My representation is that the description of development in Warrington is incomplete because there is little mention of development in World War 2 which has directly or indirectly provided housing and employment for Warrington. Thisincludes Burtonwood Air Base, ROF Risley, HMS Ariel, HMS Gosling, Padgate Camp and RNAS Stretton / HMS Blackcap. So much land has gone for development, both housing and employment, over the years, that further expansion should not be large scale. There have also been both large and small windfall sites which continue to come forward. The large hospital sites at Winwick and Newchurch are now well established housing developments.

The consideration of the Heritage Impact of development is welcome, as is the opportunity to add to the Local List, although I believe it should be ongoing then consolidated into a Local Plan rather than waiting until after the Plan is in place. As well as having a category for development in World War 2 there should also be one for rail, given that the World?s first commercial railway, the Chat Moss Line, and the World?s first railway junction with associated bridges and buildings, are in North Warrington.

Warrington has an attractive countryside making it a good place to live but this will be lost if green belt development occupies gaps between settlements and makes the countryside inaccessible. The valuable agricultural land should not be used. Most is Grade 3 or higher. There is a problem with drainage, particularly where there is clay soil, culverted watercourses and where ponds and watercourses were filled in to enable development.

There should be an assessment of the value of the Equine Economy to Warrington.

The New Town development was mainly car based and the new motorways were part of it: unfortunately this is seen as ?Warrington is well served by motorways? to justify development without considering the reality, in terms of congestion, accidents, and the unreliability of journeys Motorways are not elastic, and developments not independent of each other. E.g. the M56 has the 6/56 proposals, and traffic from the HS2 proposals as well as the existing traffic. HS2 through Warrington is known as the Golborne Link or Spur. It is of no benefit to Warrington apart from a slightly shorter journey time to London. It will cause damage to the countryside and affect local roads not only during construction but by the permanent changes that will be made. Local roads are rat runs from the motorways. The post HS2 service patterns, and direct travel to Scotland from Warrington Bank Quay, cause concern. New roads and river and canal crossings built to ?solve? existing transport problems should not be used to justify further development.