Village wins battle to
save historic hotel
by David Skentelbery
VILLAGERS at Lymm, near Warrington, are celebrating after winning a long-running battle to save a historic hotel where Brazilian soccer legend Pele once stayed.
A planning inspector has thrown out two appeals by developers Linden Homes for permission to demolish the Lymm Hotel, in Whitbarrow Road, Lymm and build three or four storey flats on the site.
Hundreds of Lymm residents opposed the application, along with Lymm Parish Council and Warrington Borough Council and the issues were thrashed out at a public inquiry in last month.
The inspector who conducted the hearing has now ruled that the first application, involving five four-storey blocks of flats, would be out of character with the surrounding area.
He rejected the second appeal, in which Linden Homes scaled the five blocks down to three storeys, because the borough has an over-supply of housing land.
Coun Sheila Woodyatt, who had fought a long battle against the scheme, said: “This has been a marvellous community effort and well worth all the hard work.
“We have had some appalling appeal decisions in Lymm in recent years which have destroyed much of the character of our village. It is wonderful to be on the winning side at last.”
Coun Ian Marks added: “I am delighted with this decision. It restores some of my faith in the planning process. We have to make a stand when developers put forward a scheme that people don’t want and residents and councillors put forward an excellent case.”
Alan Williams, who led the residents’ campaign, said: “It is good news for the village when a planning inspector has put on record that four storey development is not appropriate. It is good news for the borough as a whole when its housing policy has been confirmed.”
Mr Williams pointed out that borough council officers had recommended the plans be approved. He said he would be looking for an explanation from them as to how they could have got it so totally wrong.
Residents had argued that the development would set a precedent for the future of Lymm. They claimed the site needed special consideration because it was next to the Green Belt, Trans-Pennine Trail and the Bridgewater Canal.
Pele and the rest of the Brazilian World Cup squad stayed at the hotel in 1956 – and complained that their sleep was disturbed by trains on the adjoining railway – now the Trans-Pennine Trail.
Numerous other sports stars have stayed at the hotel, including England and Australian cricketers when Tests were being played at Old Trafford.
Council installs 24-hour
spy camera system
by John Hendon
A NEW 24-hour security monitoring control room facility has been installed by Warrington Borough Council to improve its continued commitment to combat crime.
It will enable operators to view high resolution pictures from CCTV cameras all over the borough – in particular town centre hot spots.
A command wall system incorporating a JVC high resolution projector and rear projection CinePro screens was specified by industry consultant Faber Maunsell.
Jason Todhunter, Associate Director at Faber Maunsell designed and planned the state-of-the-art new facility, and has undertaken all technical project supervision.
He said: “Warrington Borough Council required a cutting edge control room facility. Previously CCTV monitoring was undertaken from an outdated control room within Warrington’s police headquarters. The new development incorporates Warrington Borough Council’s security monitoring as well as care call and emergency planning services.”
Images displayed on the command wall system are fed from existing CCTV cameras in the public areas of Warrington. Additional cameras monitor the site perimeter. The site also incorporates intercom and access control.
Michelle Ryall, JVC’s Northern Area Sales manager,said: “The images produced by JVC’s projector, when displayed on the CinePro screens are viewable and visible even in high ambient light conditions, making them the ideal solution for security monitoring.”
Real-time images are captured from all over the borough and displayed in multi-image view. This enables users, with the simple click of a button on any area selected on the screen, to easily view all of the security cameras in that area.
User macros have also been set up. This means that a group of cameras can be selected in specific areas of the borough, such as all the popular nightspots in the town centre, in order to monitor the cluster of cameras in that location. Images displayed are recorded and archived using digital storage.
Teenager attacked
in town centre
by David Skentelbery
A MAN was taken to hospital with a broken jaw after being attacked by a gang of thugs in the centre of Warrington in the early hours of the morning.
The 18-year-old victim was in Bridge Street, near the 53 Degrees nightclub when a group of four men walked passed.
One of the four barged into the 18-year-old and when he remonstrated he was punched in the face, suffering a broken jaw.
Police said the gang of four were all in their mid-20s and wearing dark clothing.
Anyone who witnessed the 12.45am incident or who has any information about it is asked to contact DC Mark Rowan on 01925 652222.
Fire too hot to be
put out with water!
by staff reporter
FIRE crews were called out to tackle a blaze too hot for them to use water.
The blaze was at the Alcan Recycling plant in Thelwall Lane, Latchford, Warrington and involved ducting.
Firefighters and works staff cut away ducting to get at the blaze – but the temperature was so high that it was not possible to use water to extinguish it.
Three fire engines and a hydraulic platform were involved in the operation which lasted for several hours as the affected ducting was cut away and allowed to cool down.
The process involved in the fire had to be shut down, although the rest of the factory remained operational. No-one was hurt.
Premium rate calls –
a premium nuisance
by John Hendon
PREMIUM rate telephone calls are a premium nuisance and lead to huge levels of consumer dissatisfaction – that’s the message from Trading Standards in Warrington.
Intricate scams are ripping people off for millions of pounds and Trading Standards are warning consumers to be wary of making calls to premium rate phone lines.
One recent scam involved a fraudster placing a small advert offering a computer console at a cheap price. Interested callers were asked to hold on while he fetched his son. Several minutes would go by with no further response and the callers were duped into paying for a premium rate phone number – costing ?1.50 a minute!
Another scam involved people receiving a bogus letter from a solicitor’s office about an inheritance – and callers ended up listening to a five minute recorded message on a premium rate number.
Coun Mike Hannon, the council’s executive member for community and wellbeing, said: “For the past decade, consumers have been ripped off for millions of pounds, often without realising it, through premium rate telephone numbers.
“Information gathered by the Trading Standards Institute shows the number of complaints from people unwittingly dialling expensive and fraudulent premium rate numbers in response to letters, small ads, bogus prize competitions and via the internet has at least doubled in the last year alone. It is like a sickness that is reaching epidemic proportions and Trading Standards nationally is struggling to contain it.”
A recent Trading Standards survey showed that 24 per cent of scam and fraud complaints to local officers involved premium rate numbers.
Peter Astley, Warrington Trading Standards manager, said: “The worrying trend is that some consumers are totally unaware of what they may be getting involved with. We hope that a review currently
being carried out into the way in which premium rate services are regulated will lead to new legislation to deter fraudsters.”
Many other scams involve consumers ringing a premium rate number to claim a prize. If any prize is received at all, it will not be worth the cost of the call.
Consumers can protect themselves from unwanted calls by registering with the Telephone Preference Service or by setting up a call-barring facility on their phone. Most phone companies offer this service but not all offer it free of charge.
Bonfire safety hints
from the fire brigade
by staff reporter
CHESHIRE Fire Service will be teaching toddlers in the Sure Start North Warrington area about “sparkler safety” in the run up to Bonfire Night.
Fire fighters and community safety staff from Warrington Fire Station will be attending each of Sure Start’s five carer and tots groups to show children and their parents and carers how to enjoy sparklers and fireworks without taking risks.
The advice will include wearing gloves, holding the sparkler at arms length and telling children not to pick the sparklers up again after they have gone out. Information will also be available to parents on how to use fireworks safely and keep their children safe at this time of year.
Community safety officers John Noden and Ray Galligan are keen to see children learning about how to enjoy the November festivities and reduce the risks associated with it.
They said: “We are working together with Sure Start North Warrington on a number of initiatives aimed at reducing child accidents and fires. While sparklers are not recommended for use by children under five, we are aware that parents do give them to their children. The ‘Sparkler safety’ sessions will increase parents awareness of risks and consequently reduce the amount of easily avoided injuries to very young children “.
Arsonists strike
in empty flat
by staff reporter
FIRE crews from Birchwood, Warrington tackled a blaze in an unoccupied flat over an off licence at Fearnhead Cross.
The residents had moved out about a week ago and soon after someone had broken in and the premises had been left insecure.
A Fire Service spokesman said: “Someone has gone in and started a fire. Smoke was pouring out of the place. But there was no-one inside when we got there.”
Fire crews from Warrington were called to the Mcdonalds drive-in at Winwick Road when a cooking range burst into flames. Staff had partially extinguished the fire by the time firefighters reached the scene but they finished off the job and made the place safe. No-one was hurt.
