UPDATE 16 July 2025:
The Society has striven, most strenuously, to ensure that the Wallerscote Solar Farm Planning Application, basically promoted by TATA Ltd., the owners of the site, should be refused.
The increased road traffic will cause incredible road chaos as it is likely that two max. Load HGV’s a minute will be passing over Winnington Bridge during working hours for FIVE years.
Our President, John Tackley, agreed to oppose this application at the preliminary hearings, as there was, justifiably much opposition from all the local parish councils and other interested local groups, all demanding total rejection of this totally fanciful, but incredibly profitable project.
Many behind the scenes meetings took place to plan the opposition, and John attended these, and opposed the scheme involving road delivery vehemently.
John spoke at the two planning committee meetings and copies of what he said are available, and the outcome was planning permission was refused.
The applicants appealed this decision, and John’s statement, presented at the final meeting, is attached below.
Many of our members will not even be aware of the existence of this application, but we wish you to know that we have spent many hours, in fact, days, to ensure that the whole area will suffer mightily if this planning application is approved as envisaged, whereas to deliver the landfill by river is entirely possible without any aggravation, but with, perhaps, the sacrifice of a small amount of the vast profit that will accrue for the proposers.”
- RWNS submitted objections to the new application. See our letter here: Limebeds Objections
- John Tackley’s response to the planning application: NORTHWICH BRIDGES
ORIGINAL ARTICLE 22 April 2025:
“Total traffic disaster” may break an already congested Cheshire bridge
A landfill scheme will cause “Total traffic disaster” in Cheshire if approved, says River Weaver Navigation Society President John Tackley. If approved, forty trucks per hour are expected to cross Winnington Bridge for ten hours a day, for five years. The 115 year old swing bridge is fatigued, single carriageway and long queues already build up at peak times.
John was at the planning meeting on 4 June, which became local front page news this week.
Although billed as a solar power project by Tata Chemicals, by far the greatest source of income for the company will be the dumping of 1.35 million cu metres of landfill, estimated to generate £135m with no significant community benefit. Solar panels will eventually be sited on top of the landfill.
John is a retired engineer with extensive load handling and river transport experience. He said there is a better option: transporting the material using the adjacent river. An almost identical operation, is currently underway, moving dredging spoil using 70 tonne barges and passing within 100 metres of this Wallerscote site.
A planning decision has been deferred for further investigation.
Documents