The DLP is unsound. The plan which uses housing numbers which are unrealistic to carve up huge areas of green belt without considering brown field land first. The town centre has huge potential to be revived by increasing housing and using the infrastructure is in the town centre it?s not in the areas the DLP is proposing to release for development. The plans improvement to infrastructure is very vague, with now ideas of how to improve links for the south to the centre of Warrington. Improving public transport again there is no real plan just expecting everyone to ride a bike. The proposed link from the roundabout at the top of Broad Lane to the Dipping Brook roundabout is convoluted and would not encourage traffic away from using Stretton Road. The idea that Stretton Road could be closed to through traffic clearly shows the plan knows there is going to be an issue with traffic and has tried to put a solution forward that could never been enforced. The increase to the Appleton Thorn Industrial Estate again there are no solutions to this just a notional upgrade to the motorway junction on one site as the Lymm side is too difficult. There is a potential solution to provide an independent access into this area from the motorway junction which could take all traffic to the industrial estate but again there is no such solution provided. Given the resent focus on the challenges the World has to tackle climate change the plan complete ignores this. More reliance on cars, congested roads, and digging up the green lungs which help swallow CO2. We need more houses build them in a local with less reliance on cars, increase regeneration in the town centre, and leave the green belt alone.
I am sure the council thinks they have fulfilled their duty to co-operate but they have not engaged with the local Parish Councils, local people other than telling them what they plan to do. The changes to the previous draft where a matter of time moving on not responding to people concerns. The plan is essentially the same and making some concessions is the old trick in the book to gain some support.