Plans for a £300m huge distribution hub on green belt land in south Warrington have been refused by the secretary of state.

The employment site would have been named Six56 Warrington. It would have been located next to junction 20 of the M6 and junction nine of the M56 in Lymm.

Outline proposals for the major employment site, submitted by developers Langtree and Panattoni, were approved by Warrington Borough Council’s development management committee in 2022.

They said the scheme, had it been approved, would have created more than 4,000 new jobs and generated more than £12m in annual rates income for Warrington Borough Council.

The application was approved subject to conditions and a S106 obligation, as well as the secretary of state not wishing to intervene.

But a public inquiry was later held over the controversial plans.

As reported in January this year, the public inquiry into the plans was adjourned again. It resumed, and concluded, in June.

A decision has now been issued.

The secretary of state has agreed with the inspector’s recommendation, and has refused planning permission.

The secretary of state considers that ‘very special circumstances’ do not exist to justify this development in the green belt.

There has been reaction to the decision in Warrington.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Marks, chair of the South Warrington Parish Councils’ Planning Group, says the decision by the secretary of state to support the planning inspector’s recommendation and not allow the Six56 development is ‘fantastic’ news and ‘will be welcomed by most of the residents’ of south Warrington.

He said: “She agreed with the planning inspector that the development would not have been appropriate and would have caused substantial damage to the openness of the green belt.

“There would have been a significant adverse effect from 24-hour traffic movements, lighting and general site operations.

“Simply, there are no ‘very special circumstances’ that are sufficient to outweigh the harm to the green belt.

“The South Warrington Planning Group is cross-party and has campaigned right from the start against this vast logistics site. It has been a tortuous journey but we are so pleased our efforts have paid off.”

Cllr Mark Browne, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Warrington Borough Council, added: “Borough and parish colleagues from my party have been very active in the campaign.

“We feared a late decision by the secretary of state to ignore the Local Plan inspectors’ and the Six56 inspector’s recommendations to keep the site in the green belt might happen but happily this has not taken place. This is great news.”

John Downes, Langtree group chief executive, has also shared his views.

He said: “We are disappointed as it seems to fly in the face of the government’s stated growth ambitions, but this was always a possibility.

“We’ll take a good look at the ruling and assess our options.”