ONE WARRINGTON: ONE FUTURE
WHERE EVERYONE MATTERS                                                                

A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
FOR WARRINGTON 2009 TO 2030

ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE AND ATTRACTIVE

Where people have good housing, accessible transport and enjoy caring for their environment

Key strengths

Warrington’s location at the hub of the North West transport network is one of its key strengths and a main reason for its economic success. The surrounding motorway network continues to make Warrington an attractive proposition for businesses to locate to. There are also good links to vibrant town centre shops, district village centres and the surrounding countryside.

The management of the transport network is improving through the development of Warrington’s urban traffic management control (UTMC) system. Real time passenger information, variable message signs and car park management systems are visible evidence of this project. Further developments of the system will continue to provide benefits to all road users. In addition Warrington has a local integrated bus service and new interchange that has been cited as best practice. We are also managing congestion through CCTV, road sensors and other on-street technology.

The council signed the Nottingham Declaration on climate change in December 2006. This is a voluntary pledge for local authorities to address the issues of climate change and represents a high-level, broad statement of commitment to its own community. We have acknowledged the importance of taking action now to tackle climate change and have already developed a climate change strategy for the borough.

Warrington is a popular place to live with a good range of housing and few vacant properties.  It was the first town in the North West to develop an extra-care housing facility which has proved very popular. The council’s housing stock reached the government’s decent homes standard well in advance of the 2010 deadline.

Challenges and opportunities

The map opposite shows how living environment deprivation varies across the borough. This reflects both the ‘indoor’ (i.e. housing) as well as the ‘outdoor’ (air quality, green spaces etc.) living environment. Disadvantage is focused on the inner wards and the north west of the borough.

 As elsewhere in the UK, traffic growth is a challenge, with predictions of growth made 20 years ago now surpassed beyond expectation and set to rise even further. Although traffic volumes in Warrington are lower than in the nearby cities of Manchester and Liverpool, they have a significant impact at peak times on quality of life. Congestion is cited by residents as one of the key areas for improvement for the borough7. Congestion is also a key contributor to our CO2 emissions. There is no easy answer but if we are to address and manage increasing car usage we need to redouble our efforts and put in place viable alternatives to the car through good public transport provision and cycle and pedestrian networks. We also need to encourage people to reduce the number and length of trips they make.

Much will depend on how our neighbouring authorities and agencies manage their networks. As traffic on our surrounding motorways (M6, M56 and M62) inevitably grows, tolls may be introduced. The proposed Mersey Gateway and changes to traffic management throughout Greater Manchester may influence how Warrington manages traffic through and across its boundaries in future.

Maintaining the road network is also a challenge as the general wear and tear of the roads increases as traffic increases. Residents in all parts of the borough have identified road and pavement repairs as one of the top 3 improvements they would like to see.

Although most local facilities are seen as easy to get to, access to the following were highlighted as issues to address in the Best Value General Residents’ Survey 2006:

• Cultural facilities (42% say they are difficult to access),
• Council or neighbourhood offices (26%)
• Local hospital (25%)

We also need to take account of local needs to improve access to services and employment.

 What to do with our waste is becoming an increasing problem for Warrington and the wider region. Landfill space is rapidly filling up so we have to minimise the amount of waste we produce, improve our recycling rates and find alternative disposal routes for the residual waste. This also has an impact on greenhouse gas emissions because landfills create methane (from biodegradable waste) and making products from recycled materials generally uses far less energy (and so creates less CO2) than using virgin materials.

Since 1997 we have increased our recycling rate from 4% to 28%. A new waste strategy proposes that Warrington should deal with its own waste and aims to achieve 50% recycling and composting by 2012. This should lead to CO2 savings of around 7,000 tonnes per year.

Our efforts to reduce the borough’s CO2 emissions will not remove the need for us to prepare for the impacts of climate change on the people, businesses, wildlife and infrastructure of Warrington. We know in broad terms what these impacts are likely to be, including increased rainfall and potential flooding in winter, heat waves and potential water shortages in summer and more wind and storm damage. We need to adopt a more strategic approach to identify common risks and opportunities and to work more effectively together.

Warrington’s popularity as a place to live presents a challenge in terms of providing sufficient homes to meet demand now and in the future. In particular, the provision of more good quality affordable housing and the regeneration of existing housing is critical. Meeting the housing needs of our ageing population and tackling the growing problem of fuel poverty will require significant planning and investment.

The borough has been successful in achieving growth point status in partnership with Halton and St Helens. This allows us to significantly increase the number of new homes permitted to be built between now and 2016.

There has been a rise in homelessness, undoubtedly made worse by the unprecedented rise in house prices which occurred in the 10 years up to 2007 and the reductions in social housing availability.

The challenge is to work together to tackle the causes and prevent homelessness by intervening at the earliest possible stage.

Access to green space is an important contributor to quality of life. Warrington has an extensive but under-developed river and canal network providing the potential for a network of walking or cycling routes across the borough whilst supporting biodiversity and ecology. Warrington’s countryside, almost entirely within green belt designation protection, helps define the town and contain urban sprawl. Although much of the countryside remains in agricultural use a number of significant areas, e.g. Risley Moss, are nature reserves or otherwise have public access and sometimes interpretation facilities. Opportunities exist for similar additional areas, especially in relation to the River Mersey corridor.

Our priorities for action

Priority	Things we will do
Improve waste management and increase recycling	- Encourage residents and businesses to reduce the amount of waste they produce - Introduce improved recycling systems to encourage more households to participate
Improve the look of the borough	- Improve the attractiveness of the key gateways into the borough - Combat low level anti-social behaviour such as litter and graffiti - Increase community participation in environmental improvements Improve the maintenance of the borough's roads and pavements
Reduce reliance on the car and minimise delays for travellers	- Further develop initiatives such as school and workplace travel plans - Extend cycling training to children and adults - Improve cycle access across the borough by providing a comprehensive network of cycle friendly roads combined with attractive and direct off-road routes to encourage cyclist of all ages and abilities - Investigate feasibility of a comprehensive package of park and ride schemes and quality bus corridors - Use Urban Traffic Management Control (UTMC) to best effect to manage congestion hotspots - Maintain close liaison with the Highways Agency, Ship Canal Company and the utility companies to minimise interruptions to traffic
Reduce CO2 emissions and prepare for climate change	- Encourage the construction of low and zero-carbon homes in line with the Code for Sustainable Homes - Work with Fiddlers Ferry Power Station to investigate the potential for increasing the combustion of biomass - Encourage householders to reduce the CO2 emissions - Ensure that our emergency response plans take account of potential climate change impacts - Develop plans to protect vulnerable parts of the borough from flooding - Investigate potential for more green spaces and tree planting in parks and gardens and rural areas - Develop a long-term Climate Change Adaptation Plan
Meet our housing needs and ensure an adequate supply of affordable homes	- Increase the availability of affordable homes - Reduce fuel povery - Implement the homelessness strategy - Ensure homes exceed the decency thresholds - Ensure homes will continue to meet the needs of the changing population profile

Our long-term targets

By 2030, we will reduce per capita CO2 emissions by 40% from 1990 levels.

Closing the gaps

By 2030, we will halve the number of SOAs in the worst 20% nationally on the living environment deprivation index.

How will we know we are making progress?

The following measures will help us keep track of overall progress:

• Number of homelessness cases*
• Gap between demand and availability of affordable homes*
• Per capita CO2 reduction in the borough
• Proportion of residents living in fuel poverty*
• Waste recycling and composting levels
• Ease of access to employment, services and facilities by means other than the car*
• Congestion levels
• Air quality.

* will also be monitored at area/neighbourhood level to focus our improvements on ‘closing the gaps’.

Project and action plans relevant to this ambition include:

• Housing Strategy
• Homelessness Strategy
• Climate Change Strategy
• Local Transport Plan
• Regeneration Framework
• Local Development Framework
• Look of the Borough programme
• Green Spaces programme.

How you can help

• Recycle your card, paper, plastic, tins and glass and compost your garden waste
• Save energy at home and at work by turning off all appliances when they are not in use
• Volunteer to help with local conservation projects
• Use the local shops and neighbourhood facilities
• Consider working locally, use public transport when you can and walk or cycle for short journeys
• Find a friend or colleague to car-share with, especially for journeys during busy periods
• Consider renting a spare room or moving to smaller accommodation if your home is now too large for your needs
  • If you are an employer: encourage your employees to adopt flexible working such as home working or flexi time to reduce traffic at peak times
  • encourage car sharing and cycle to work schemes
  • use trains rather than the car or planes for business trips and take action to reduce your impact on the environment.
• If you are a landlord:
  • bring your empty properties back into use
  • consider renting out any empty property you own as temporary accommodation for homeless families.

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