by David Skentelbery
WORRIED residents are to meet to discuss proposals by Warrington Borough Council to sell-off farmland near their homes.
Householders living in Warrington Road, Glazebury are concerned at the proposal to sell the land near All Saint's Church.
They are meeting at Glazebury Scout Hut tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm.
The land is one of a number of sites the borough council has listed for potential sale to offset budget deficits.
In a letter to residents, the authority has stated it has no interest in changing the use of the land, which is in the green belt.
But residents fear that if the land is sold, the new owner will be able to apply for planning permission for some kind of development.
Resident Paul Wardle said: "The council has assured me this is green belt land. However, this still throws up the possibility of some kind of development - albeit they say it would be 'virtually impossible' for it to be housing.
"The letter says the council is considering selling a number of areas of land so this sort of thing may be of concern to more and more people in Warrington generally."
Mr Wardle said residents would object to the land being used for anything other than its current use.
The land has been farmed for many years as part of nearby Hurst Lane Farm.
But it is believed it was once used by Glazebury Cricket Club before it moved to its present ground on the opposite side of Hurst Lane.
According to club legend, a Glazebury batsman once hit a ball as far as the railway where it landed in a goods train and was carried to Manchester!
Householders living in Warrington Road, Glazebury are concerned at the proposal to sell the land near All Saint's Church.
They are meeting at Glazebury Scout Hut tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm.
The land is one of a number of sites the borough council has listed for potential sale to offset budget deficits.
In a letter to residents, the authority has stated it has no interest in changing the use of the land, which is in the green belt.
But residents fear that if the land is sold, the new owner will be able to apply for planning permission for some kind of development.
Resident Paul Wardle said: "The council has assured me this is green belt land. However, this still throws up the possibility of some kind of development - albeit they say it would be 'virtually impossible' for it to be housing.
"The letter says the council is considering selling a number of areas of land so this sort of thing may be of concern to more and more people in Warrington generally."
Mr Wardle said residents would object to the land being used for anything other than its current use.
The land has been farmed for many years as part of nearby Hurst Lane Farm.
But it is believed it was once used by Glazebury Cricket Club before it moved to its present ground on the opposite side of Hurst Lane.
According to club legend, a Glazebury batsman once hit a ball as far as the railway where it landed in a goods train and was carried to Manchester!
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3 Responses to "Residents' fears over land sell-off" 
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said this on 10 Mar 2010 7:14:36 AM UTC
Maybe the residents could club together and buy the land, that way they control it. Agricultural land isn't that expensive.
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said this on 10 Mar 2010 7:49:19 PM UTC
Good suggestion, if the land gets split up into dozens of individual plots all with a different owner then it becomes almost impossible for any future developer to bring them all back together. Even compulsory purchase orders for some kind of local authority or government backed scheme would be very difficult to implement.
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said this on 10 Mar 2010 11:33:15 PM UTC
As Warrington Eye says ......"agricultural land isn't that expensive" so why sell it off in the first place as it seems there will be very little to be gained? But then things are often not quite what they seem! Greenbelt protection certainly isn't what it used to be! Wonder if the residents were to offer the agricultural value whether their offer would be accepted?
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