Quarries/Landfills and missed opportunities?

I was saddened to hear the result of the public inquiry into Bold Heath Quarry/Landfill.

The fight against this development has been going on for years and supported by a range of residents organisations and political parties including Halton Green Party particularly the work of Maureen Miller. The result shows how relatively recent legislation is really operating in the developers favour.

Local democracy has been clearly swept aside by this decision and seems to count for nothing. And there's nothing we can do about it. At the end of the day if the developer perseveres, crosses the 't's' and dots the 'i's' that's it - end of the line.

It's also yet another development in the area that will see the increase of HGV's on local roads. See earlier blogs for discussion on how the council seems to be creating one big hub of a logistics and distribution centre in Halton. Do we really want this?

The green revolution in relation to the accelerating demand for alternative energy technologies is on our doorstep the opportunities are there but are we?

Maybe the fact that Halton is in the lowest 5% in the country in relation to skills levels of school leavers is why we seem to be bearing the brunt of this focus on a low skills economy. OK technically we have Daresbury and what goes with it but that's Daresbury a far away world from the lack of opportunity epidemic that blights some of our more deprived areas.

Maybe the council is working on attracting the booming alternative technology industry here, maybe its not that easy and there are sound reasons for the way it is - I don't know. Do you?