Controversial £300m Six56 distribution centre green belt plan thrown out

CONTROVERSIAL plans for the giant £300m Six56 distribution centre on Green Belt land at Grappenhall have been thrown out by the Secretary of State.

Campaigners opposing the development, who funded a planning consultant to oppose the application, are now hopeful that it will finally bring to an end to the long-running, on-off, saga, which has been through numerous twists and turns since Langtree first put forward the proposal in April 2019.

In response to the decision, Cllr Ian Marks, Chair of the South Warrington Parish Councils’ Planning Group said, “The decision by the Secretary of State to support the Planning Inspector’s recommendation and not allow the Six56 development is fantastic news and will be welcomed by most of the residents of South Warrington. She agreed with the Planning Inspector that the development would not have been appropriate and would have caused substantial damage to the openness of the Green Belt. There would have been a significant adverse effect from 24 hour traffic movements, lighting and general site operations. Simply, there are no ‘Very Special Circumstances’ that are sufficient to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt.
“The South Warrington Planning Group is cross party and has campaigned right from the start against this vast logistics site. It has been a tortuous journey but we are so pleased our efforts have paid off.”
Cllr Mark Browne, Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Warrington Council, added, “Borough and Parish colleagues from my Party have been very active in the campaign. We feared a late decision by the Secretary of State to ignore the Local Plan Inspectors’ and the Six56 Inspector’s recommendations to keep the site in the Green Belt might happen but happily this has not taken place. This is great news.”

In response to the decision, Langtree today expressed its disappointment following the Secretary of State’s decision to reject its application to develop the Six56 Warrington logistics park.
They say the scheme, had it been approved, would have created more than 4,000 new jobs and generated more than £12m in annual rates income for Warrington Borough Council.
“We are disappointed as it seems to fly in the face of the government’s stated growth ambitions, but this was always a possibility,” said John Downes, Langtree group chief executive.
“We’ll take a good look at the ruling and assess our options,” he added.
The £300m development aimed to provide approximately 3.1m square feet of new warehousing and distribution space on a key plot adjacent to junction 20 of the M6 and junction 9 of the M56. It was previously approved by the local authority in March 2022 before being ‘called in’ for review by the secretary of state in November of that year, and further delayed when it was subsequently included within a Planning Inspector’s review of Warrington’s Local Plan. The new Secretary of State was asked to rule on the application as a priority.

The Six56 pplication by Langtree PP & Panattoni was on Green Belt to the west of Junction 20 of the M6 Motorway, and Junction 9 of the M56 Motorway and to the south of, Grappenhall Lane/Cliff Lane (known as Six:56 Warrington) Grappenhall, Warrington, seeks Outline Planning (Major) ‐ Outline application (all matters reserved except for access) comprising the construction of up to 287,909m² (gross internal) of employment floorspace (Use Class B8 and ancillary B1(a) offices), demolition of existing agricultural outbuildings and associated servicing and infrastructure including car parking and vehicle and pedestrian circulation, alteration of existing access road into site including works to the M6 J20 dumbbell roundabouts and realignment of the existing A50 junction, noise mitigation, earthworks to create development platforms and bunds, landscaping including buffers, creation of drainage features, electrical substation, pumping station, and ecological works, accompanied by an Environmental Statement.
When the application was originally approved by Warrington Borough Council planners the Group Executive of Langree, John Downes, pledged to support the local supply chain.