic grass surface, floodlights, security fencing, controlled gates, cycle parking and access paths to and from the Asics stadium - this is going to be a top facility for the town.

Catering for rugby league, it will also double up for 11-a-side, 7-a-side and 5-a-side football. Part-funded by the Rugby League World Cup 2021 Legacy Funding and Sport England, this facility will have a particular focus on women, girls and disability sport. It will also further complement the already superb on-site sports provision.

https://www.warrington.gov.uk/victoria-park-3g-pitch

• October 2018: Community launch workshop session
• November - December 2018: Phase one engagement (what are the issues, what are the priorities, what would be your big idea for the neighbourhood?)
• Phase two engagement (feedback loop – this is what you said, is it right, is anything missing, can you help prioritise the ideas and develop them into project proposals)
• Test and Review workshop for all stakeholders (emerging formed project ideas presented and debated with community and agencies, again feeding back and testing what had been said at previous stages)
• Phase three engagement (reminder of the process and how the proposed projects had been developed, testing out community approval for the proposals, aiming to have conversations about buy-in and pledges of support)

In total, events were held at over 30 locations and over 2,500 residents engaged with the process and fed their ideas in to the plan.

• Transport and movement (traffic, rat running, public transport concerns, congestion, air quality, strong desire for increased walking and cycling opportunities in a cleaner, greener, safer environment).
• Quality of environment – a baseline requirement which all other improvements need to prioritise.  Living areas that are cleaner, greener and feel safe for people to go out in and use.
• Community connectedness – desire for more community mixers and ways to foster community spirit within communities.
• Opportunities for young people – to both access opportunities, participate in positive activities and contribute to the area in ways that matter to them.

• Inclusive, safer, greener streets
• Active waterside
• Well connected, affordable movement
• People-friendly parks and public spaces
• Local community hubs and facilities
• Community empowerment and action
• Inclusive neighbourhoods and housing
• Inclusive economy