I would like to object to Warrington?s Local Plan

I am deeply concerned that this plan.

I understand ?Special circumstances? have been given as the reason to build on the greenbelt, however, it has not been made clear what these are and why South Warrington has to carry the vast majority of this burden?

I believe the air quality in Warrington has been graded as poor which I can only assume is due to being surrounded by 3 major motorways and the volume of vehicles in the area. Surely fixing this must be of paramount importance to the council given the effect this will have on the health of all Warrington Residents. Surely removing green belt to add more people/congestion will only make matters worse. Should we not be planting trees in the Green Belt to help with this situation.

South Warrington has both the M56 and the M6 and where they meet at Junc 20 always has heavy to standing traffic (I drive past this every day while going and returning from work). This must have a major impact on the air quality especially when vehicles as queuing in South Warrington just to get on. I understand that the highways agency have concerns about the proposed developments which is unsurprising given problems at already exist at the junction. No Amount of road improvements will help if the cars don?t have anywhere to go.
The local plan seems to have made little consideration off the current road infrastructure and how this will cope given the amount of new houses you are proposing to build.

I read a small article in the Warrington Guardian a while ago regarding the proposed closure of the Sandy Lane Recycling Centre. Cllr Russ Bowden sited congestion and air pollution from the traffic as one of the reasons for its closure. Will 4200 (approx.) new homes not have a far worse impact. It appears the council is talking out of both sides of their mouth. Congestion and air pollution is a problem when they want to sell the land to a property developer to build expensive properties and it is not a problem when they want to sell land to a property developer to build expensive properties.

Are expensive homes in one of the most expensive areas in Warrington going to be affordable and help with the housing crisis? Although I understand that some houses will be made available for the council and lower earning families, surely the majority will be bought by the more affluent?

The current plan all seems a bit vague and gives developers the opportunity to cherry pick the best development sites (most profitable) rather than clearly insisting that they can only build on Green Belt once all the brown field sites are gone .

The current development of Warrington Town center has been excellent however there is a lot more potential there. If you wish to develop Warrington Town Centre further more town center apartments are needed, not homes in the countryside. If you look at Manchester City center business are thriving due to amount of people who now live in the city center. Given the transport links and businesses these people do not need cars so this would also helps with congestion/air quality.

I can see very little justification for this plan other that it will be more cost effective for property developers to build on the Green Belt and they will be able to make extra profit as the houses will have a high price tag then they would in other areas of Warrington. Surely the point of the council is to serve the people of Warrington not developers. This entire plan is a a threat to our open space that the Greenbelt provides.