I have been a resident of Dyar Terrace since 1988 and am writing to register my opposition to the proposed development on the site of the former St Luke’s Church in Winnington.

Sadly, the diocese saw fit to demolish the church which was to be replaced, within five years, by one having greater benefit for the local community. It seems that little or no effort was made to raise the necessary funding.

St Luke’s was built in 1896/7 on land given by Brunner Mond for their workers in the surrounding area. The diocese are now proposing to build 16 flats with the necessary parking spaces on the site, the area of which already exceeds the footprint of the original church.

Since the land was gifted for the benefit of the surrounding community it is difficult to comprehend how that same community will benefit from 16 flats as opposed to an open space which could be enjoyed by all.

If CWAC Neighbourhood Plan is to be believed, then “new developments should respect the existing properties and reflect their heritage and architecture”.

It should be noted that in 1879 Dyar Terrace and the houses on Solvay Road were constructed, thus making the terrace one of the oldest in the Northwich area. Obviously there were no garages built then and there is only on road parking, which is used by the residents to capacity. The advent of obvious overspill from visitors to the new development as well as delivery vehicles, refuse collection, emergency vehicles and so on poses a significant traffic problem since the roads are narrow and double parking would make access even more difficult than at present.

CWAC Core Objectives 3.2 11: “The impact of new housing development on highways to be properly addressed”.

The proposed entrance to the site is on Winnington Lane and will be used by all vehicles approaching the Winnington Lane/Moss Road junction and Solvay Road which has a yellow hatch area. Thirty-five metres below this, on the opposite side is the entrance to the Barratt estate.

This will add to the existing heavy flow of traffic both in and out of Northwich especially at peak times.

CWAC also requires green spaces to be protected. The green space left by the church demolition affords protection from traffic noise and air pollution as well as having significant wild life (bats, birds etc) and it has tree preservation orders already in place.

Since the land was a gift for the local community, so it should be retained as such.

I hope I have stated my objections clearly. I know that I have the support of all the residents of Dyar Terrace and that our joint voices will be enough to cause the application to be refused.

Jean Westbrook Via email