UPSVLP 1308
The Council have not demonstrated that they have maximised the use of brownfield sites in order to justify the release of land from the Green Belt.
To bring down home values to what is ?affordable? homes would need to be under about ?120,000. Few if any of the planned homes meet this criteria and all the homes proposed outside of the centre will be way above that figure, pushing affordability in the wrong direction.
The NPPF, stresses that development shouldn?t marginalize the original town centre. A new suburb in the south will be yet another lure away from the town proper. Warrington should be concentrating on the city centre and high value business development. It should be creating spaces for the qualified young to buy their first flat and spend their time in town. The routes into the centre from the south are congested; the swing bridges are a pinch point and when in use by shipping a barrier. Plans for better access must precede massive house building. Warrington already has infrastructure that it is having trouble staffing adequately and maintaining. Health centres aren?t short of doctor?s rooms, they?re short of doctors. There are plenty of green spaces and green corridors but a declining number of people to maintain them. The plan does not demonstrate how the additional infrastructure/services will be staffed. The proximity of the motorways to the SEWUE is a concern for those with children or respiratory problems.
In the case of the south Warrington?s development proposed for the M6/M56 junction, the land is owned or under option by a large partnership between external businesses and the Council. This represents a conflict of interests. It also separates homes and jobs, forcing longer commuting. The development of automation might significantly affect the local economic situation, leading to job losses without releasing land back for alternative employment.
EDNA
The refresh to the Economic Development Needs Assessment is more of a sales document than a serious assessment of needs. It views Warrington?s neighbours as competition and the use of land for business in the other towns as lost opportunities, not as an overall benefit to the region. The Duty To Co-operate has been turned into demand to build as much as possible.
Undertake a more realistic Economic Needs Assessment from a truly independent organisation without business connections to WBC or interested parties. It needs to quantify the benefits and disadvantages of hyper warehouse style developments and other land hungry schemes.
Logistics is finite and much of the current activity is merely centralising activity in super sized sheds outside towns like Warrington while leaving smaller warehouses, distribution hubs and town centres dead with little drive to regenerate. The council is determined to build on Green Belt land, regardless of brownfield sites being available. There is no demonstrable need for large logistics units. In relation to inflation the income from office rental has declined, demonstrating Warrington is not appealing to a mix of businesses and it is increasingly putting its economic eggs in B2/B8 warehousing. The town is trying to compete for business from more sustainable locations that are building on brownfield sites and/or with rail freight connections. The only reason Warrington needs more B2/B8 Warehousing is to repay existing loans. There are unnecessary and excessive levels of parking provision with B2/B8 development. The levels of job growth are unsustainable since there is a finite amount of land that is conveniently located and have neglected to take account of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Warrington actively targets unoccupied domestic properties, it must do the same for business developments. WBC needs to review if business areas are no longer suitable or attractive and those businesses that are reluctant to release properties or parts of properties that they no longer use and consider redeveloping what are now brownfield sites, forcing businesses to vacate or move to other locations if necessary.