A PEACEFUL protest took place by residents who are still in a ‘state of shock’ about the road changes in the Latchford and Westy area.

One resident now even refers to her address as ‘the cage’ following the traffic restrictions put in place by Warrington Borough Council.

The restrictions come under WBC’s Central 6 Streets Plan which aims to reduce vehicle traffic and improve conditions for those walking, cycling and living along the streets.

The plan involves the installation of planters, known as modal filters, which have blocked busy roads including Grange Avenue off in Latchford.

The protest, which took place on Monday, was meant to be a similar style to the previous peaceful one, however as the council meeting was moved to the new Warrington Youth Zone it became a silent protest.

Warrington Guardian:

Campaigners didn’t want to cause any worry or distress to the children using the new facilities so chose to stay quiet.

But it was still ‘went well’ with around 80 people turning up and plenty more signatures were received for the campaign group’s vote of no confidence regarding WBC.

The online petition currently stands at just under 2,000 signatures and there are hundreds more on paper.

Rachael Harper, who founded and leads the campaign, said: “One thing from the protest was clear - people are still frustrated, people are still determined to fight (peacefully) to ensure democracy is upheld in regards to the Central 6 Street Plan in this town.

“Our council has said they are listening, but we are more interested in what they are doing with feedback than what they are saying.

“It gave me a really good opportunity to speak to a lot of people about their feelings on the scheme.

“Most of them are still in a state of shock that their council has forced something like this through with such little consultation.”

Jayne Savage is a member of the admin team for the Central 6 Streets Plan campaign and she was also at the silent protest on Monday.

Jayne lives in Latchford on a road affected by the traffic changes. She told the Warrington Guardian how she now uses ‘the cage’ in her address.

She said: “Overnight someone has decided how I have to leave my house and turn right on a busy main road and head towards Latchford Swing Bridge – whether I want to or not.

“The day before this happened I would always exit via the Cheshire Cheese end so that had choices on what route to take to work  - and I have no other option but to drive, so being told my some random person that this will get me out on a bike is rather patronising!”

Rachael, Jayne and the rest of the team are currently planning the next protest which will be a march from Orford to Latchford.

Jayne added: “We will continue, we have to have a voice, and we expect a much bigger turn out to our next protest, a March from Orford to Latchford.”

You can find the e-petition here: https://www.change.org/p/a-public-vote-of-no-confidence-in-wbc-over-the-central-6-street-plan-process