PART two of a public inquiry into plans to regenerate Parkside in Newton-le-Willows has begun, with attention shifting to the £40 million link road scheme.

Proposals to redevelop the former colliery were originally submitted in January 2018 by Parkside Regeneration LLP, a joint venture between commercial developers Langtree and St Helens Borough Council.

In December 2019, St Helens Council’s planning committee granted outline planning permission for the first phase of the site’s development, which would see it transformed into a major logistics hub.

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Full planning permission was granted at the same meeting to build a single carriageway road built from the former colliery to Winwick Lane, adjacent to Junction 22 of the M6 motorway, by-passing congestion at Winwick.

Warrington Borough Council also granted full planning permission for the cross-border link road scheme – which is seen as a vital step to opening up future phases of the Parkside development – in December 2019.

The Parkside site is viewed as a major employment site for the region, with St Helens Council securing £24 million of the £40 million scheme from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Strategic Investment Fund (SIF).

Due to the size of the development, all of the planning applications related to the site were referred to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and subsequently called in.

The first half of the public inquiry dealt with the phase one application, and concluded last Friday.

For the next fortnight, the inquiry will look at the Parkside Link Road scheme, often referred to as the PLR.

Today, the inquiry heard the opening arguments from Parkside Regeneration LLP, St Helens and Warrington councils, and Parkside Action Group.

Representing St Helens Council as the applicant, John Barrett said: “The Parkside site is a key regeneration site of a strategic nature, and importance given its proximity to existing transport infrastructure and the potential employment opportunities for the entire Liverpool City Region.

“There has been consistent interest in bringing the Parkside site forward for development, including an SRFI (strategic rail freight interchange). This is fully set out in the applicant’s evidence.

“The previous proposals did not come to fruition, owing to the up-front infrastructure costs to deliver a successful scheme.

“This clearly indicated that public sector intervention was required.

“In short, it is the applicant’s case that the Parkside link road is the single most important facilitating factor in order to bring forward the Parkside development, including the strategic rail freight interchange.

“Specifically, the PLR is addressing previous market failure by providing the high-cost infrastructure necessary in order to render redevelopment a viable proposition.”

In conclusion, Mr Barrett urged Dominic Young, the planning inspector heading up the inquiry, to conclude that “very special circumstances” are shown to exist and clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt and any other harm caused.

Giles Cannock QC returned to the public inquiry to argue the case on behalf of St Helens Borough Council in its capacity as the local planning authority.

He insisted the local planning authority has been “clearly separated” from the applicant.

“The authority has assessed this application as it would any other,” Mr Cannock said.

“This is a quite usual process, indeed there’s no alternative process by which a council, who of course often form joint ventures for regeneration projects or form the applicant infrastructure projects, can determine such planning applications.

“And sir I note that the officers and consultants are independent and bound by the professional codes of their bodies.

“Accordingly, significant weight should be attached to the local authority’s case at this inquiry because it has robustly and carefully undertaken precisely the same statutory and policy exercise to be undertaken by you sir, and the Secretary of State in due course.”

Speaking on behalf of Warrington Borough Council, Sarah Reid said officers “carefully and independently” scrutinised the application, seeking technical advice and taking into account representations from the local community.

Ms Reid said: “It is the considered opinion of Warrington Borough Council that planning permission should be granted for this development.

“This is an application that is in accordance with the development plan and the framework and should, in the authority’s respectful submission, be approved without delay, in accordance with paragraph 11 of the framework.”

St Helens Star: An aerial view of the proposed link road An aerial view of the proposed link road

Speaking in opposition of the plans, Dave Tyas, chairman of Parkside Action Group, set out a range of reasons why the planning inspector should reject the link road scheme.

Mr Tyas said the development is “unsustainable” and has numerous harmful impacts.

He said the economic gains are “questionable” and argued that the case for ‘very special circumstances’ needed to justify building on green belt land had clearly not been met.

Mr Tyas said economic need has not been established and said in the current circumstances, they cannot be established.

He also said PAG is particularly concerned about the cumulative impact of the further development expected to come as a result of the link road scheme.

The PAG chairman also accused the applicant of failing to adequately engage with the community throughout the planning process.

“We don’t think the proponents of this scheme have any real understanding of or commitment to meaningful community and stakeholder engagement,” Mr Tyas said.

“This is very much a case of planning being done to the community rather than through an iterative process supporting a positive outcome and local consensus or by-in and acceptance of future development.

“The community ought not to be treated as an iteration or an inconvenience, which is what it has felt like to us. And that’s our perception at least.

“We support the need or sustainable development and regeneration, but this should meet the needs of the area and local economics and be sustainable against the very real and urgent context of climate change. We don’t support unconceived regeneration which fails to diversify the employment base of the local area, of the Liverpool City Region and North West.”

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Over the next fortnight, the public inquiry will hear a range of evidence on a wide range of topics relating to Parkside Link Road Scheme.

Several witnesses will be cross examined.

The inquiry is due to conclude on Friday, January 29.