I went to the local plan consultation event on 18/10/2021 and spoke with a man who I understood was a member of the Planning Team. He did listen very carefully to what I said but unfortunately offered no hope that WBC would be willing to pull Peel Hall from the local plan.
He said that the land had been assessed as being fit for development and since the landowner had offered it for development would stay in the plan. Disappointingly, when I asked what ground assessments had been made by the council to support the ?fit for development? assertion he was rather vague but confirmed that no in depth groundwork had been done by the council. No pile driving tests. I did say that the area was very wet and thought that that that was part of the reason Warrington New Town Development Corporation stopped building where they did.
The plan has been brought forward from last year with the caveat for the Peel Hall site that:
? The existing road network cannot accommodate the level of growth without significant mitigation measures and a time-table for implementation has been agreed by the council and Highways England?.
On the question of liaising with neighbouring authorities about the traffic impact of potential development it was confirmed that the council is duty bound to liaise with neighbouring authorities and Highways England and that liaison had taken place. When I pointed out that the more traffic on the road, the more toxicity there would be in the air and potentially the more children could be diagnosed with Asthma. (Dr Penny Woods, CEO of the British Lung Foundation had commented that: ?It is deeply worrying that 40 UK towns and cities are failing to meet WHO standards for the smallest most harmful pollution particles???? Of the towns and cities which breached the PM2.5 only Salford ranked worse than Warrington in the North West?) It must surely follow that given the proximity of Peel Hall to AQMA more people could die prematurely from breathing related disease?
The response was that we need to start leaving our cars at home and using public transport. We could also use a bicycle. I said that I might be persuaded to use public transport if it was available. efficient and cheap to use. However given the amount of traffic on our roads and the soon to be licensed e-scooters added to the mix I said there was no chance of me using a bicycle to get anywhere.
He did agree there were challenges but said that WBC is willing to undertake (not has undertaken) research into how air pollution might be reduced. The fact that putting additional cars on the road by building 1200 more houses on the Peel Hall site and the several smaller developments planned for Winwick, Croft and Burtonwood not forgetting the Padgate College Campus could only exacerbate the situation. It would be very interesting to see what costed and funded plans might be in place for a public transport system fit for the future green developments incumbent on the council and the citizens of Warrington.
I asked if Peel hall was considered to be a green field site and it was confirmed to be the case. So I asked that since the PM, at his recent Conservative Party Conference, had said that no green fields would be built on would Peel Hall come out of the plan. Sadly not, until the comment is translated into law the machine would grind on with the current plan. I asked what provision had been made for nature and wildlife habitat and was told that the plan on view was only a representation of might be not would be! So I?m guessing that no plans have been made to protect wild-life
I went to the local plan consultation event on 18/10/2021 and spoke with a man who I understood was a member of the Planning Team. He did listen very carefully to what I said but unfortunately offered no hope that WBC would be willing to pull Peel Hall from the local plan.
He said that the land had been assessed as being fit for development and since the landowner had offered it for development would stay in the plan. Disappointingly, when I asked what ground assessments had been made by the council to support the ?fit for development? assertion he was rather vague but confirmed that no in depth groundwork had been done by the council. No pile driving tests. I did say that the area was very wet and thought that that that was part of the reason Warrington New Town Development Corporation stopped building where they did.
The plan has been brought forward from last year with the caveat for the Peel Hall site that:
? The existing road network cannot accommodate the level of growth without significant mitigation measures and a time-table for implementation has been agreed by the council and Highways England?.
On the question of liaising with neighbouring authorities about the traffic impact of potential development it was confirmed that the council is duty bound to liaise with neighbouring authorities and Highways England and that liaison had taken place. When I pointed out that the more traffic on the road, the more toxicity there would be in the air and potentially the more children could be diagnosed with Asthma. (Dr Penny Woods, CEO of the British Lung Foundation had commented that: ?It is deeply worrying that 40 UK towns and cities are failing to meet WHO standards for the smallest most harmful pollution particles???? Of the towns and cities which breached the PM2.5 only Salford ranked worse than Warrington in the North West?) It must surely follow that given the proximity of Peel Hall to AQMA more people could die prematurely from breathing related disease?
The response was that we need to start leaving our cars at home and using public transport. We could also use a bicycle. I said that I might be persuaded to use public transport if it was available. efficient and cheap to use. However given the amount of traffic on our roads and the soon to be licensed e-scooters added to the mix I said there was no chance of me using a bicycle to get anywhere.
He did agree there were challenges but said that WBC is willing to undertake (not has undertaken) research into how air pollution might be reduced. The fact that putting additional cars on the road by building 1200 more houses on the Peel Hall site and the several smaller developments planned for Winwick, Croft and Burtonwood not forgetting the Padgate College Campus could only exacerbate the situation. It would be very interesting to see what costed and funded plans might be in place for a public transport system fit for the future green developments incumbent on the council and the citizens of Warrington.
I asked if Peel hall was considered to be a green field site and it was confirmed to be the case. So I asked that since the PM, at his recent Conservative Party Conference, had said that no green fields would be built on would Peel Hall come out of the plan. Sadly not, until the comment is translated into law the machine would grind on with the current plan. I asked what provision had been made for nature and wildlife habitat and was told that the plan on view was only a representation of might be not would be! So I?m guessing that no plans have been made to protect wild-life