Future's in their hands (From Warrington Guardian)

Future's in their hands

YEARS of planning, thousands of views and months of debate will come together at the Town Hall to shape the future of Warrington in the early 21st century.

Last week the painstaking process of determining the town's future direction - from the number of homes constructed and protection of the green belt, to our priorities for transport, economic growth and waste management - officially began.

Over the next five months, during the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) public inquiry, planning inspector Paul Graham and his assistant Gwynn Rowlands will hear point and counterpoint about what's best for the town's growth and prosperity, from councillors, developers and interest groups.

Proposals to limit housebuilding to 380 properties annually, up to 2016, will be thrashed out - no mean feat considering the number of outstanding planning permissions and New Town consents already outstanding.

Another key topic is expected to be Omega, where the balance between employment needs and its impact on the surrounding area will be scrutinised.

Controversial suggestions will be aired, such as the anticipated Bridge Foot Bypass, the route of which is safeguarded under the UDP.

The same applies to an east-west link road linking Birchwood Way with Winwick Road, diverting traffic away from Long Lane but cutting across a swathe of Orford Park.

And while the much-despised north-south link road, which would have devastated parts of old Padgate, has long since been abandoned, land is still set aside for a new high level bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal, linking Ackers Road, Stockton Heath, with Station Road, Latchford.

The various stages of the UDP have provoked thousands of responses. Objections, totalling 13,000 plus, narrowly outstrip supportive comments (10,800).

When the council scrapped one policy, aiming to safeguard hundreds of hectares across the borough for development post-2016, thousands of residents signalled their approval.

Likewise an 11th hour decision to axe proposals promoting land near Fiddlers Ferry power station for economic regeneration led to 1,700 letters of support.

If the Guardian's postbag is anything to go by one pledge should be almost universally acclaimed.

Maybe keen to shake off Warrington's tag as the "dustbin of the north west", the plan says more landfill sites will be "discouraged", while urging our north west neighbours to consider dumping their rubbish a little closer to home.

l The former Warrington Borough Local Plan was abandoned following the council gaining unitary status in 1998. Representing the council at the inquiry is Manchester barrister Colin Crawford.