MORE than 820 residents have signed a petition calling on the Government to refuse funding for the £195 million Western Link scheme.

The petition, created by Patrick Birnie, says the ‘negative impacts to the people of Warrington are too severe to warrant’ the cost, disruption, increase in traffic, destruction of green belt land and increased air pollution.

The Government will respond to the petition if it gains 10,000 signatures and it will be considered for debate in Parliament if it gets 100,000.

So far, 822 people have signed it – including 676 from Warrington South and 72 from Warrington North.

The proposed scheme, which would link the A56 Chester Road with the A57 Sankey Way in Great Sankey, was planned to cost £145 million but the figure has increased to £195 million.

At the current outline business case stage, the properties that are set to be acquired for demolition are two occupied residential properties on Baronet Road, one on Chester Road and The Sloop Inn, on Old Liverpool Road, four unoccupied residential properties on Baronet Road, business sites home to Warrington Landscapes Centre, G.H. Rigby & Sons, UK Trackway Hire and Democracy Counts.

Part of the land to the east of the garages at Sankey Bridge Autos would also be required, as well as eight detached garages on Eastford Road.

In his preferred route consultation response, Warrington South MP Faisal Rashid said ‘all possible efforts’ need to be made to ‘minimise the impact on neighbourhoods and the people who live in them’.

He added: “Residents now need the fine detail of the precise impact of the scheme on their properties and neighbourhoods and I hope that further comprehensive consultation is undertaken before the specifics of the scheme are put before the executive board for approval.

“While the residents of the wider area welcome the potential to travel across the borough, avoiding the undoubted congestion at Bridge Foot, others in the vicinity of the scheme understandably require reassurance and more specific information about the precise details of the scheme.

“To that end, further direct consultation with those affected will be essential and I am happy to facilitate this process by hosting meetings and providing support to my constituents.”

If the route is approved by the council’s executive board on November 13, the business case will be presented to the Department for Transport in December.

The deadline for the petition is March 28 next year.

To view it head to petition.parliament.uk/petitions/201008.