| Administrative History | WARRINGTON, LATER WARRINGTON AND RUNCORN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Warrington was designated as a New Town on 26 April 1968 in order to provide housing and employment for people from the south east Lancashire and north east Cheshire conurbation; its designated area of 7550 hectares lay in Warrington County Borough, Warrington Rural District and Runcorn Rural District and included 3 very large areas of publicly-owned derelict land:- the former RAF camp at Padgate, a large part of RAF Burtonwood and the Royal Ordnance factory site at Risley. The members of the Corporation were formally appointed on 5 March 1969.
The Outline Plan was completed in January 1972, and after a Public Inquiry, accepted by the Secretary of State in June 1973.
By March 1981 the Corporation had completed c.3,500 rented housing units, over 330,000 square metres of industrial units, c.37,300 square metres of office space and c.29,000 square metres of commercial units.
On 1 April 1981, the Corporation was renamed the Warrington and Runcorn Development Corporation and assumed the responsibilities and functions of the dissolved Runcorn Development Corporation. The proposed winding up of the Corporation in "the late 1980s" was already being discussed, and the emphasis shifted from the provision of rented housing to the sale of dwellings already built and the stimulation of private developers. The Corporation was dissolved on 30 September 1989. |