News reports located on this page = 3.

Harthill ruling to be appealed to establish clarity on the wider issue of development on green wedge

LIVERPOOL City Council is to appeal the recent High Court Judgement, on the Harthill Scheme, because of the wider ramifications it has for planning policy nationally. Following a ruling on 18 January 2019, the Council pledged not to proceed with the proposals; but will appeal the decision made by Mr Justice Kerr because it has far-reaching consequences for Local Authorities in how they deal with land classed as green wedge. He accepted that green belt land and green wedge land differ in some respects, but quashed the planning permission for 51 properties on the site. The judge recognised his decision needed to be scrutinised and; unusually; granted leave for the Court of Appeal to examine his ruling.

Liverpool City Council Chief Executive Tony Reeves said:- "The Mayor has been absolutely clear that the Harthill scheme will not go ahead or be resurrected in any form, and I want to reassure people that, whatever the result of the appeal, that position will not change. It is for that reason we are not appealing the costs we were ordered to pay the group that brought the challenge, and have made a payment to them of ₤30,000 towards them. The reason we are appealing is because the judgement raises much wider issues about established planning policy and the difference between green belt and green wedge. As a growing City, we need a solid planning framework which outlines clear definitions for types of land to help us arrive at consistent decisions around development. As it stands, Mr Justice Kerr's judgement casts doubt on established principles, and leaves Councils up and down the country open to challenge on their assessment of policies which have been in place for many years. We are appealing to get clarity on the wider issue, so everyone involved in the planning process, whether it is developers, Councils, landowners or local residents, has clarity around how planning applications for development on green wedge should be assessed."

Letter To the Editor:- "Fracking firms Cuadrilla and Ineos"

"HOW dare Fracking firms Cuadrilla and Ineos demand a change to the regulations they helped to develop and boasted about to gain planning permissions? In 2011 Cuadrilla operated free from proper controls and look what happened. They were forced to halt following the public outcry about the tremors they created because it was obvious they could not be trusted. The “safeguards” are thin enough (and constantly eroded by Cuadrilla once planning permission was granted at Preston New Road near Blackpool in 2018). To allow the companies to call time on the Traffic Light System which monitors the impact of fracking after a matter of weeks would be wholly irresponsible. Fylde residents and others around the country know that the claims the companies made about what fracking would be like in reality were fake : tremors came thick and fast and the red warning light (a rare occurrence residents were told) proved not that rare at all!! They cannot meet the standards they once commended and want to see them altered. This is not just moving the goalposts, but dismantling them! Since 2014 Cuadrilla has harassed fracking opponents with allegations of fear mongering. When experience shows (again) that fracking is incompatible with England’s geology (so different to the American shale beds) and population density (so different to America and Australia) they really can't demand a new bar to be set, preferably one a snake could wriggle over!" Rowland Taylor, Lytham St Annes.

Have you see the new sculpture in Formby Village?

 

LAST week's Edition featured video and photos of local sculptor, Simon Archer, working to turn the remains of a much loved Horse Chestnut tree, in the Centre of Formby Village. We can now show you the results of his hard work and we recommend if your in Formby, you should take a look! If you don't know what it is, it is a representation of a the end of a Viking Long Boat, paying tribute to Formby's Viking Heritage. This project was funded entirely by Harington Ward Councillors' S106 monies, with no cost whatsoever to Formby residents. So what are your views on this local artist's work? Please email us to:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com.