WHAT kind of a town do we want?

We’re told that Warrington has to grow over the next 20 years – central government demands it.

We might debate the precise number of homes we have to build but there’s no doubt that we need a Local Plan that delivers a large number of new homes. So what should we build, and where?

Warrington Borough Council has decided that green belt should be sacrificed as well as Peel Hall – the last large green space in the north of the town, and a wildlife haven after 30 years of disputed planning applications.

The rest of us are baffled by this ‘vision’ – we look at the empty shops in the town centre and wonder why we’re not turning some of these spaces into homes – bringing vitality and footfall to the restaurants, shops and other businesses there.

It isn’t as if the internet is going away. We also wonder why sections of the town centre aren’t completely redesigned – a mix of affordable and aspirational homes right where the culture is.

Maybe (whisper it) we could afford a proper theatre, to go with the chain restaurants which seem to be the apex of WBC’s ambition.

We look at the transport infrastructure – mostly while we’re sitting in it, waiting to get somewhere – and wonder if any of it was planned at all.

We look at some of the recently built structures and wonder where they find so many blind architects.

We need a much bolder vision for this town. We also need a sense of aesthetics.

We need to tear up the draft Local Plan – it’s a disgrace, pleasing only the developers – and find some people with vision, brains, common sense and a bit of style to look at Warrington and redesign it for the next century – including our precious green spaces.

I have the greatest respect for anybody who gives their time to serve on a council. The ‘good’ news for our current councillors is that they might have a lot more free time after May 2020, because they have somehow managed to alienate north and south, rich and poor simultaneously.

JIM SULLIVAN Fearnhead