APPLETON Parish Council is opposing plans for a new £75m state-of-the-art warehouse facility by Eddie Stobart Logistics on green belt land.
In a letter to Warrington’s Development Manager the parish council objects to the proposal which would create more than 700 jobs, adding £18m to the local economy, saying: “Any proposal for any planning application on this land would be unacceptable.
“The land is green belt and therefore should be protected from any development of any kind. There are no ‘exceptional circumstances’. Whilst the Parish Council understands the need for this business to grow, other suitable brownfield sites must be used.
“The Highways network in the immediate surrounding area is insufficient to meet the needs and the additional traffic of the proposed development. The Parish Council understands that road improvements on the roads near the development will be improved with Section 106 funds, however the surrounding roads and motorway network all are currently at capacity. All the surrounding roads would require upgrading and an additional motorway junction for the M6 would be essential.
“The litter from the current Appleton Thorn Trading estate is appalling. Due the speed of the road, litter picking can only be undertaken with road closures which is at a considerable cost. The current litter issue will only increase if further developments are made to this trading estate. Section 106 funds must be granted to take action on this matter. Matrix signage must be installed if this planning application is to go ahead and the developers of this site must be requested to either make a yearly contribution towards the collection of litter from the trading estate and proposed new development, or be made responsible for cleaning any litter on a regular basis as a planning condition.”
The application by developer Liberty Properties for a 630,000ft2 building on land North of Barleycastle Lane, Appleton Thorn, would involve demolition of all existing on-site buildings and structures and construction of a National Distribution Centre building (Use Class B8) with ancillary office accommodation (Class B1(a)), vehicle maintenance unit, vehicle washing area, internal roads, gatehouse, parking areas, perimeter fencing, waste management area, sustainable urban drainage system, landscaping, highways improvements and other associated works.
Cllr Sharon Harris added: “I whole-heartedly support the Parish Council’s objections to the Eddie Stobart plan to increase the size of their operations at Appleton Thorn on the grounds that there will be an increase in the number of lorries in and around an already busy area.
“The infrastructure can barely cope at present and Junction 20 on the M6 is currently at over-capacity. The area would just service the Stobart enterprise and any remnants of the green belt would be completely swallowed up.
“Allowing this application to succeed would open the flood gates for other warehousing enterprises to spring up such as that at Bradley Hall and another historic site would be lost.
“Yes, it would provide employment but these jobs are unlikely to be high quality. More housing would be required thus justifying further developments on green belt land. This is precisely what local people do not want,” added Cllr Harris.
In response to the parish council’s opposition Alex Laffey, of Eddie Stobart Logistics, said: “Since moving our Headquarters to Warrington in 2014, we have invested heavily in our facilities to ensure it meets our strategic growth objectives.
“We hope that Warrington Borough Councillors will recognise the benefits and opportunities of creating up to 730 jobs as well as bringing new and exciting businesses to the North West, adding £18 million to the local economy.”
6 Comments
Warrington council need to start behaving like a Labour council and stop cow-towing to the tories. These stupid ideas of a ‘garden city’ is simply to keep to a capitalist ethos. We need to protect our green space from people who want to exploit it!
This story has been written by an Appleton Parish Councillor. Journalism should be objective – clearly can’t trust anything Gary has to say about Appleton because he is a politician – not a reporter.
The story has been written objectively taking views and comments from all sides.I am an independent Cllr – not a politician. The story is factually correct and raises the concerns of local residents and their representatives.
Oh and talking of being objective and trust worthy – it is a little concerning where this email has come from 😉 We have your IP and source and can track it right back to your desk!
Tracking IP addresses is a breach of data protection law under GDPR. Any actions take subsequent to that will lead to prosecution.
You can’t be a councillor and a journalist Gary. It’s not appropriate. Someone else needs to be writing those stories.
No law against it – and I won’t let my integrity be comprised when reporting or acting as a local Cllr – my peers who elected me see no issue as long as I am open and honest and declare any conflicts of interest – which I always do.