RESIDENTS campaigning against the Central 6 Low Traffic Neighborhood schemes at Orford and Westy have written an open letter to Warrington Borough Council, appealing to be involved in each stage of the process moving forward.
Speaking on behalf of Warrington Residents’ Opposition to the Central 6 Street Plan Campaign Group, Rachael Harper, who organised the original petition at Orford signed by more than 5,300 people, said: “We, as a campaign group, have been working hard ever since we started to ensure people across Warrington are seen and heard on the Central 6 Street plan. This has not been easy, but we have had a very talented group of people working above and beyond to print and deliver posters, organise the two protests and ensure feedback gets to the right place.
“We were very happy that the scheme in Orford got paused, but also very sad that Latchford/Westy went ahead anyway. This put us in a very difficult position as a campaign group because we are for the WHOLE of Warrington, not just one part of it. So it feels very undemocratic to accept the scheme being paused in one area and not another.
“Furthermore, we continue to be worried about the pause in Orford, with the council proposing a revised plan then bringing it back to us for further consultation.
“We think the key issue is that residents would like a pro-active approach from the council on this, where we get included at each stage to ensure a good outcome. However, the council seems to be focused on a reactive approach where they put things in place, and we merely respond or give feedback, which consequently makes the outcome more uncertain.
“Therefore, as a group, we have penned the following public letter to the council and hope to receive a response as a matter of urgency.”
To: Council Leader Cllr. Russ Bowden & David Boyer. Director of Environment and Transport
“We, as a campaign group, are becoming extremely concerned with how the consultation, feedback and monitoring of the central 6 street plan is carried out. While it is great you have paused the scheme in Orford, we have concerns that the revised plan may just lead to a negative consultation due to lack of involvement in it.
We were also extremely disappointed in the council’s decision not to support the pausing of the Westy scheme, whose residents deserve the same respect and consideration of those in Orford. The residents of Latchford/Westy have many concerns about how the central 6 street plan is being monitored in terms of practical progress in the area and the way in which resident feedback is being collated. We note that there is an official email address for feedback in regard to the plan in Latchford/Westy but would like more information about how this is used and responded to. We also note that you state you are monitoring the situation via pollution levels and traffic volume, but again we have no further information about how this is to be collected or carried out.
In the interest of democracy and the wellbeing of our town we would like to make a proposal. That you would meet or sit with designated local representatives from our group so that the central 6 street plan has the best possible chance of success. Engagement workshops, while looking to develop a revised plan/ collate feedback, would also be beneficial so that residents could have some input.
We all want our town to have greener, cleaner, and less busy streets, but we would like to work with you to find the best way of implementing this, without causing too much distress or frustration from residents due to lack of information or poor public engagement.
Also, could you clarify whether there are any pending street plans for the other four wards within the central 6 area, as this has been a matter of some confusion.
Please could you respond to this letter as a matter of urgency and ideally within the next seven days, otherwise we may have to reconsider our position going forward.
Yours Sincerely,
R Harper – on behalf of the Warrington Residents Opposition to the Central 6 Street Plan Campaign Group
