RESIDENTS in Grappenhall say they should be better consulted on the massive plans to build more houses on land in the village.
The local plan consultation runs until September 12 and is Warrington Borough Council’s preferred development option for the borough over the next two decades.
Despite the application showing plans to develop on large sections of land in Grappenhall, there has been no consultation meeting in the village – the nearest alternative being in Lymm or the town centre.
Peter Mills, from Grappenhall, said: “The council has organised several public consultancy meetings although shamefully not in Grappenhall itself.
“The plan is wrong on so many levels especially with regard to the road networks, motorway access and ultimately the destruction of green belt land.”
Under the proposals a ‘garden city suburb’ would be created around Grappenhall and Appleton with more than 8,000 homes in south east Warrington, three quarters of which would be on land currently kept for the green belt.
This could see new houses built on various pieces of land, such as the fields opposite the Bridgewater Canal on Stockton Lane, land surrounding Grappenhall Cricket Club and the former Grappenhall Hall School site which has been left vacant.
There would also be changes to the infrastructure in the area with plans in place to reopen Stockton Lane to act as a bus route to serve the extra traffic that would be in place on the roads.
The wider local plan would see around 24,000 homes built by 2037, more than 9,000 of which would be on green belt land.
Mr Mills added: “This means that south east Warrington will become one big housing estate. I strongly urge you to voice your objections as WBC has a deadline of September 12 to do so.”
A council spokesman said: “It is important to emphasise that no decisions have yet been made and we would urge residents and councillors to continue to feed in their views.
“All views will be taken into consideration before any decisions are made.
“We would also encourage residents with specific concerns and questions about development in South Warrington, to attend an extra, public drop-in event we have set up, which takes place at Park Royal Hotel in Stretton, on Monday, September 4, from 3pm until 8pm.”
Article originally appeared on Warrington Guardian
