Bridge On The River Kwaiver
Local Lib Dems Demand New Bridge
Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Cheshire, Jack Price-Harbach, has welcomed Cheshire West & Council's decision to delay the approval of planning permission for a solar farm in Winnington, after concerns were raised by local residents.
Residents have raised concerns due to the predicted well over 100 HGV movements per day over the next 5 years. However, Jack himself is not opposed to the solar farm itself, arguing that the problem is not necessarily with lorries, but the route which they take.
Projects like this are essential for our energy security in a future which will become hugely dependent on green energy. Having viewed the planning application myself, it is my personal opinion that the HGV movements within Winnington are an acceptable trade off for the long term benefits that come with green energy generation. However, the huge increase of HGV traffic set to travel on Winnington’s current swing bridge is a great cause of concern. Its structural integrity is weakening by the day and there is a serious risk of it collapsing within the next decade.
Jack Price-Harbach, Mid Cheshire Parliamentary Candidate
A plan for the replacement of Winnington Bridge was submitted by Chester West & Chester Council to the Government in Round 2 of the Levelling Up programme but was rejected. One of the reasons cited was the non existence of active travel links, such as cycling routes, yet in reality, no funding authority will pay for the construction of cycling routes on a bridge that needs urgent repair within the next decade. The decreasing structural integrity of the bridge has not only put the brakes on this solar farm, it has also prevented the council from obtaining the very active travel funding it needs to obtain levelling up funding in the first place.
The idea of local communities begging for vital funds from central Government in some sort of competition is one that the Liberal Democrats oppose. The Levelling Up Fund was used in many cases as a tool for Tory ministers to keep Tory MPs in line. This pork barrel politics does more harm than good to constituencies without a voice, and we the Liberal Democrats believe that local communities should have their say.
Whoever forms the next Government needs to be made acutely aware that the residents of Northwich need this vital infrastructure. Regardless of whether I am elected as your next MP here in Mid Cheshire or not, I will put present this petition to those in power, to ensure that towns like Northwich are no longer left behind.
If you want to see Winnington Bridge replaced, please sign the petition below.
Replace Winnington Bridge
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