Six/56 Inspectors urged to not back off

The future of Green Belt land earmarked for a giant distribution site next to Junction 20 of the M6 is back in the balance.

Two weeks ago, we were all astounded when the Six/56 Public Inquiry on the planning application for this land was suddenly adjourned until October. This was due to a letter from Natural England questioning the legitimacy of the process that had been carried out up to that point.

We now know that the Consultation on the wider Local Plan has started up again to consider the future of this land and the adjoining Stobart site. The two Local Plan Inspectors were adamant that this land should not be removed from the Green Belt but the prospective developer, Langtree, strongly believed it should be.

Because of this stand-off it appears that the Inspectors feel the need to look at this issue again. Local Councillors and residents are determined to fight to uphold the Inspectors' initial view and retain this Green Belt land, avoiding the harm that would result from losing it. We will be asking our planning and legal advisors to submit more evidence to support our case.

Warrington Council says that a reason for opening the Consultation up for another six weeks is because not everyone received notification about the 'Proposed Main Modifications' after the first Consultation ended in April. I have asked who was not made aware of this.

Although we are unhappy that housing numbers have not been reduced, a lack of clarity about physical and social infrastructure and other matters, we do need an approved Local Plan to rein in a developers' free-for-all. I passionately hope the Local Plan Inspectors will stick to their guns and retain the Green Belt, and that Langtree will then abandon its development proposal.