Time is running out! The CWAC consultation about the proposed housing development on Wrexham Road will close on Wednesday 16 November 2016 and it is vital that you make the Council aware of your opinions as this will affect all Cestrians and commuters in and out of the city.

You should be aware that there are some very worrying alterations to the plans in this development brief (available to view on the Council’s website) which were not on the first plans shown to the public last year.

Top of the list is access from the housing estate onto Lache Lane which will inevitably lead to a rat run through the estate to and from the Wrexham Road. There is no need for vehicle access at all from this estate to Lache Lane as there are three access points from the estate onto Wrexham Road.

Secondly, the traffic, which is already horrendous in the area at peak times, will reach gridlock unless improvements are made to the Chester road network. And this will not only affect travellers south of the Dee – it is likely to affect all parts of Chester.

As we know, if one part of our city gets snarled up, the knock-on effects are widespread. In the latest Local Plan (Part 2) there is yet again mention of the building of the Western Relief road, for which there now seems to be some political will to deliver. However, this should be built before the development of 1300 plus houses, not after it!

Thirdly, the proposed school on the site will not be opened until the seventh year of building at the earliest. This means that school places must be found for a minimum of 163 children before they get a school. In the meantime, places must be found for them in other local schools despite the fact that some of them are full or nearly a mile away. There is already talk of mobile classrooms …

You can comment via the CWAC website or you can email or post your comments – please make your views known before 16 November 2016.

Pauline Brown
Westminster Park Residents’ Association