Where did the Central6 street plan come from?
The Central6 Regeneration Masterplan was devised by Warrington Council as a way of improving its inner neighbourhoods However, the Central6 Masterplan includes a Street Plan with unwanted and damaging road closures. It is the Street Plan, sometimes called a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) which is causing the problems and needs to be scrapped.
During the 2020 pandemic the UK Government made money available to create Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN). The idea was that closing roads quickly would help with social distancing-stopping cars using roads during lockdown meant it was easier to walk and travel by bike. Warrington Council made a bid for money and planned to use a new law to close roads without the usual consultation periods, traffic and pollution measurements.
Increasing pollution, traffic jams.
The proposed road closures were described as temporary and would be rolled out in two communities - Orford and Westy/Latchford.
In June 2022, as lockdown ended and traffic began to increase, the Westy/Latchford LTN went ahead and several key roads were blocked with giant wooden planters. The road closures caused an increase in traffic jams and pollution (this has been evidenced in an independent report). Residents found the planters outside their doors also meant they could no longer take easy journeys to the shop or doctors and anti social behaviour increased.
As people began to complain residents discovered that their roads would stay blocked forever unless they could convince a group of highly paid consultants and the Council to unblock the roads.
Hundreds of people gathered at the next meeting of Warrington Council to complain. The Council announced they were postponing the Orford street plan but the Westy/Latchford would stay. However, residents in Orford have been told that Orford Street Plan road closures are still on the drawing board.
