VIDEO: There was standing room only at a protest rally for the campaign to “Save Peel Hall” from the threat of a 1,200 homes development on “the last green space” in North Warrington.
Hundreds of local residents packed into the event at Cinnamon Brow Community Farm to hear from a panel of guest speakers including Orford girl, Sky Sports Rugby League commentator Angela Powers and local archaeologist Mark Olly.
They were joined by local MP Helen Jones, local resident Jo Sullivan who talked about the threat to public health and pollution, Geoff Settle, Chair of the Warrington Nature Conservation Forum, who spoke about the threat to wildlife, former Pink Ladies owner Tina Dutton, who highlighted the impact on Poplars and the surrounding areas, Jon Parr who spoke about zero infrastructure and the impact on Mill Lane, Margaret Steen on the impact on Houghton Green and Jim Sullivan who talked about an unsustainable future.
Seven-year-old Megan Farmer then read a poem she had written called “I Love Peel Hall.”
The event was co-ordinated by local resident and campaigner Wendy Johnson who urged everyone to attend the public inquiry which starts at 1pm on April 23 at Orford Jubilee Hub and is listed to last for 14 days.
Local residents were also urged to put Save Peel Hall posters in their windows to show the strength of feeling in the area.
The Save Peel Hall protest group are opposing plans by Satnam Developments to build 1,200 homes on “the last green space in North Warrington.”
warrington-worldwide was on hand to film the whole event live on facebook.
The speakers at the rally
6 Comments
1”24. ‘I’m the MP for Warrington North…and I’m as mad as hell”. Hear hear – well said Helen
Congratulations everyone – how Wendy has managed to pull this all together – she must be shattered this morning. She has put so much time and effort into the project so far and brought everyone together on the afternoon – a great achievement – I am very pleased and proud for her there has been so much planning and preparation – great leadership and a sense of a huge team effort. Fantastic turn out on a Sunday afternoon by local residents and the poem read out by Megan Farmer who is a 7 year old poet was the icing on the cake.
Were WBC represented Geoff as a council, backing the Save Peel Hall campaign, the people of Warrington and reinforcing Wendy’s efforts? It was a given you would be there and presumably both MPs, in view of the potential inimical impact SATNAM’s proposal will have on the whole of Warrington.
No reason why WBC officers should be there but nothing to stop individuals from attending and I spotted most councillors in attendance from the two respective wards.
As long as WBC are do their preparation and homework to understand and defend the position inside out ready fro the 23rd April that would be a good start. Having attended at least three appeals they will need to be on their metal. I know from experience how bitter and twisted these affairs can be – and it’s going to be very tough.
As for MPs it’s Warington North so I would only expect one to be there.
I’d echo Geoff’s point – Wendy has done an amazing job pulling all this together. She deserves a shout out for her commitment and sheer hard work.
Thanks, Gary, for covering the event – Warrington Worldwide has always been a good friend to the campaign.
The turnout was absolutely awesome! I know the attendance at the appeal hearings will be less – they’ll be held during working hours, when most people are (obviously) at work – but I’m confident we’ll manage to maintain a good presence between us, and show the Inspectorate that the people here care about our environment, our quality of life, and we care about protecting the air that we breathe.
Well Done! to all the Save Peel Hall campaigners. It’s not just the local ward councillors who should be getting involved in this campaign, so should all of the town’s councillors as it’s the incompetence of WBC planning dept that has caused this situation. By failing to produce a sound Local Draft Plan they enabled Satnam’s high court challenge. They have also, over the last four years, enabled many developers to get planning permission due to not rectifying the mistakes of the 2014 LDP – how many unnecessary developments throughout Warrington have been given permission under “presumption in favour of development due to lack of a 5 yr housing supply” ? After the shredding of the planning records scandal, the failures of the 2014 LDP, the shambolic public consultations of the present PDO it must be as apparent to our councillors as it is to the people of Warrington that WBC Planning Dept is not ‘fit for purpose’. Is it not about time our elected representatives did something to rectify this sorry situation?