People power

9:04am Thursday 25th January 2007

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PEOPLE power paid off this week as council leader Brian Spencer scrapped a plan to bulldoze a green oasis to make way for 421 parking spaces.

Lib Dem councillor Brian Spencer, who was confronted by angry neighbours on a visit to Sutton Park on Tuesday, negotiated with Taylor Woodrow who had intended to use the car park for construction workers on the multi-million re-development of St Helens Hospital.

Cllr Spencer said: "I did ask officers to contact Taylor Woodrow with a view to withdrawing the application and as a result, they have agreed not to go ahead. They will look at alternative arrangements. They are an amenable company who are doing a lot of work locally. At the end of the day we are elected by the people, but I did have concerns over the application, the lighting and certain traffic issues."

Around 200 people fired questions at him about the proposals on his visit.

The first many heard about the plans was in a letter last Saturday (Jan 20), notifying them that the proposals could see part of the park flattened to make room for 421 cars.

Jane Walker (32) from nearby Marina Avenue told The Star that residents will fight any development. The mother of four boys said it would have a devastating effect: "The reason we bought this house was because our boys would have that park to play in. They built a temporary car park at Whiston Hospital on Delph Lane and it is still going strong.

"We pay at least £20,000 extra for these houses because of the location. Some people have been here all their lives. One of our neighbours is 94."

Jane said that within days of the notification, posters declaring neighbours' defiance were plastered in windows.

She also claims to have found a legal document, which declares that Sherdley and Sutton Park were gifts to the people of St Helens and were to be used for recreational use only.

Danny McCarthy, project liaison manager at Taylor Woodrow who submitted the application on December 19, stressed that it is not the only site they had been considering.

He said Sutton Park was one of several proposals put forward, which have to meet certain criteria, including tackling drainage problems in the site.

Other areas under consideration are on Marshalls Cross Road and the former UGB site. However Mr McCarthy argued that it was unreasonable to expect workmen to lug their tools more than a mile.

If the plans had gone ahead, Lisa Bundock (33) doubted whether the park would ever be restored to its former glory'. She said that it would have been a blot on the landscape and the erosion of one of the few green areas left in the town, adding: "Instead of taking my children and pets around trees and fields, I would have been walking on tarmac with spotlights and polluting metal boxes."

• It is believed that the park was opened in 1903.