Council ready for compulsory purchase

WARRINGTON Borough Council will, if necessary, use compulsory purchase powers to acquire land and property needed for the multi-million £ regeneration of the town’s Bridge Street Quarter.
The council already has substantial land holdings in the area but it is certain more will be required.
Leader of the council Terry O’Neill, in a report to the executive board, said: “As always, it is hoped that any additional land needed can be acquired by negotiation and private treaty, but experience shows that this is not always possible.
“The difficulty will commonly be not the principle of sale, but the ability to agree satisfactory terms based on true market value.”
The Bridge Street Quarter consists of land to the east of Bridge Street between Market Gate and Warrington Bridge, extending back to Academy Street and including Warrington Market – which is to be rebuilt – Time Square and the Market multi-storey car park.
Extesive work on a master plan has taken ;place over the last two and-a-half years and it has become clear that the currently available end-users who will consider a pre-let can all be accommodated on the land to the north of Academy Way – the area where most of the council-owned land is located.
As a result, officers say the scheme should be carried out in two phases, with land to the north of Academy Way and Academy Way itself being Phase 1 and land to the south of Academy Way being Phase 2.
Over the years, the council has acquired land in the area on a piecemeal basis for different statutory purposes. Redevelopment will make it appropriate for it all to be held for planning purposes – along with any future land it may acquire.
The report is the third considered by the executive board on various aspects of the Bridge Street Quarter scheme.
Future reports will focus on compulsory purchase of third party land and rights that cannot be acquired voluntarily and also on Warrington Market.
Picture: How a new market square might look.