Planners to inspect flood relief scheme

PLANNING bosses at Warrington are to visit the site of a controversial flood relief scheme before deciding if it can go-ahead.
Members of the borough council’s development control committee decided they needed to inspect the site on playing fields off Friends Lane, Great Sankey, before reaching a decision.
United Utilities have put forward a scheme which involves a control kiosk, six metre high pressure relief column and gated access with a “grasscrete” access road to serve an underground detention tank.
The aim is to divert flood water into the underground tank during periods of heavy rain to prevent sewers backing up and flooding homes, gardens and drives, particularly in Pyecroft Road.
But more than 250 people have signed a petition opposing the scheme.
An application has been put forward to designate the area as a village green, but this will be the subject of a separate public inquiry.
Objectors claim there could be smells, damage to hedges, traffic and road safety issues, vandalism of the control kiosk and a possible affect on local house prices if the scheme went ahead.
Officers recommended the scheme be approved. They admitted there would be some impact on the area during the construction period but said the underground nature of the development would mean it had no significant harmful visual impact on nearby homes, the playing field or the wider street scene.