Special Speaker meeting 23rd Nov 2015

Northwich Town Cllr. Andrew Cooper gave his update on the Northwich Neighbourhood Plan. He explained he and others had been working on it for two years and it is now at the consultation stage. The Localism Act 2012 gives communities power to set their own neighbourhood plans subject to the approval of the higher local authority ie. Cheshire West and Chester Council in the case of Northwich. In 2001 the population was 43000. By 2011 it was 53000 and by 2030 is expected to be 63000. There is a provisional target of 4300 more houses and 30 hectares of business development land but these may not be enough. The Plan and consultation process deal in particular with preservation of the historical architectural features of the town, safer and additional cycling routes, making the waterways much more of a tourist attraction, re-allocation of land at the former Winnington Works and improvements to transport links. Cllr Cooper urged us all to take part in the consultation process: forms were available on the tables. David Brown of the Environmental Agency gave an update on the Northwich Flood Alleviation Scheme. He has talked to us about this on three previous occasions. The scheme has been applied to 12 reaches of the rivers Weaver and Dane in and near Northwich aimed at linking areas of high and low ground with earth works and walls. The work has been complex but much of it is now complete save for glass paneling to be added to the walled sections. The Dane bridge in London Road is a problem and will have to be closed in the event of flooding. Raising it is too expensive. The projected completion date for the whole scheme is Autumn 2016.