PARKING concerns have been raised following the council’s approval of plans to build a new apartment complex in Sankey Bridges.

The proposed plans to build an apartment block consisting of 12 single bedroom flats on Bramhall Street has been met with angst by one resident who claims homeowners are already at ‘breaking point’ with the parking situation on the street.

A resident, who wishes not to be named, has expressed concern for the future apartments which will be built on the former site of the H and H Clare garage.

In a letter sent to Warrington Guardian, they said: “The council approved another multiple occupancy house which is the old H and H Clare Garage which will have 12 rooms.

“Parking is awful, residents can’t park due to hospital staff, people going into town, shopping and working.”

Providing a glimpse into the everyday chaos that encroaches on the street, a picture was sent in which showed parked cars lining both sides of the street back-to-back.

Meanwhile the council has confirmed that the approval of plans back in August 2019, did come with consideration for parking for new residents and old.

A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “Planning consent was initially granted for flats at Bramhall Road in August 2019 and there have been further, agreed amendments to the scheme since then. 

“Parking for the proposed development was fully considered as part of the decision to grant planning permission.”

The resident on the street confirmed that HMOs in the surrounding area already attract many to park on both Bramhall Street and Wellfield Street.

They added: “Residents have had enough parking two streets down sometimes and the council can’t be bothered to sort permits out for the residents of Bramhall Street however they are quick to approve buildings being built.

“Residents are at breaking point.”

Further responding to this concern, a council spokesperson stated: “It was concluded that there would be no significant adverse impacts as a result of the development, in accordance with planning policies and taking into account site specific matters. Details of the assessment are available to view on our planning portal."

In light of the parking issues that the currently being faced across both Warrington and Cheshire, Cheshire Police have announced the roll out of a new project Operation Park which will see residents be able to report illegal parking problems to an online portal.

Residents will be able to upload videos and photographs of offending vehicles to the website where they will be assessed by an experienced traffic officer, who will triage and deal with any dangerous parking offences.

Meanwhile any minor traffic obstructions or community impact issues will be allocated to the local PCSO or Beat officers to deal with in an appropriate manner.

This will be in place across Warrington from Thursday, February 1.

Sergeant Russell Sime of Cheshire Police said: “Road safety is always an important issue to members of the public and I’m pleased the pilot of Op Park Safe was successful and it will now be rolled out force-wide.

“We cannot be everywhere - this initiative relies on the help of active citizens to aid us in making the roads safer. It is also important to note there are some offences which do not come under our control, however we will always try our best to resolve parking issues.

“We hope residents will make use of this initiative so we can all work together to make our communities a safer place to live.”