SENIOR Town Hall figures have been pressed over the future of town centre land which has been labelled as a ‘bomb site’.

Concerns were raised over the section of land between the bus station and Halliwell Jones Stadium during Tuesday’s leader’s forum session at Whitecross Community Centre.

A resident told council leader Cllr Russ Bowden, who was sat alongside deputy leader Cathy Mitchell and council chief executive Steven Broomhead, that the north of Warrington ‘has been living with a bomb site for the last 15 years’ in relation to the plot of land.

Cllr Bowden (LAB – Birchwood) highlighted the rough surface car parking and car wash on the site, which he says has been a ‘barrier to development’.

But he reassured the resident over the future plans for the area.

He said: “We do have the Stadium Quarter masterplan.

“What you should see now is development.

“We are in the process of relocating the travelling showpeople to a superior site for them and also to free up that space to develop the youth zone.

“We are seeing some of the sites starting now, such as John Street.

“It is not a great look that whole street.”

Mr Broomhead also weighed in on the issue.

He said: “It is awful, I know that.

“The site you are referring to is in private ownership.

“Recently, they have come forward with some plans for apartments and housing on part of the site.

“I think it will be available to be developed in three to four years.

“We own part of it but not all of it.”

Cllr Bowden added: “A lot of these things we have set out the vision for in different parts of the town, for example the Stadium Quarter masterplan, but of course we still need someone to come forward to help us make it a reality.”