Burnt-out Cars in Clock Face Country Park
Read it Here.
(Not a new problem. I took the photo above in 2005 )
Sutton Park Saved!
Quite a volte-face as residents adjacent to the park had only received letters advising them of the planning application last Saturday. Just shows what you can do!
Save Sutton Park!
Residents in Marina Avenue are protesting against the proposals
I’ve been informed of an alarming planning application by St Helens Hospital to use part of Sutton Park as a temporary car park. In case you’re assuming that this will just be a small car park to accommodate a handful of vehicles for just a few weeks, you should think again. If the application is successful, car parking spaces will be created for a whopping 421 vehicles for a whole 18 months, occupying a total of 9,500 square metres of our beloved park!
As you may know St Helens & Knowsley (NHS) Trust are investing £85 million in new facilities at St Helens Hospital including 6 new theatres, 68 outpatient rooms and 140 new beds. This build will take 2 years to complete and as a consequence the Trust wants to annexe a large part of Sutton Park for car parking purposes during much of the construction period.
You can read the full planning application HERE but these are the salient bits:
2) The vehicular entrance will be adjacent to Philip Grove with electronic security barriers and a security shed manned 24 hours a day
3) A 2 metre high chain link fence will be constructed to partition off and secure the car park (the red dotted perimeter on the map )
4) Two trees each 5 metres high will be removed
5) The turf and top soil will be stripped and stockpiled on site for reuse. The car park will be surfaced with recycled aggregate, 300mm thick
6) No public right of way will, they say, be affected
7) After 18 months the car park will be removed and the top soil will be reinstated and seeded. The two trees that had been removed will be replaced by similar trees.
Public consulation on the planning application ends on 21st February 2007 and it is very, very simple to object online if like me you’re concerned about this.
Click Here and then click on the large Comment on Application button down the page. A pop up window will appear where you can register your objection.
Will youngsters still be able to play cricket in Sutton Park?
Within the planning application the applicant describes the site where it intends to build the car park as “open space within Sutton Park ”. On a web page on parks St Helens Council says:
There are so many reasons why this proposal should be rejected and many local residents are already up in arms over it. Click on the Comments link below if you wish to post your own thoughts on this.Open space or green space is essential to creating a positive sense of place and well being. It also provides a wide-ranging number of benefits including:
Promotion of healthy living through sport, leisure and recreational activities; Supporting biodiversity; Encouraging community involvement in the management and development of ‘their’ green space; Improving the image of an area.
