“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.
