PLANNING chiefs would 'lose control' of development in the borough and houses would be built without the required infrastructure if the council does not 'step up to the challenge' it faces.

Concerns have been raised after it was revealed 24,000 new homes are required in the town by 2037, with 9,000 on green belt land, if Warrington is to meet its development needs.

Council leader Cllr Terry O'Neill said the authority is 'doing its best to realise its ambitions and be in control of its own destiny'.

He added: "I don't think we have any chance of getting anything from Government due to the austerity measures.

"We need to put the infrastructure in place, as well as other services, to accommodate for the growth we are experiencing.

"We live in the town and recognise what the issues are – we won't do anything detrimental to the future of Warrington.

"We are trying to make sure we have the money in place so we can make the decisions, not civil servants in Whitehall, or someone in Westminster.

"The reason we are using green belt is to get value from the land.

"I suppose there is a price to pay of taking some green belt in the south – but the price is worth paying, for me, if we can provide relief to the gridlock.

"Nothing will go in until we put the infrastructure in first, we won't just build houses."

Cllr Judith Guthrie, executive board member for environment and public protection, is confident the town's air pollution problems can also be tackled.

She said: "It is all about ensuring we get the contributions from developers.

"We want it to be right for the people of Warrington.

"One of the key things is getting the infrastructure right.

"If you can decrease congestion in Warrington then we will be able to do something radical for air pollution, it all ties in."

Michael Bell, the council’s planning policy and programme manager, confirmed the authority received more than 150 submissions during its local plan 'call for sites' – enough for almost 50,000 homes across the borough.

He insists there are 'real consequences' of not going ahead with the ambitious development proposals.

"The preferred development option is not the final version of the plan – it identifies the main areas where we see growth," he said.

"We are trying to be positive about growth but only when infrastructure comes with it too.

"The risk is that we exacerbate congestion and developers being able to pick us off one by one.

"We have to prepare a local plan – we can't pretend there could be no development here.

"People want to come to Warrington.

"If we don't step up to the challenge people would chip away at us with individual applications and we would start to lose appeals and control and get houses without infrastructure, or the secretary of state would come in and do it for us."