Council admits learning 'valuable lesson' over Castle Street site

Up to 90 homes are to be built on the Castle Street site, next to Town Bridge.

But many people feel the land should have been used for waterside restaurants and shops - kick starting Northwich's Vision Plan.

Development company Eagle Properties won the right to build on the land after an appeal against Vale Royal Borough Council, who opposed the idea.

Now Clr Arthur Wood has urged Vale Royal Borough Council to set up an independent inquiry into the working methods and procedures which led to the loss of an appeal against Eagle Properties.

At a Vale Royal Borough Council executive group meeting, Clr Wood said: "Castle Street was one of the prime development sites in the town centre.

"It was part of the Vision for Northwich and there was the potential for a high quality scheme to make use of the water frontage - but we lost it.

"We need to investigate how the council got into the situation and why we lost the appeal."

But councillors Brian Jamieson and Shirley Harris dismissed the need for an inquiry.

And Clr Jamieson pointed out that steps were already being taken to review the way the council decides upon planning applications.

He said: "Nobody in the council is happy about the final result and losing the appeal. But we have to recognise we did as much as we could. I do not think that anything will be served by going through this and getting an independent view."

Clr Shirley Harris added: "Hindsight is wonderful. It would have been fine if we had the Vision for Northwich before the planning application but we did not. I do not see what purpose an inquiry would serve."

The council admitted it had learnt a very valuable lesson from the appeal.

"This has probably made us view the Vision plan in a way that's more concrete and realistic," Clr Deborah Dalby said.

Councillors resolved not to instigate an independent inquiry.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.