Latest news with #WarringtonCouncil
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Controversial shopping site plan withdrawn hours before decision
Controversial plans which could potentially have allowed a building owner to convert part of a shopping centre into residential accommodation have been withdrawn just hours before they were due to be decided on by proposals for the CPS Centre in Culcheth included changes to bikes and bin storage and the building itself but not a change of use, although Warrington Council officers said a future intention for residential did "appear to be the case".The scheme has been controversial after traders were evicted from the centre, and it was raised in parliament by the area's BBC has contacted the agent representing the owner for a comment. Nearly 140 objections to the scheme had been raised by locals and councillors, with residents planning to attend the meeting later to show their at the council had recommended the scheme for approval in a report produced ahead of the meeting.A previous plan for the site was rejected by the authority last Smith, Labour councillor for Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft, said: "Our community really came together to fight this potential threat to the CPS Centre."The disappointment is that the applicant left it until now to withdraw, they could have taken this step weeks ago when they saw the objections come in."Smith, who was due to speak against the plans at the meeting, said: "I'm sure there will be further applications in the future, but for now, it's fair to say our voices have been heard loud and clear." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Culcheth: Shopping site plan to be discussed by councillors
Controversial plans which could potentially pave the way to a landlord converting part of a shopping centre into residential accommodation are set to be discussed by councillors Council officers said a future intention to change part of the CPS Shopping Centre in Culcheth to residential "does appear to be the case" but no change of use was included in the submitted plan. The proposals include adding windows, increasing bin storage and changing the car traders were evicted from the site in February and the issue was raised by the local MP in parliament. The BBC has contacted the agent representing the owner of the shopping centre for a comment. Several traders were given 28 days to leave the site in February and the issue was raised during Prime Minister's Questions by Warrington North MP Charlotte said the eviction notices were issued "entirely out of the blue and on spurious pretexts from the new owner". The proposals include:Adding windows on the first and second floors of the complexFree standing cycle storage for 14 bikesStorage for six large binsChanges to the car park which would see two spaces lost and short-term bike storage addedObjections have been received from 139 local residents, alongside three Warrington councillors and a parish residents' objections include concerns over the bins and parking, but also calls for the CPS centre to be safeguarded for shops and businesses and asking for it to be protected as a community hub.A previous plan for a bike and bin store were refused by Warrington Council in November 2024, with councillors saying it would have a "detrimental impact".But in planning documents, council officers said the proposed location in the new application - further away from the shopping centre - was "assessed to be acceptable now" and the proposal was "acceptable in principle".The officers said that a number of the representations from the public did have concerns about intention to convert part of the site into residential use and that "this does seem to be the case".But they said the application could only be considered on the proposal that had been submitted and not any future development of the will discuss the plans at a meeting later. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington: Government intervenes at council with £1.8bn debt
Four ministerial envoys will work with Warrington Council over the next five years after concerns were raised about the local authority's debt levels and commercial government earlier this year said it planned to intervene at the Labour-run council, which has built up £1.8bn of debts mainly linked to its commercial investment envoys will be expected to "support, challenge and advise" Warrington Council, which will retain responsibility for improving the way it is Leader Hans Mundry said: "We look forward to working alongside them positively and receiving their expert challenge and support." 'Accountable' An inspection was ordered by the previous Conservative government and the subsequent "best value" report was published in it recommended sending commissioners in to run parts of the council - something which previously happened at nearby Liverpool City Council - the government instead opted to deploy ministerial are accountable to the government and have certain powers which can be used if deemed include scrutiny of decision-making, the ability to appoint, dismiss and manage senior officers' performance, and limit further borrowing and government has appointed Sir Stephen Houghton as ministerial envoy, with Harry Catherall, Carolyn Williamson and Phil Brookes being ministerial envoys with powers to exercise a written statement, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said he was "confident" the "necessary" package would address Warrington Council's said: "The success of Warrington is important both for its own benefit, and that of the region with its critical role in devolution which offers significant opportunities to drive up growth, improve transport connectivity and build new homes, as well as raising living standards for its population." 'Improvement plan' A letter to the council's chief executive from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said Secretary of State Angela Rayner "recognises the expertise of these appointees and is confident that they will be key to helping resolve Warrington Borough Council's issues as quickly and effectively as possible".The letter also said there was the "clear expectation" that Warrington Council would retain responsibility for making measures require the council to prepare an improvement plan within six months, begin recruitment for a permanent appointment to lead the improvement work, to review all of its investments in the first two years and to "fully co-operate" with the council is to pay £1,200 a day for the lead envoy and £1,100 for the other measures will remain in force until 31 July 2030, unless the government decides to amend or revoke Council said it welcomed the envoys' said: "We have always seen the appointment of envoys as a supportive step. Knowing who our envoys will be provides us with important clarity as we continue to work at pace on driving forward our improvement plan."It's our commitment to keep working relentlessly, as we have done in recent months, to address the recommendations that have been made to us through the 'best value' process. "Our envoys will help us to strengthen this work, and we look forward to them joining us." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington: Chief exec retirement 'right time for council reset'
The outgoing chief executive of Warrington Council said it is the right time for him to hand over for a "reset" of the Steven Broomhead will retire after spending nearly 20 years in charge of the authority over two separate terms, and he was also the head of the former North West Regional Development Agency for seven 69-year-old said he had seen "a lot of positive changes" during his time as chief executive, but said the biggest issue was "adequate and proper funding" for local Park, currently the council's executive director for place, will take up the role on an interim basis on 1 July. A 'beacon' of regeneration Prof Broomhead was the local authority's chief executive from 1997 to 2003 and then took up the role again, initially on an interim basis, in 2003 to 2010, he was the chief executive of the North West Regional Development Broomhead said during his time in charge at Warrington Council, he was proud of the redevelopment of the town centre, in particular the council's Time Square development."I'm proud about how we've managed to deliver so much, given the level of funding we've had," he said."We work here in Warrington really well in a partnership way with the private sector."I think we've done some really good things here, we're often held up as a beacon of how to do regeneration." But he also highlighted his work at the NWRDA, in particular the regeneration of MediaCity in Salford, and said the agency's work is still noted more than a decade after its closure."People still approach me about it and talk about the things we did because they triggered lots of other investments."MediaCity was just the BBC moving out of London with seven departments, but it's been a great economic success and other media companies, including private companies, have joined MediaCity."There's examples of that all round the North West."The regional development agencies were closed in 2012 and replaced with local enterprise partnerships, which were now set to have their functions merged with councils and combined authorities after the withdrawal of central government said he hoped devolution would provide an and Warrington was currently going through the devolution process and was set to elect its first mayor in May 2026."I hope what you'll see is the combined authorities, which we hope we'll have a full set of within a year, they'll work co-operatively around the economic agenda." Time for a 'reset' Warrington Council has faced controversy in recent years, especially around its investment programme which has led to it building up around £1.8bn in debt.A government inspection was ordered after concerns about the level of debt, and it has been recommended that ministerial envoys be sent into the Broomhead said his decision to retire was not linked to the recent inspection and he thought now was time to handover for a "reset"."Someone else will lead [the council] in a different way than I have for the last 20 years, so I think now is the right time," he said. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington Council could have to pay £1,100 per day for advisers
Warrington Council could face a £363,000 bill if the government ultimately decides to send special advisers to the town following concerns about the way it is inspection was ordered by the previous Conservative government after criticism of the council's £1.8bn debts, which mostly relate to its commercial inspectors' report found Warrington was failing in five areas, including leadership, culture and use of council said advisers, known as ministerial envoys, could cost £1,100 a day plus expenses. In May, Warrington Council said it welcomed the idea of ministerial envoys being appointed."This is a supportive decision and will help us to deliver the changes needed," it a report written for a full council meeting later said there would be "significant costs" associated with implementing the recommended example, hiring a new executive director and an independent chair for the council's audit and governance committee would cost the local authority an estimated £196, inspection report said there was "resistance" in the council's response to external challenges and that the inspectors were not confident that town hall bosses had the "will and capacity" to make changes without external also found a lack of strategic direction, councillors being "highly respectful" of powerful officers, and a "defensiveness to internal and external scrutiny".If the government decides to send three envoys to the town for the proposed five-year period, they would mainly advise the council, which would remain in day-to-day though, the envoys could step in and take over "as a last resort". See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
