DEVELOPERS have successfully had Warrington Borough Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for a 1,200-home development at Peel Hall overturned.

The council’s development management committee rejected Cheltenham-based Satnam’s controversial application during a meeting at the Pyramid Centre back in 2017.

A previous appeal was dismissed by the Secretary of State the following year, but this decision was quashed by the High Court in October 2019.

As a result, a second public inquiry into the plans began in September 2020 and closed in March this year.

The Planning Inspectorate’s final decision on the scheme was published this afternoon, Tuesday.

And the appeal has been upheld, meaning that the project for the farmland in Houghton Green can proceed.

Campaigner Wendy Johnson, of the Save Peel Hall group, said of the decision: “We are utterly devastated and stunned – there are no words in the thesaurus that can adequately describe how we feel right now, we are just numb.

“This decision will have a devastating impact on north Warrington and the rest of our town in a truly disastrous way. The stability of where we live will be shattered.

“Our lives will never be the same again and we lose an important, vital green space that has given us cleaner air, wonderful wildlife and peace for decades.”

Ms Johnson said the ‘Frankenstein monster of a scheme’ would result in a deterioration in health due to noise and air pollution, leading to an increase in ‘unnecessary premature deaths’.

She also predicted ‘sheer chaos’ on roads in the area, but added: “As campaigners, we could not have done any more.

“We were up against crazy planning legislation and guidelines that favour the developer and not the people.

“The decision is wrong – it should never come to this sad and sorry state of affairs.

“I fear the worse for where we live right now. I am completely torn apart.

“All I can say is, we did our best - we’ve fought for more than 30 years and it’s been hard slog.

“We have been followed and supported by hundreds of amazing residents.

“All I can say to them is our heartfelt thanks.

“I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart that we couldn’t stop this nightmare from rolling forward, but we can assure them that our involvement will not end here as we intend to work closely with the council and the developers to make sure we get the best that we can possibly achieve for Peel Hall and our community.”

The Planning Inspectorate’s report stated that the development would have ‘no unacceptable adverse effect’ on noise pollution or air quality, while there was ‘no evidence of viable alternative strategies’ to the site access proposed.

Warrington Borough Council has been contacted for comment.