UPSVLP 2545
The Council has failed to meet the Statement of Community Involvement.
The Revised Plan and the consultation process does not provide an appropriate opportunity for the Residents of Winwick in particular, and Warrington in general, to give meaningful and effective feedback on the proposals.
There is a total lack of clear evidence and adequate information about the impact of the proposals on the current infrastructure and how these will be addressed and resolved.
These documents must be updated and the new documents used appropriately to support a future revised plan.
There is no further information about where and when school places will be provided particularly as the Settlement Profiles for the Outlying Settlements (2017) suggest that the two designated secondary schools, Culcheth High School and Beamont Collegiate Academy, have little or no capacity for expansion.
Part 6
These elements of Policy OS6 are extremely vague and do not provide adequate detail with particular regard to built facilities based on the need identified below in the Settlement Profiles. There is no information about what existing provision will be enhanced or expanded or what the planned built facilities are. In addition, the Council has recently announced that the leisure services facilities at Culcheth High School?s Community Campus will not re-open after closing at the start of the pandemic. This together with the longstanding work needed for Birchwood Leisure Centre and Library will reduce facilities available to the Winwick, Croft and Culcheth communities.
Parts 8 and 9
Site Assessments
The ?Settlement Profiles for the Outlying Settlements' document published in July 2017 used in this revised plan contains out of date and inaccurate information.
The Settlement Profiles for the Outlying Settlements Report published in July 2017 indicates that there is limited secondary school capacity in the Winwick area. With very little or no spare capacity it is not clear how access to secondary schools can be considered to be good with an additional 405 house units proposed in the Winwick catchment area. It is extremely unlikely that the local secondary schools will have sufficient capacity particularly when, consideration must also be given to the 1200 homes that have been approved on Peel Hall Farm which is situated between Winwick and Beamont Collegiate Academy. In addition, there is no reference to increased provision of ?Built Facilities? to provide access to swimming pool/gym which as stated above is operating at full capacity.
Site Assessment Methodology
The ?Site Assessment Proformas ? Site Selection' document dated 27 November 2018 used in this revised plan contain out of date and inaccurate information.
The Site Selection Settlement Proforma dated 27 November 2018 states that "There are some suitability issues due to the distance to GP services and local natural greenspace...." However, there is no explanation about what those issues are and how they will be addressed and resolved. In this document it also states that overall distance to a GP service or health centre is 3km - 5km with limited capacity and no potential to expand and it is 3.1k to Orford Jubilee Park with an unknown capacity. The recently approved housing development at Peel Hall Farm (1200 units), situated north of Orford and between Winwick and The Orford Jubilee Park Hub, will add further issues to providing adequate GP health care services for the people living in Winwick. The maps for the Croft and Culcheth profiles are out of date. There is now only one medical centre in Culcheth (not 2) and that has no more capacity. Also, of the two dentist practices only one is NHS and has no further capacity. The comments regarding the local and strategic highway network do not taken account of the recent consent at Peel Hall or the Parkside Link Road. The A573 has been incorrectly referred to as the A49. The referrence to the No.19 bus service is incorrect. It runs hourly NOT half hourly and only provides a very limited service to Winwick. There is no public transport service from Winwick to Omega/Genini.
Infrastructure Delivery Plan
The Plan does not identify where the pinchpoints are in North Warrington or how they will be addressed.
The documents ?Settlement Profiles for the Outlying Settlements published in July 2017? and the ?Site Assessment Proformas ? Site Selection dated 27 November 2018? used in this revised plan contain out of date and inaccurate information and vague responses to questions. The monitoring of this information is one of the key indicators of a need to prepare or review a Local Plan document. The council must maintain up to date information from survey and evidence gathering in order to underpin the preparation of its planning policies and proposals. The Council must comply with its 'Statement of Community Involvement'. The plan identifies some issues but fails to state what those issues are and how they will be addressed, fails to adequately identify the impact on current infrastructure and how it will be improved to accommodate the increased number of houses, traffic and population. The plan suggests that further empirical assessments and investigations will need to be carried out. However, there is no indication that these have taken place or what the outcome of them are. The Residents of Warington, and Winwick in particular, cannot be fairly consulted on a plan and give meaningful feedback with so many vague comments, inaccuracies and incomplete information. Consequently, the Plan does not meet the ?tests of soundness?. In formulating the current revised plan Warrington Council has failed to maintain up to date information from survey and evidence gathering in order to underpin the preparation of its planning policies and proposals. Consequently, the Council has failed meet its ?Statement of Community Involvement? and hence does not comply with legal requirements.