A RESOUNDING 'no' was the view of borough council planning chiefs when they discussed proposals for three motorway service areas (MSA) in Warrington.

Members of the council's development control committee held a three-hour special meeting last week to debate three competing schemes in Winwick and Woolston.

Members heard arguments from residents, objectors and developers over the schemes, all of which will be decided upon by a Government inspector, who will hear evidence from all sides during a public inquiry starting next month.

Despite this, committee members were still asked to give their views to the inspector and two special meetings were called.

The first, in December, was held without the benefit of a traffic impact assessment and talk centred around green belt and environmental factors.

As a result, members favoured the Woolston site, given that Winwick's green belt was considered "very special".

But once a traffic impact study was presented, officers realised that the Woolston scheme could not cope with the estimated traffic but that the Winwick ones could.

It was with this in mind that members re-opened the debate last week to consider if there was a need for any MSA at all and the resounding answer was 'no'.

Residents raised traffic and green belt fears, and debate also turned to whether or not the Poplar 2000 truck stop amounted to an MSA.

The committee felt that if one scheme failed on highway grounds and the others would have a detrimental impact on an "very special" green belt, then none were supportable.