LYMM residents are being urged to help draw up a neighbourhhod plan for the village which is now under threat of 500 new homes on green belt land.
Having only just won back the one hour free parking following a lengthy campaign, Lymm is now faced with the prospect of losing some of its green belt land to housing as part of Warrington Borough Council’s Preferred Development Plan, which includes a requirement to build an additional 24,000 houses over the next 20 years, 9,000 of which needs to be built on green belt land.
The plan revealed that 500 homes will be built in and around Lymm, mostly on green belt, which has sparked fury from many local residents, but has been welcomed by some as a need to develop the village.
As a result of Lymm Parish Council agreeing to initiate a Neighbourhood Plan, requests have gone out to local residents to join the project which gives a say in how Lymm is developed.
Parish Councillor Anna Fradgley, who is an avid support of maintaining green belt land, has welcomed the Neighbourhood Plan.
She said: “Pressure to build on greenbelt has come from Central Government, which the Local Council now has to follow through. Inevitably, green belt is going to be built on whatever. But what this Neighbourhood Plan does is gives Lymm residents the ability to advise and have a say on which green belt should be considered for building.
“It is also an opportunity to look at the infrastructure for Lymm, the provision of mixed housing and not just executive homes, children play spaces, formal park areas, health care centres, employment land and the objective of the greenbelt in maintaining the integrity of this beautiful village.
“This would be a plan, which once taken to local referendum and approved by Warrington Borough Council, would be legally binding. It means that the residents have shaped their community and not just local government.
“The Neighbourhood Plan project is being instigated by Borough Councillor Bob Barr, Parish Councillor Graham Gowland and Parish Councillor Anna Fradgley.
Whilst the Councillors cannot be part of the project group, as it has to be resident led, they will be involved in asking questions and available to advise on legalities.
“The project is to take up to two years, but is a worthwhile cause. Bob, Graham and I all have very different views on planning, which will mean that the outcome will be a reasoned and objective plan.
This is only good for Lymm” adds Councillor Fradgley.
For more information on the Preferred Development Plan see the Warrington Borough Council or Lymm Parish Council websites.
All residents’ comments on the plans should be sent to the Warrington Borough Council consultation email address [email protected] by Monday September 11.
Anna Fradgley
4 Comments
HOW VERY MISLEADING!
Parish Councillor Anna Fradgley, says: “Pressure to build on greenbelt has come from Central Government, which the Local Council now has to follow through. Inevitably, green belt is going to be built on whatever. But what this Neighbourhood Plan does is gives Lymm residents the ability to advise and have a say on which green belt should be considered for building.’
FACT;- due to the very unpopular Tory policies enabling development on greenbelt the Tory Government have in it’s latest ‘White Paper on Housing’, attempted some measure of a U-turn and declared that building on greenbelt must only be allowed in ‘very exceptional circumstances’ and when ‘the benefits CLEARLY outweigh’ the loss of greenbelt – and when the local community is agreeable.
With regard to Neighbourhood plans – the Community is supposed to decide what they want for the future. They do not just as Anna Fradgely says “have a say on which green belt should be considered for building”. They can, if they wish totally oppose any greenbelt loss!
As for these councillors being “involved in asking questions and available to advise on legalities”. I think residents might be better to turn down such offers and look up the legalities for themselves!
Similar misleading advice was given concerning the recent applications by HCA, for housing at Pewterspear, Appleton & Grappenhall. Residents were led to believe that the HCA had ‘previous permissions’ which meant that they would have to accept inevitable development and could only focus their objections on infrastructure, this was absolute rubbish!
FACT;- The attack on Warrington’s greenbelt is due to the ridiculously high housing targets which WBC propose in the local development plan. It is not central Government who decide the housing target figures for Warrington, it is WBC. It is the ridiculous, ego driven, ‘aspirations to become a City’, which many councillors of all political groups wish to drive forward.
IF YOU WANT TO SAVE WARRINGTON’S GREENBELT /GREEN LAND – REJECT THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN – OPPOSE THE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH HOUSING TARGETS AND SET UP A “WE DON’T WANT TO BE A CITY CAMPAIGN”
Interesting post Sha
The news story states that in total 9,000 new homes will be possibly built on green belt land across the borough.
So if Lymm is only earmarked for 500 of these then they should count themselves lucky as that’s only a very small proportion of the total figure and leaves a whopping 8500 left to be built on greenbelt in other areas of the borough….presumably still on the cards for Appleton/Stretton…and where else ?
Surely building even just 500 new houses in Lymm would be good though leading to increase footfall in the village and maybe they would even get a bank back in the village too with more demand and new housing developments there.
I don’t actually agree with building on green belt land though as once it is allowed in one place it sort of sets a precedent and before we know it there will be no green space left 🙁
There will be no green space left to divide Appleton Stretton, Grappenhall, Stockton Heath, Walton and Wilderspool Diz. The ‘Villages’ will just merge to become suburbs of the ‘New City’, the SW boundaries of which will extend outwards all along Walton Drag and onwards through Daresbury.
As you say Diz, Lymm is only earmarked for 500 new homes, so out of all the areas, objection on the grounds of ‘non-sustainable’ would be expected to carry least weight. The creation of a neighbourhood plan, of the type suggested, which ‘chooses where the development will go’ would be the final nail in the coffin for objectors and a stroke of real good luck for developers! It appears to me that Bobb Barr & Co are trying to fool Lymm people into (unknowingly) putting the right ticks in the right boxes for developers, – whilst also showing ‘engagement’ with the ‘consultation’.
One would think the people of Lymm would have wit enough to research Bob Barr’s past performances. His role in the drive for building these ‘aspirational’ houses en-masse wouldn’t be too difficult for people to uncover! – and it would be as easy as pie for the other political groups to highlight his role -and hypocrisy. So why haven’t they? Hmmmm
Appleton’s