LOCAL councillors have strongly objected to plans to build a biogas plant on a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument at Winwick, arguing that the site’s national archaeological importance makes it wholly unsuitable for development.
The land in question has been officially designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument due to its national significance — putting it on the same legal footing as iconic sites such as Stonehenge, Hadrian’s Wall and the Tower of London. Unlike listed buildings, which are graded according to importance, all Scheduled Monuments are recognised as nationally significant.
“Development on or even near such monuments is strictly controlled — and rightly so,” said Cllr Janet Seddon. “These are sites of irreplaceable historical value. Once damaged or destroyed, they’re lost forever.”
A geophysical survey carried out on behalf of Severn Trent, the applicant, has uncovered several highly significant features at the site, including:
• A 13-metre circular anomaly consistent with a bowl barrow — a prehistoric burial mound — within the Scheduled Monument, indicating possible good preservation.
• A dipolar magnetic spike to the south of the barrow, potentially representing a pit, kiln or burning area.
• An 11-metre circular anomaly to the northeast, which may also be a monument, although its weaker signature suggests possible disturbance.
“These findings back up what archaeologists have long suspected — that this area holds not just known heritage, but potentially vital undiscovered archaeology,” said Cllr Matt Smith. “It is simply not acceptable to risk destroying that for the sake of an energy facility.”
Councillor Stuart Mann added: “We have a legal and moral obligation to protect this land. The very fact it has Scheduled status should be enough to rule this proposal out entirely. It is equivalent in law to sites like Stonehenge — no one would dream of building a plant there.”
Cllr Cheyvonne Bower also voiced her opposition: “The purpose of these national designations is to protect our past for future generations. We can’t allow commercial development to override the preservation of something so historically important.”
The councillors are urging the planning authority to uphold the site’s national protections and reject the application outright. They maintain that the archaeological value of the site, both known and yet-to-be-explored, must be safeguarded — not sacrificed.
More than 600 people have already signed a protest petition opposing the application by Severn Trent for a food waste Biogas Plant on the Green Belt Land.
The development would be used to deal with waste food imported from outside of warrington on land just 250 metres from new homes being built in the village.
The application is for construction and operation of an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility, including amended access, landscaping, parking and other ancillary works on land To The East Of Winwick Link Road, Winwick.
Warrington Borough Council officers will make a decision under delegated powers.
1 Comment
The big question is, was this known about before the planning application or is it just a ploy to hide the real reason for opposing it? If these things are so historically significant, why is it that that nobody has seen fit to investigate them until now? There may well be something there, but suggesting the site could be as important as Stonehenge is probably pushing the bounds of credibility. For all we know this could just be something like an historical rubbish dump and while that may excite a handful of historians, we shouldn’t allow every single ground anomaly to stand in the way of progress.
Rather than wasting time arguing about this, why not just dig a few exploratory trenches and find out if there’s anything that merits further investigation.