There was a good turnout of Appleton and Grappenhall residents at the Warrington Borough Council (WBC) Development Management Committee meeting on Wednesday evening.

Despite ‘warnings’ and requests from local Councillors prior to the meeting, the meeting had not been moved to a venue that could safely accommodate the large number of citizens wishing to express their concern at the planned developments by the HCA at Appleton Cross and Grappenhall Heys.

Waiting in the lobby before the meeting.

Only 43 people could apparently fit into the room where the meeting was being held, which left a much larger number than that outside in the lobby and an adjacent Committee Room, with proceedings expected to be relayed via a speaker system.

Consideration of the HCA applications deferred to a future meeting

Having fitted as many as possible into the room and some 15 minutes after the meeting was due to start, the Chair of the Committee announced that there was far too many people here for this meeting and so he was deferring consideration of the HCA applications to a later date so that the meeting can be held in a venue that can safely accommodate all those wishing to attend.

Appleton and Grappenhall residents generally felt that this was a sensible course of action, despite having spent up to an hour getting to the meeting through typically slow South Warrington traffic.  One couple, who had experienced particular difficulty, only arrived as large numbers of residents poured out of the Town Hall following the postponement.

It is understood that the Committee will aim to secure use of the Pyramid for when the HCA applications are next considered. We must ensure that we have an even greater turnout at that meeting to press local concerns over the effect of 1,000 new houses on highways, health and education infrastructure.

A view of the meeting from the back row!