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Council rejects pub landlord's plans for adjacent truckstop

22nd February 2007
Page 10
Page 10, 22nd February 2007 — Council rejects pub landlord's plans for adjacent truckstop
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Local authorities say plans for a trucl

problems; the landlord tells a different story. David Harris reports.

A CHESHIRE PUB landlord who wanted to open a truck park next to his pub says he has been told by the council that councillors are concerned it would result in prostitution and drug dealing.

Arthur Warner, owner of the Brighton Belle on Middlewich Road,Winsford, has been trying to obtain planning permission for a year. He says: "I'm not quite sure what they think lorry drivers are like, but when I told one or two of the drivers in here what had been said they weren't too happy.

"These are people who keep the country going with deliveries and all the council can say is that they might attract prostitutes and drug dealers."

Both the borough council and the county council deny that any of their staff or councillors made the comments about drug dealing or prostitutes. A spokeswoman for Vale Royal Borough Council says that although the truck park proposal had been controversial, the reason it had been turned down was because of inadequate access to the proposed site from the main road. She adds: There is no live planning application at the moment because the issue of access has to be addressed first." The planning procedure is further complicated because both the borough council and Cheshire County Council are involved in the planning application.

Richard Flood, area traffic engineer for Cheshire County Council, says that while there may have been local fears about drugs and prostitution, it was purely the issue of access that had stopped the initial planning application.

Warner, who was a truck and coach driver for 22 years, has now abandoned his plans for the truck park and intends to sell the pub because he believes he will never be given planning permission.

He points out: "It could have helped the pub make more money, and it would have helped truck drivers—but! don't think it's going to happen now."

Flood says he understands Warner's disappointment and adds:"I think it is worth saying that we actively encourage truck parking like this. We know it is very necessary but we have to be sure that access is safe.

"We would welcome any suggestions for alternative sites and even on this site if we could be sure that it could be operated safely."


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