A politician has opposed plans to build hundreds of new homes in a north Cheshire town.
Warrington Borough Council passed plans to build 310 new homes in the Thelwall area last night (Monday.) The Local Plan was approved despite opposition from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.
Lymm North and Thelwall Councillor Ian Marks has opposed the plans. He has said the proposed site of the development is on greenbelt land, reports Cheshire Live.
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Cllr Marks said: “I am the deputy chairman of the South Warrington Parish Councils’ Planning Group and we will be fielding our planning consultant and barrister to fight the opposing case on behalf of all the local residents who do not like the current version.
“We accept there must be an approved plan which is sound, otherwise the council will lose control of development and the developers will get their way. We oppose the current plan because the housing targets set by the Government are still too high, exceptional circumstances have not been demonstrated to justify green belt release in many places, there is little control over making developers build on brownfield sites before the easy pickings of green fields, a lack of physical and social infrastructure, greater dependency on road travel generating congestion and pollution and insufficient concern for meeting climate change aspirations.
“Residents in the Thelwall part of my ward were shocked to find that 310 houses are now planned for Thelwall Heys. A public inquiry in 2004 found this area should not be developed because it functioned well as green belt.
“It is prone to flooding and is a much-valued open space. There is also the possibility of the new east-west rail route going slap bang through the centre of it at some future date.”
