1. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth Busters

2. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth The Site is Derelict These pictures show the site today. You can see it is far from derelict. The pictures the Council often use in their literature is from many years ago when the former colliery was demolished. Old pictures are used to deceive the public into thinking the site is derelict. A recent publication by local St Helens Councillors showed a small area of concrete where the former colliery buildings used to stand. Again this was designed to deceive the public.

3. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth The Entire Site is Brownfield The map here shows the size of the previous Astral/Prologis planning application (272ha). The plan was withdrawn in 2010. The size of the former colliery footprint shown in yellow is only 34ha. The vast majority of the entire area is now Greenfield including parts of the original colliery footprint. A great deal of biodiversity has naturally returned. The land to the West of the M6 (139ha) shown in Red was never part of the colliery. This land is currently farmland. The Council have ambitions to build on all of the land and remove it from Green Belt. 1ha = 1.6 Football Pitches 272ha = 435.2 Football Pitches!

4. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth There is plenty of Green Belt, we can afford to give some up. Green Belt Green Belt (as opposed to Greenfield) defines areas of land that are protected from development to prevent urban sprawl. Developers are required to demonstrate ‘special circumstances’ to build on Green Belt Land. This prevents Councils and Developers from building the wrong types of development Green Belt Land and for the wrong reasons. The Council are trying to remove Parkside from Green Belt to allow them to bypass justification of ‘special circumstances’. This will allow them to build whatever they want on the site for example a Waste Incinerator. The land at Parkside is currently allocated as Green Belt.

5. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth The site will bring thousands of jobs to St Helens Site Location Parkside lies at the border of 3 boroughs, St Helens, Wigan, and Warrington. The Council always imply all jobs will go to St Helens. Their numbers should be divided by at least 3 to compensate for employment taken up from outside St Helens. The Council use the numbers in this way way to deceive their residents into thinking a higher number of jobs will be available. Relocation The Council and their developers work out the numbers based on floor space. In practice many companies would relocate to the site bringing their workforce with them. The numbers they quote are artificially inflated, and again designed to deceive.

6. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth All the Traffic will use the Motorway Between 2006 and 2010 Astra Developments followed by Prologis issued a number of revisions to their plans in an attempt to come up with a solution to increased traffic caused by their plan. The final plan proposed an additional 17,000 vehicle movements per day, changes to 17 local junctions, a relocated M6 J22 roundabout, an extra slip road on the M6 and hard shoulder running on the M6. Prologis never produced a solution which prevented traffic using the local roads, a massive concern for the local community. The Council and their developer Langtree has yet to come forward with a better plan than Prologis. They have recently stated that they want to build a logistics hub.

7. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth The Site is in an Ideal Location for a Logistics Hub The rail connection used by the former colliery is connected to the Liverpool/Manchester rail line. All freight from the South have to use this line which is set to be heavily used for passenger commuter traffic in the future There is no current connection to the M6, making such a connection very expensive, possibly requiring relocation of J22. Use of other road connections will generate unacceptable levels of traffic on local roads The presence of a huge former slag heap now returned to a natural state means that it would not be possible to lay the long sidings that would be required for a modern rail freight terminal Methane gas emanating from the former colliery would need to be managed Residential areas directly adjacent to the site would be severely impacted by the noise, light, and vehicle exhaust pollution generated from a 24x365 operation There is no logical requirement for a freight terminal at Parkside. Other terminals at Ditton and Trafford Park already have sufficient capacity. The new deep port facility developed by Peel Holdings is designed to bring freight directly from ship to final destination, reducing the need to move freight from the South.

8. parksideactiongroup.org.uk Myth Local Health will not be adversely affected It is now well established that vehicle emissions are a major contributor to respiratory health issues like asthma. This is why two areas nearby Parkside were recently declared Air Quality Management Areas having exceeded National pollution limits. We cannot afford to let more traffic, especially HGV vehicles onto our local roads.

9. parksideactiongroup.org.uk When It’s Gone It’s Gone To get involved email help@parksideactiongroup.org.uk