By JOEL SAWYER

RESIDENTS have taken offence after a planning boss described Winwick as "bland and featureless".

John Earle, Warrington Borough Council's head of planning, made the comment as members of the borough's development control committee debated Crosby Homes' application to build houses on land adjacent to Winwick reservoir on Golborne Road.

The developer's plans include 56 houses and associated works.

The scheme originally courted controversy when planning bosses asked Crosby Homes to revise its plans to include more houses than originally indicated.

Members of Winwick Parish Council objected to the hike in the number of dwellings from 31 houses to 56, citing traffic congestion, the overlooking of other properties and poor visibility at the site entrance as reasons to reject the scheme.

Borough planning officer Gwyn Clark said: "We didn't like the idea of 31 houses because of new issues of best use of land with planning permission.

"By asking the developer to build more houses we lessened the pressure on other land. We also didn't like the design, which we felt was out of character with the village."

But at last week's development control committee meeting, the debate turned sour when Mr Earle expressed personal views and described Winwick as "bland and featureless" much to the dismay of residents.

George Melvin, spokesman for residents of Golborne Road, said: "His comments were unjustified. A feature of Winwick is its green spaces.

"I am also concerned as to whether or not Mr Earle is in a justified position to be expressing these personal opinions publicly when he has been working so closely with Crosby Homes. I think it's a disgrace."

A total of 56 letters of objection supported the parish council's points, but Crosby Homes claimed that the development met guidance as to the variety of house types, and said that the three-storey units were in locations up to 80 metres away from other houses.

Members of the committee agreed unanimously to follow their planning officers' recommendations and approve the scheme.