Cheers and applause broke out in the public gallery when the decision was announced to reject a planning application
Chapel Lane in Widnes(Image: Google)
A major new housing development on the outskirts of Merseyside has been held up after residents raised safety concerns about an access road. The project will create 350 homes in Widnes and is been assessed by Halton Council, but the access point is located in Knowsley, and on a stretch of road residents say is dangerous to cross.
The project already has already been examined by Halton Council’s planning committee, but the access onto Chapel Lane is within the borough of Knowsley and hence, that part of the proposal had to be presented at Knowsley’s planning committee.
The Liverpool ECHO reported on the proposal’s first hearing in Knowsley on October 9. People local to Chapel Lane objected on the grounds of road safety, and the application was held up pending further investigation and a site visit.
The ECHO understands the site visit took place on Wednesday (November 5), and Taylor Wimpey’s proposals were again presented to Knowsley’s planning committee last night (November 6). During the course of this meeting, three residents of Chapel Lane spoke in objection to the plans, including Sue Fealey.
Ms Fealey outlined her concerns about road safety in the area and the risk more traffic would pose to the local residents, she said: “You might not know about the 83-year-old who walks the lane for health reasons, but also because he lives on his own, has no family and likes to stop and talk to people.
“He told me, if the changes happen, he will worry about his safety and stay at home. Or the lady with the son who has a brain injury and needs to get out, up and down the lane every day for his mental health as mum doesn’t drive.
“Mum says he doesn’t like too much noise, and she is worried with the additional traffic and waggons, he will refuse to go out. These are people with protected characteristics.”
Ms Fealey added: “I’m asking you to think about all those vulnerable people that have lived on that lane for years, whose lives are going to be made worse by this change.”
The objections were followed by Vanessa Eggleston from i-Transport who spoke in support of the developer’s application, she said: “Taylor Wimpey has worked collaboratively with the council throughout the determination of the application. A number of queries were raised with members of the last committee, and we hope that the recent member site visit has helped to address those areas of concern.
“A package of traffic calming measures along Chapel Lane has been designed in consultation with the council’s highways officers. The details of the scheme will be refined with the council with a further consultation exercise in due course.
“The package of measures which will also benefit existing residents, and includes a combination of chicane build outs, speed cushions, additional crossing points on Chapel Lane and associated road markings and signage.”
One of the councillors who attended the site visit was Cllr Jayne Lonergan, she said: “I’ve listened to residents. I’ve listened to councillors who’ve made the point about the excessive speeds on Chapel Lane, and seen it myself. It’s very much narrower than I initially thought.
“An awful lot of traffic goes down there, and this application will undoubtedly create more traffic. I understand that there’s travel plans, planned for the for the application. But if I was a young child or a mother taking out that young child, I wouldn’t want to be using Chapel Lane to take them to school, because it’s bad enough as it is at the moment.”
Cllr Lonergan then proposed a motion for the planning committee to reject the application, which was passed with a majority vote, followed by cheers and applause from the public gallery.
After the decision was confirmed, Sue Fealey said she wanted to thank Knowsley Council for listening to their concerns. She told the ECHO: “We are immensely grateful that the Planning Committee took the time to visit our Lane and witness first hand the potential dangers that this proposed access point would have presented.”
Ms Fealey added: “The collective effort in submitting a significant number of objections against the proposal demonstrated the strength of the community spirit. It is times like this, when facing threats like this, we need to support each other, especially the vulnerable people who have made this village their home for many years.”