Travellers “invade”
crematorium car park
by Terry Johnson
BAILIFFS are preparing to evict 18 travellers’ caravans from Warrington?s Walton Hall car park following a shock Remembrance week-end ?siege?.
The travellers pulled their vans into the pay-and-display car park, which also serves Walton Lea Crematorium, early yesterday {Friday).
Soon reports were coming in alleging that travellers were racing cars and quad bikes around the car park alongside the Bridgewater Canal.
Town Hall legal officers instructed bailiffs who served the travellers with common law notices, giving a 7.00pm Sunday deadline for them to remove their vehicles.
Concrete barriers were also erected to stop travellers from using adjacent parking areas.
Borough council spokesman, Bob Williams, said: “As the law stands, there is nothing more we can do. Our immediate concern is for people attending funerals and visiting the graves of loved ones – particularly this Remembrance week-end.”
He added: “Speeding around the car park is totally unacceptable”.
Town Hall hoped the travellers ?will decide to leave quickly and peacefully?.
Town centre tribute
to victims of conflict
ABOUT 200 people stood in silence at Market Gate, Warrington as a tribute to those who fell in two world wars and more than 70 other conflicts.
The silent tribute came at the llth hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Maroon rockets were fired from the Town Hall roof to signal the start and finish of the two minutes? silence.
After the silence there was a short service, led by the Rector of Warrington, the Rev Michael Findlay and Methodist minister the Rev Stephen Kingsnorth, of the Warrington Borough Ministry.
The Mayor and Mayoress, Coun Hans Mundry and Coun Karen Mundry were also present, together with a number of other councillors, council officers and representatives of the Royal British Legion.
Tomorrow (Sunday), a Service of Remembrance will take place at the war memorial at Bridge Foot.
A services’ parade, including youth detachments, will make its way from the Town Hall through the town centre to the war memorial at Bridge Foot where the Mayor will lead the wreath-laying ceremony.
Members of the public are welcome to attend but are being asked to gather at the memorial no later than 10.45am.
It is anticipated that there will be a build up of traffic, due to the necessary diversions and the number of people wanting to attend the service.
Motorists are being advised, where possible, to avoid the Bridge Foot area between 10am and 11.45am.
Local remembrance services will also be taking place across the borough during the day.
A similar service took place at Lymm Cross where Royal British Legion standard bearers were present and a bugler sounded the Last Post. Chairman of Lymm Parish Council Pam Marks was also present.
Anxious wait for village
over housing scheme
by David Skentelbery
VILLAGERS at Lymm, near Warrington have an anxious month-long wait for the result of a public inquiry into controversial housing proposals.
A planning inspector will rule in early December on whether a scheme to build more than 200 homes on land off Longbutt Lane and Oughtrington Lane can go-ahead.
It was the third inquiry in a seven-year battle over development of the Greenfield site which has also resulted in hearings in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
At one stage local councillor Sheila Woodyatt (pictured) condemned the development as ?looking like Auschwitz?
On another occasion, solicitors warned of possible action because Coun Woodyatt had a ?personal prejudicial interest? in the application because she lived opposite the site.
At the new inquiry, Coun Woodyatt changed her view of the development. Part of it, she said, was reminiscent of post war local authority housing and had no character.
The main entrance block was over dominant and ?would fit in well in East Berlin,? she said.
?We firmly believe these proposals are unsympathetic to the rural nature of the area,? she told the hearing. ?The properties are too high, will have an overbearing impact and are detrimental to the street scene.?
Simultaneously with preparing a case for the inquiry, developers Wilson Connolly ? part of the Taylor Woodrow Group ? have submitted alternative proposals to the borough council.
Although these have yet to be considered by the borough council, Coun Woodyatt said the new proposals gave her fresh hope that a high quality, prestigious development enhancing the area could be achieved.
But the proposals before the inquiry, while they might be excellent in Salford, Manchester or urban Warrington, were unsuitable for Lymm.
She added: ?Over the last 3-4 years, in excess of 900 houses have been built or have been granted planning consent.
?Some of these developments have been hideous and have drastically altered the character of Lymm. Let us not make the same mistake here.?
Meanwhile, Warrington?s development control committee has approved proposals put forward by the developer to ensure half the houses will be ?affordable.?
These will be available on a shared ownership basis or for letting and will range in price from ?69,920 to ?117,040. These will be transferred to a registered social landlord and will only be disposed of to local people living in council or housing association property or unsuitable housing.
Driving home winter
road safety message
by staff reporter
EMERGENCY services will be among Christmas shoppers at Warrington?s Birchwood Centre today(Saturday) to drive home a winter road safety message.
Police, road safety advisors and firefighters hope their awareness campaign will safeguard families.
‘Spike’, the road safety mascot, will meet children and hand out goodie bags; Birchwood firefighters will re-construct a road crash and there will be a rescue demonstration involving cutting equipment.
Parents and children will be invited to take part in a free competition with prizes.
Cheshire Safety Camera Partnership will also show one of their mobile camera units, promoting a ‘slow down’ message to drivers.
Borough council spokesman, Coun Jeff Richards, said: “Road safety is very important as winter sets in. We must be aware of the hazards and develop schemes to help keep everyone safe”.
New school would look
“more like warehouse”
by Lesley Wilkinson
DESIGN plans for the proposed new Stockton Heath Primary School building look more like a “retail warehouse” than a school according to Liberal Democrats.
Leader of Warrington’s Lib Dems Coun Ian Marks, said: “The new building must be sympathetic to the locality and one that local people will be proud of. We know many local people are very fond of the current school and it’s a great shame it must be demolished.
“Warrington has precious few buildings that are part of its historic heritage. Where possible, we should be incorporating facets of the current building into the new one to provide links with the past,” he added.
He said the decision to demolish and rebuild the school was made by Warrington Borough Council’s Executive Board, which consists of 10 Labour members with no Lib Dem presence or influence.
“Ideally the new school would have been built on a new site nearby so that the existing building could have been retained and used for another purpose,” he said.
“Unfortunately no suitable site is available on the Stockton Heath side of the canal and building on the north side is too far away for young children from the village,” he added.
He said that Lib Dems share the view of teachers and education chiefs that the building is not up to standard. He said it was important to provide the best school for the future.
“It was my colleague Coun Celia Jordan who put pressure on the council to seriously look at the option of extending and rebuildi
ng the existing school because we hoped this would provide the solution,” he said.
“Unfortunately it turned out this would have been extremely disruptive for the children over a period of up to two years. It would have cost half a million pounds more and this money would not have been available to spend on other schools in the town,” he added.
He urged local residents to support the new build and to fight for a quality design that the community can be proud of.
Community group
celebrate award
by Gary Skentelbery
A COMMUNITY group based at Fearnhead Cross, Warrington, is celebrating after being presented with a special award.
Members of the “Bits n Bobs” group based at Fearnhead Community Centre have been presented with a Co-Op Community Award worth ?100 to help purchase items for their group which helps people in the area learn new skills.
A chance to share
wartime memories
by staff reporter
A CHANCE to share wartime memories or learn about the era is being offered at Great Sankey Library, Warrington, on Thursday November 17 from 2pm to 4pm.
Staff are inviting people to share an afternoon of nostalgia over tea and biscuits.
To add to the atmosphere there will be live music from Freddie Lloyd, who will be performing old favourites for visitors to sing along to. There will also be an exhibition of World War II memorabilia including photographs and books.
Everyone is invited to the free event and details are available from the library on 01925 231451.
Poppy collection boxes
stolen in village centre
by David Skentelbery
TWO Poppy collection boxes have been stolen from Lymm, near Warrington.
Both had been fastened down with cords – and in both cases the cords had been cut to enable the collection box to be removed.
One was taken from Barclay’s Bank and the other from Lloyd’s Chemists.
Royal British Legion president Raymond Massey said he was sickened by the thefts.
“It says something about the age in which we live,” he said. “When people will steal charity collection boxes without, apparently, any conscience, it makes you wonder what sort of a society we are living in.”
Mr Massey said Poppy Day collection boxes had been stolen in previous years.
Last year they were stolen from Barclays, Lymm Post Office, the Village Greengrocers, St Mary’s Parish Church and Lymm Baptist Church.
“This year we took the extra precaution of tying the boxes down with string. But the thieves cut through the cord.
“The people of Lymm are very generous in what they give. Last year we raised more than ?8,000, with ?1,212 being collected at the Somerfield supermarket alone.
“We don’t know how much we will collect this year, but obviously it would have been more if the boxes had not been stolen.
