Special meeting to discuss future of Green Gates Park

A SPECIAL meeting of Frodsham Town Council will be held in October to hopefully settle the future of Green Gates Park.
Prior to that, a working party of councillors and members of the Green Gates Community Project will try and draw up a series of proposals that can be supported by both the council and the Green Gates team.
This was the plan agreed at the September meeting of the council when the Green Gates team made a presentation putting forward their case for keeping the park, off Ship Street, as a community asset – and not building houses on it.
Almost 100 residents, many carrying placards, packed into the meeting.
Over the last 12 months, the Green Gates team have carried out a survey of local opinions and carried out extensive research to justify their argument that the park should be retained as a community asset, with particular emphasis on children and the elderly.
During this, they established that around 90 per cent of people wanted the park retained as green space and a similar number were strongly opposed to it being used for housing.
The Green Gates team said only two access roads serve the Ship Street area and one of them – St Hilda’s Drive – was already a pollution hotspot.
Queuing traffic in Fluin Lane and St Hilda’s Drive and on the A56 itself, caused the problem – with vehicles on the main road frequently backed up beyond the swing bridge.
Among suggestions put forward for the land were a play area, sensory garden, allotments, tree-lined walkway, open area with seating and car park with notice board and charity/foodbank drop-off points.
The group identified a number of crucial issues.
*Levels of nitrogen dioxide at the junction of the A56 with St Hilda’s Drive exceed the standards set by the European Environmental Agency for the protection of human health.
*Housing development off Ship Street would exacerbate the problem.
*A relief road for the Ship Street area would be difficult to achieve and would be “prohibitively expensive.”
*The Ship Street area does not have the infrastructure to support more housing.
Council chairman Cllr Alan Oulton congratulated the residents on their “very professional” presentation.