Campaigner says Council is failing the pre-digital generation

A local campaigner says Warrington planners are leaving out a whole generation of pre-digital Warringtonians when it comes to acceptable engagement and access regarding planning applications.

Winwick-based Stuart Mann says that with Autumn on its way and with it the prospect of Warrington Borough Council announcing its proposed timescale for the adoption of its “much derided, widely questioned and massively delayed Local Plan” many local people will be “forgotten.”

Mr Mann said: “Hundreds of planning applications will be submitted to the council each one with thousands of pages of documentation covering things such as ecological surveys, utilities, house designs, estate layouts and on and on.
“For Warringtonians worried about the impact a development near them may have on their way of life, it will be a daunting and off-putting process to understand what all these documents mean, even before then trying to work out how to object or support the application by writing a representation.
“It isn’t easy, it’s all ONLINE and that fact is a real problem for a huge forgotten part of Warrington residents – those not online and in particular the elderly and infirm.

“In March this year I held a meeting in St Oswald’s Church Hall, Winwick promoted through community engagement and leafleting which aimed to inform residents about a planning application for 163 new homes on Golborne Road in the village. Over 90 people turned up to hear details about the planning application which had 40 documents to read on the WBC planning portal.

“After being told by a number of residents that didn’t really use or know how to use computers and that they were unaware of the application nor were able to read the plans because it was all ONLINE, I wrote on their behalf to the planning office to request they print just one hard copy of each of the documents and send them to me (I even offered to pick them up) in order that they were available during our meeting for everyone to read.
“My request was made on the day the planning application was published well in advance of our meeting – simple enough you would think – but almost immediately I received a reply saying that it would not be possible and anyone without access to a computer would have to go to a local library to use the computers there to make their submission.

“I politely replied pointing out that I didn’t think WBC understood my request nor indeed the complex task they were putting upon some residents who did not understand how to navigate computers, the internet and maybe didn’t have an email address.
“All this before then considering their age and ability to catch a bus to their nearest library AND then work out, how to find the planning application, spend a good 2 or 3 hours digesting the information and then having to create a WBC account (which needs an email address) to submit their representation.
“This then led to a near three week back and forth email chain with WBC where I politely tried to make them understand that suggesting someone without an email address should email them directly for assistance didn’t make sense, or continually suggesting residents go to the library or even the town hall and spend the good part of a day on computers they didn’t have the confidence to use was really, really poor engagement and public service by our borough council.
“All I wanted was one hard copy of all the planning documentation in order that I could share it with those residents at the meeting.
“Ironically someone could have had written all the planning documentation and delivered them by pigeon in the same time.

Mr Mann added: “Ultimately, time ran out to get the information requested and we had to make the best use of the few documents we did have for the meeting which was really disappointing.
“What became apparent at the meeting was that nearly a quarter of the attendees would need help making their representations and so over the following couple of weeks I went out to their homes to help them do just that, even printing off and hand delivering some to the council offices in Times Square,a method which isn’t widely promoted by WBC.
“All this was in April and now in August, the developer has submitted a whole new raft of amended proposals, again all online and again that residents need to read, digest and respond to by a certain deadline.
“To anyone BUT the developer it appears the system really is against the non-digital resident and this is really worrying for what is to come.

“The local plan proposes 18000 new homes over the next 20 years, Warrington Borough Council needs to urgently review their resident engagement process or else up to a quarter of Warringtonians will lose their voices in shaping the future of our town.
“This should include designing a simple and easily accessible NONE DIGITAL method to share planning documentation, developers should be forced to publish a simple plain English overarching planning summary for each and every application and this in turn should be available on request via Royal Mail in hard copy and other forms, such as braille or large font.

Mr Mann added: “Borough councillors, on all sides, who continue to outwardly express concern about the loss of large swathes of the green belt as part of the local plan need to SIT UP and take notice of this massive problem of accessibility and stop the ridiculous tit for tat arguing for political gain.

“There is a planning application MONSTER coming over the hill and your constituents need your help.
“Start doing your job and help those most in need to navigate this non-inclusive planning process in order that everyone has a fair and equal say.

In response to Mr Mann’s concerns, a Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “Notifications of applications are given to local residents by letter, site notice or press notice, depending on the circumstances. Full application details are available online – however, if individuals are unable to access the published information, they can contact us directly so we can respond to their specific needs.”