Disappointing that the consultation events were only held in the one venue at the Halliwell Jones Stadium (and covered just over a week of the 6 week period) with no events in South Warrington which is the area of Warrington which will be the most effected by the plan. This does however reflect the lack of facilities in South Warrington. These limits to the consultation mean that the consultation was inadequate.

The EDNA Final Report - August 2021, identifies that many companies will continue with some staff homeworking and also that there has already been some applications for change of use from offices to housing., however this has not been reflected in the requirement for land to meet the housing need or the employment need. The EDNA in paragraph 9.4 states ?The forecasts of industry sector activity (jobs), suggest much more modest land needs.? But totally dismisses this forecast in favour of using past growth. This is clearly not sustainable, as required by the NPPF, as it would eventually result in no green belt left in Warrington.

WBC declared a climate emergency in June 2019, however they have still not written a climate emergency action plan, and the action plan should have been used to inform the DLP, an important omission. The plan does nothing to improve travelling from the south east of Warrington either to the town centre or to the north side of Warrington, in fact it does just the opposite by proposing so much more housing and employment areas but no new road crossing the canals and river. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that ?once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans?. As I believe that the growth is exaggerated then clearly exceptional circumstances do not exist. Most of this greenbelt land is currently used for agriculture and is classified as grades 2 or 3 agricultural land, being the best and most versatile and should be protected in line with the requirements of the NPPF.

Policy Dev 4 of the DLP point 15. states ?When the genuine needs of local rural businesses cannot be accommodated within settlement boundaries, and development would be located within the Green Belt, proposals will need to demonstrate that ?Very Special Circumstances? exist to warrant the granting of planning permission.? This contradicts the NPPF paragraphs 149 and 150 where exceptions are defined