The Local Plan lacks a clear vision for the future of Warrington and, if it is adopted in its current form, will ensure that Warrington will continue to be a 'car-centric' town. This will severely limit the full economic potential that Warrington undoubtedly has and will condemn it to a future that repeats the unintended mistakes of past local planning policy. The plan cannot be considered sustainable in this regard. This Group has prepared a draft tramway plan, which using renewable power will be zero carbon, and could be self funded. Propose that this tramway plan becomes the core of the new Local Plan. Warrington's aspirations of becoming a city can only be realised by changing the priorities of the plan and putting transport considerations first. The current plan is outdated and is linked to old New Town policies of the 1960s. There is little evidence in PSV2 and LTP4 that biodiversity and climate change have been at the forefront of Warrington Borough Council's thinking and forward planning. Trams for Warrington asserts that up to date methodology has not been the basis for PSV2 and it is, therefore, not fit for purpose in today's climate changing world.

The South East Warrington Urban Extension (SEWUE) follows the old model of putting housing in areas where the transport infrastructure is already inadequate, at capacity and will not be able to absorb increased numbers of cars and HGVs. Public transport is almost non-existent and services are being cut. Warrington's Own Buses are investing in a new electric fleet but there is little confidence that bus services will increase significantly and be cheap enough to enable a high take up by the public in this area thereby making it sustainable. There are multiple proposals for the local road network in Stretton. It has yet to be proved that the upgrade of the A49 roundabout at Longwood Road would bring any significant improvement, nor would the upgrade of the traffic lights at Lyons Lane. The Cat and Lion relief strategic road link connecting near the Spire Hospital on the A49 would increase congestion and backing up to the slip roads on M56 J10.. Instead, any distributor road should connect directly to M56,at J10 thus reducing any impact on the local network. The 'stopping up' of the B535 at the Cat and Lion junction with Stretton Road will severely impact on local residents and will increase local journey times, distances and air pollution. This would appear to be in contravention to NPPF guidelines. There are further concerns regarding Stockton Lane and Knutsford Road. Congestion in Stockton Heath is a further issue.

Infrastructure concerns also re Thelwall Heys development which will decant traffic directly on to Cliff Lane . This particular proposed development will only have one entry in and out. It will create a bottleneck from Cliff Lane and add further pressure to the A50, Knutsford Road.

Welcome the development of brownfield sites such as Fiddlers Ferry (and the Town centre) as a means of reducing need for Green Belt land, but proposals are not visionay enough. Fiddlers Ferry already has two rail links which can be developed further into a more cohesive rail strategy, linking Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and further afield via HS2. It is capable of providing housing and employment which will be sustainable with good transport links and offers the possibility of new rail stations opening up. Fiddler's Ferry could open up an area for development which would enable a greater concentration of housing to the west and northwest, between Fiddlers Ferry and the Liverpool-Warrington-Manchester railway where it intersects with Farnworth Road. A new station would give easy access to Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester. This would be a driver for economic growth.

In the previous draft local plan, the South West Urban Extension was said to be the' trigger' for the Western Link and the road would not be built until building of the 1,600 houses in Walton had been substantially progressed. Now that this has been removed from the plan , the business case is more severely compromised despite partial government funding. Major concerns have been expressed that such a highly complex and technical scheme for a single carriageway road, at a budget of ?212m is unrealistic and will mean that the scheme will be undeliverable. In addition, the plan does not go far enough to address issues relating to air quality.

The proposed Green Belt release is not justified as the housing target is too high.

The proposed Green Belt release is not justified as the housing target is too high.

This Group challenges the requirement of UPSVLP that 816 houses are built every year and suggests that a more realistic and deliverable target is set at a lower build rate of 600 per year. Over the past ten years the average build rate in Warrington has been 567 and the Borough Council's own Housing Strategy '2018-2028' (written in 2018) called for 586 per year. 816 as a target has been imposed by government and is not achievable. The Council should challenge the government on these requirements.

Concerns about the level of traffic generated from the proposed employment development.

Support for redevelopment of brownfield sites such as those in the Town Centre as a way of reducing the release of Green Belt land for development. However, the aspirations of the Town Centre Master Plan as they currently stand are not ambitious enough to encourage even more mixed housing in the town centre and lower car dependency. By increasing the scope/vision of this First and Last Mile Master Plan Warrington would become a vibrant, cultural town which could then claim 'city' status with confidence. This would provide a greater mix of employment opportunities, enabling the town centre to regenerate and be sustainable.