Wake up council (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Wake up council

11:36am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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I THINK Halton Council is going to get a very rude wake up call over its insistence in encouraging retail development in Widnes over Runcorn when the new bridge is eventually built.

Runcorn has the much larger population of the two towns that make up Halton, and a recent report showed that the sole reason Widnes was able to compete with the likes of Warrington and Liverpool was because of Runcorn.

Once the tolls come in, it’s going to become much less attractive to go to Widnes to shop.

People who don’t have to pay the tolls will be able to easily access Warrington and Liverpool, while those in Runcorn and other towns like Frodsham, which have been forced to shop across the river because of the unfair advantage Widnes has been given in attracting major retail developments, will begin looking at cheaper alternatives like Chester and Warrington.

In short, if the bridge comes (which I do support, as well as the idea of a single Halton), HBC will be shooting itself in the foot for the previous 15 years of biasing retail developments in Widnes.

I’m not against HBC encouraging retail development – I’m just against them encouraging it all in Widnes. But then again, I suppose that’s what happens when Widnes still has one more councillor on HBC to ensure that decisions go in its favour.

BROCKMAN, Runcorn