Readers may well be aware of the substantial developments proposed in Appleton and Grappenhall Heys, on the land owned by the Homes & Communities Agency. This land has been in HCA ownership since Warrington New Town and indeed the current Grappenhall Heys community was developed as one of many phases on HCA land. The fact that this land has very publicly (see the many signs around the land) in HCA ownership means that most residents expected development at some point. The long gap since the first phase of Grappenhall Heys is largely the result of changing government policies towards housing development on greenfield sites, as well as the impact of the 2008 recession.

The current proposals cover three developments – Grappenhall Heys, Appleton Cross and Stretton – with around 800 houses being planned. There are some amenities planned in Appleton Cross and promised in Grappenhall Heys, but these lack detailed plans and firm commitments at this moment in time. Current residents would benefit from these amenities as much as residents of the new developments; it is provision of such amenities that may help offset the impact of the development on current residents. Firm timeframes and detailed plans for the amenities is needed before anybody, myself included, will offer any level of support for these developments.

The most significant impact of these developments, together with the prospective development by Bloor Homes at Appleton Thorn, is the two-thousand or so additional cars which will be added to the local roads, which are already struggling, especially at peak times. Residents are familiar with the pinch points – Lumb Brook bridge & traffic lights, the Lyons Lane/London Road junction, the Cat & Lion junction, the crossroads in Appleton Thorn and the roundabout at Barleycastle. The Stretton roundabout certainly doesn’t help, but the traffic doesn’t seem as bad as these other pinch points, and is less likely to be so severely impacted by the new developments. Already there can be lengthy queues to get through these pinch points and extra cars will not help, especially for commuters and school traffic. The brochures issued by the HCA make much of public transport and cycle routes, but local residents will know that such suggestions are somewhere between the absurd and the downright misleading. Most of the new houses will have off street parking for two or more cars. Most residents of the new housing will probably have jobs which involve getting as quickly as possible to the motorway, either at Stretton or at Lymm. As such roads such as Lumb Brook, Lyons Lane, Stretton Road and London Road will become even more inundated with traffic.

Yet, despite this glaring issue, next to nothing has been said about improving traffic infrastructure. The HCA and their representatives have placed much of the responsibility on Warrington Borough Council, however the scale of improvements required surely cannot fall solely on WBC to provide and finance. No, the HCA and their developers must shoulder their share of the costs. To not provide the improvements to transport, the impact on residents, both current and future, would be unbearable. In light of this, my position is very clear that I cannot support any new development without very clear and firm promises on transport infrastructure.

Other issues include the provision of health services and schools. Certainly the need for additional GP capacity is critical. Stockton Heath and Stretton surgeries are both full. A new clinic, or the properly funded expansion (if possible) of current clinics is needed. Perhaps a new clinic, in walking distance of the new developments, will be better in light of the aforementioned traffic woes. School provision is perhaps less of an issue, as Appleton Thorn has capacity and Grappenhall Heys was built with expansion in mind. That said, expansion needs proper funding and Bridgewater High School needs to be properly consulted to check that they would have secondary capacity in future. At the moment, Bridgewater does take a significant number of pupils from outside the area, such as from Sandymoore. Whilst places should ideally go to local families, it would be better if some joined up thinking allowed a successful school to reasonably expand, rather than to have to turn applicants away, in an era where funding is solely calculated on pupil numbers.

To help provide an opportunity to local residents to express their concerns, my fellow local councillors and I are hosting a public meeting at Appleton Parish Hall on Tuesday 25th October, at 7:30pm. Please do attend if you can as it will form the basis for our future plans in terms of how we respond to the proposals on behalf of residents.

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