Council urged to reduce housing targets after green belt plan approved

A councillor is urging Warrington Borough Council to reduce its housing targets after the controversial approval of plans for 108 new homes and a medical centre on green belt land at Lymm.

Speaking after proposals to build 108 dwellings and a primary health facility in Lymm on green belt land was given the go-ahead by the planners, Cllr Ian Marks said: “In last Saturday’s national Times newspaper, the front-page headline was ‘Housing targets scrapped’. Over fifty councils have now abandoned the production of their Local Plans as a result of Michael Gove’s decision to no longer insist on mandatory targets.

“There are risks of a developers’ ‘free for all’ if Warrington also stopped its Local Plan preparation process. I would not support this, but I strongly urge the Council to reduce its housing targets so stopping the need to build on Green Belt sites like this one.”

The application was opposed by 90 individuals, Lymm Parish Council and local councillors.

Speaking against the development at Tanyard Farm Cllr Mark said: “Our main contention is that ‘Very Special Circumstances’ have not been demonstrated to justify the harm to the Green Belt. Fast-tracking the planning process for the medical centre is not a reason for granting this application.
“My original objection focused on the prematurity of this application in advance of the Local Plan being agreed. Unfortunately since then, the Plan Inspectors’ preliminary findings allow this land to be released from the Green Belt, so the prematurity argument carries less weight although it is still valid. Michael Gove has muddied the prematurity argument by announcing he will be proposing legislation to change the standard method of calculating housing need by allowing local councils to decide on local housing numbers.
“We welcome the medical centre but question whether it is in the right place. There is no problem if you have a car but there is if you are elderly, disabled or have to walk or use public transport. Together with all the new homes, it will generate more traffic on the narrow Rushgreen Road about which I already get endless complaints about highway and pedestrian safety, made worse by narrow pavements and HGVs.
“The three-storey apartment block by the Canal is outrageous and totally out of keeping. It will detract in a serious way from views over the countryside. Local residents have concerns about flooding, ecology and biodiversity. There is insufficient provision for badgers and the wildlife corridor and there are objections to the removal of hedgerows. Development on this site would destroy the semi-rural nature of the area and lessen the separation between the settlements of Lymm and Oughtrington.”

Objectors lose battle to block a development of Green Belt homes