CONCERNED councillors at Lymm are calling on Warrington Borough Council planners to explain to the public why there is a “tsunami” of developers putting forward more and more planning applications to build on the Green Belt.
At last week’s Development Management Committee, final permission was given for 167 homes in Statham in Lymm and a further 55 homes on Green Belt off Rushgreen Road in Lymm. The Statham proposal was on land freed from Green Belt status in the approved Local Plan, but the second one was not. In addition, Peel has put forward a proposal for around 60 homes off Bucklow Gardens in Lymm and now there is yet another proposal in the pipeline for up to 200 homes off Lakeside Road in Lymm.
The Richborough project is promoting a 31-acre (12 hectares) site to the south west of Lymm. The northern parcel is being promoted for residential development, which is capable of accommodating up to 200 homes.
For the remainder of the site, we are proposing a country park and additional parking for Lymm Dam, to relieve congestion in the centre of the village.
The site is in walking distance of a range of local facilities and services in the village, and has good links to further afield. Developers say the site will be promoted for Green Belt release within the Warrington Local Plan.
Local Councillor Ian Marks said, “The public are asking what is going on. They thought the Local Plan gave them protection against more homes until it was refreshed. Committee Councillors may have had briefings and explanations in long reports, but this is not sufficient communication and transparency for the public at large or other members of the Council. Confidence in the planning process is being undermined and people are wondering what the point of refreshing the Local Plan is.”
“As Liberal Democrats we believe our residents should be aware of the impact of the Labour Government’s changes to planning. The new Guidance, known as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), has been strongly opposed by Liberal Democrats nationally and locally. We believe these changes undermine democracy and ride roughshod over Local Plans. They give carte blanche to developers to do more or less what they want to do, declaring Green Belt land to be Grey Belt. We know that the greatest profit comes from building upmarket houses on Green Belt land. Under the new guidance, there now have to be extremely strong reasons to deny planning permission, demonstrating that the impact of building would outweigh the alleged benefits of the development. Just because land is protected by being defined as Green Belt is no longer sufficient. In our view, brownfield land should be a top priority, with much more emphasis on genuine affordability, social housing and environmental concerns.
“Secondly, the Government has changed the rules on housing targets by increasing the required number of houses that have to be built in Warrington each year, which has overtaken the buffer of 5% built into the current Local Plan. The Council has a history of proving far too optimistic in its forecasts. Housing delivery is no exception to this, and most of the bigger developments have fallen behind schedule. Nationally, the Labour Government is way behind its objective to build 1.5 million new homes in five years. This is partly due to labour shortages after Brexit, higher construction costs and a shortage of Planning Officers to process planning applications.
Lymm South Councillor Luke Stuttard added: “The application for 200 homes and a country park on 31 acres is in my ward. It is open season here in Lymm, and I dread to think what other areas of land will be put forward in the ‘Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessment’ to be published in the autumn. Both Councillors and Officers are effectively impotent in opposing these applications. How does this fit with Andy Burnham saying that there should be more power in local communities? I want to assure residents that your Councillors will do everything that they can to work with you to oppose unwanted developments. But I must be honest and say it will not be easy.”
