I’M struggling to remember a time when there were so many organised protest groups in the town.

We have had the ‘Save Peel Hall’ group, ‘Save the Libraries’ group, various groups opposed to the Western Link Road routes and groups fighting against the Warrington Local Plan preferred development op- tion which would see 24,000 homes built in the town. Obviously some of these groups are currently more active than others.

The library campaigners are waiting for the outcome of the council’s review and the Western Link protesters now seem to have coalesced on stopping the so-called Red Route.

And now we have a protest group that aims to save the Sloop pub which will have to be demolished if the Red Route goes ahead. As I see it, the protests are a result of two particular sets of circumstances.

In the first instance, there’s austerity and cutbacks in Government funding that has put pressure on the council’s ability to provide services.

But the second issue seems to be of the council’s own making – a head- long drive for massive growth.

We’ve seen it time and again – fruitless bids for city status and city of culture status and that huge house- building expansion plan.

These are certainly grandiose plans for Warrington.

But is bigger always better? I think the answer to that is no, not always.

Sometimes small and perfectly formed is much more preferable to large and sprawling.

Take airports for example.

Given the choice, I would always elect to fly from Liverpool.

Everything about it is much smaller than its big brother down the road in Manchester. Parking is easier, check-in is easier to navigate, security is quicker – you get the picture.

As I see it, we have enough big cities in the north west, we don’t need another one. I believe Warrington should be aiming to be more of a ‘Liverpool Airport’.

I’m inclined to agree with the sentiments of the Save Warrington cam- paign’s 38 degrees online petition which questions the ‘aspirations for massive growth’ fearing ‘the adverse impact which would significantly and demonstrably outweigh any sup- posed benefits’.

The petition calls on Warrington Borough Council to ‘concentrate on delivering a draft local plan which reflects the true needs and aspirations of the residents of Warrington’.

The main thrust of the petition seeks to protect the green belt from development and calls for the housing target to be ‘significantly re - duced to reflect true local need.

Interestingly, the campaigners insist on a right to ‘self-determination’ and insist the people of Warrington are granted fair and genuine opportunity at all times and in all circumstances to participate fully and effectively in shaping the future of the town we live in.

And that’s where the conflict lies.

We elected our current council and in doing so we handed over responsi- bility for decision-making.

What we’ve got is an ambitious (some might say over-ambitious) council intent on an expansionist policy and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

I understand the council is under pressure to meet Government-imposed house building targets and the adoption of the local plan will give greater planning control to fight off speculative applications from property developers. Having said that, I would really like to see the council adopt a ‘less is more’ policy where development is concerned.

  • I don’t mind paying my way but I hate being ripped off.

I went to Manchester on Friday and parked at one of the pay and display car parks near Central Station.

After tapping my car registration number into the machine, I set about feeding it the required £2.50.

It took the £1 coins just fine but spat out the 10p, 20p and 50p pieces.

With my train approaching, I was forced to put in another £1 coin to get my ticket. Needless to say the ma- chine didn’t give change.

I wonder if I was just unlucky or if this is a commonplace event. Let me know about your experiences.