Opportunity - the Omega Community Newsletter

OPPORTUNITY OMEGA COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

Foreword Colin Graham, Development Director, Miller Developments None of us could have foreseen the universally impactful turbulence of 2020 that has resulted from Covid-19. It has been a challenging few months for us all and we hope that things begin to improve as we move towards 2021. Omega is well-positioned to respond to the major increase in demand for logistics capacity as we adjust to new ways of living and working.

One of the positive contributions we hope we can make to supporting well-being in the community is through the

Mountpark Welcomes Gousto and 400 New Jobs Mountpark at Omega

Autumn 2020

OMEGA

Green Heart. In this newsletter, we are excited to report back on the two years of progress since the work began and the wildlife that has continued to thrive there, along with a whole host of new animal and insect residents.

Equally, community becomes ever more important at a time like this so we are thrilled that Omega’s local groups and charities have been working harder than ever to support you.

As well as highlighting just a few of these amazing causes we have been able to help, we urge others to get involved in the 2020 Community Bids for Funding initiative which is launched in this issue.

For now, please do stay safe and healthy and if you have any queries at all, please do get in touch.

Skyline Drive Works We wanted to take this opportunity to update residents on some local road works currently being undertaken on Skyline Drive; these are being undertaken to improve journey times and traffic movement in and around the vicinity of Omega South and to the west of the site.

The works, being undertaken by D Morgan, started in September 2020 and will complete, 14 weeks later (including shut down over the festive period), in mid-January 2021.

In August this year, Mountpark Logistics, which is developing a site at the gateway of Omega South, announced a deal to bring leading recipe box company, Gousto to ‘Mountpark Warrington Omega II’.

The news follows the completion of ‘Mountpark Warrington Omega I’ in March (let to Royal Mail and the Delivery Group) and is likely to bring around 400 permanent new jobs to the area after the facility opens at the end of 2021, and when fully operational.

In summary, Skyline Drive is being widened to create a full dual carriageway between Junction 8 and the new roundabout at Domino’s. To minimise local disruption, the existing Skyline Drive will remain open and in use during the works. Whilst there may need to be some temporary traffic management measures, these will be kept to a minimum with the intention being for any road closures to happen overnight in early January.

The team apologises for any disruption caused to local people but hopes that in the long-term, these changes will benefit surrounding local people as well as Omega’s businesses and residents.

Construction of Mountpark Warrington Omega II started earlier this year; units 1 and 2 are on schedule to complete in January 2021 with the third unit programmed to complete in summer 2021. Designed to help occupiers become Carbon Zero, each building has a rooftop Solar PV array and battery storage system.

Ensuring the development is fully linked into the green network at Omega, at the back of the units, public footpaths will provide a link from Burtonwood Rd to the Green Heart.

Works at Skyline Drive

COMMUNITY BID NEWS

New Kits for Whittle Hall JFC

In 2019’s Omega Community Bid for Funding, there were four very deserving winners. A year on, we’re excited to report back on how these donations have helped the local community.

(See back page for launch of 2020’s Community Bid for Funding).

Whittle Hall JFC has been established for 21 years but the girls section, for children between 6 and 11, was only set up in October 2018.

The girls’ team, which is growing in size year on year, had all been wearing mis-matched, ‘hand-me-down’ kits until they wrote to the Omega team for help.

In the year of the massively successful FIFA Women’s World Cup, the club’s aim to encourage a love of playing football, alongside team building and social skills development, really struck a chord with the Omega team.

A GREENER GREENHEART In our spring 2019 newsletter, one year into the development of the 35acres Green Heart at Omega, we were very excited to report on some major progress made. In 2020, another year on, we are delighted to confirm final works for this huge green space and talk about the handover of this new parkland landscape to the Land Trust, who will maintain this important community asset going forward.

Succesful wildflower planting

■ Picket Hamilton Fort, a remnant of the old Burtonwood aerodrome, carefully relocated to its new permanent home in the Greenheart.

Heritage boards will explain the fort’s history and importance

The Adam Lewis Effect Foundation (TALE)

‘Nuture Room’ supporting students’ mental health Park Road Primary School had been exploring ways to improve its students’ emotional wellbeing in the face of growing pressures children are facing in today’s society – including social media, peer pressure, poverty, neglect etc.

Whittle Hall Junior Football Club girls’ team in their new kit

Community Garden for Westbrook The final winner was St Philip’s Church in Westbrook. The local church used its funding to turn a disused piece of land into a fully accessible, low maintenance community garden for everyone to use.

The worthy project also received funding and support from Cheshire Community Fund, Burtonwood and Westbrook Parish Council, Warrington Deanery, Enovert Community Trust, and numerous Parishioners.

The garden was completed in January 2020.

They decided to create a dedicated nuture room in the grounds of its school. This would be used for individual pupils and small groups for play therapy and counselling sessions to give children the space and support they need to discuss their feelings and deal with emotional issues.

The Omega team was delighted to provide funding to help create this valuable space to support young people.

The project was completed in 2019 and will be in use when Covid-19 restrictions allow.

Well done to the Green Heart team this last year who have achieved the following: ■ Over 300,000 cubic m of earth placed to form the new Greenheart ■ New 35 acres park comprises areas of native species woodland, scrub, hedgerow and wildflower meadows

But the story doesn’t end there…

■ Over 1.6km of native hedge planted ■ 13,500 new plants – wildflower meadows sown with perennial species which, over time, will improve in density and appearance

■ New visitors already settling in include Buzzards, Herons, Pheasants, Skylarks, Ducks and Brown Hare plus Great Crested Newts (a European Protected Species) continue to thrive here.

■ Nearly 40,000 new woodland trees and shrubs (over 4 ha) -– over time, managed to become an Oak woodland Nearly 40,000 new trees and shrubs planted One of the new ponds created

Below, The Land Trust gives us an insight into the national charity’s immediate and long-term vision for the Green Heart.

Whilst we currently have to work within Covid-19 social restrictions, we still have a number of strong charitable aims for the Green Heart at Omega.

Community garden opened in January ’20

The Club Burtonwood Makeover Earlier in 2020, Omega also contributed funds to this much-loved local club where the car park, in desperate need of repair, was almost facing partial closure due to safety issues.

New car park at The Club Burtonwood

■ A new, well-lit, east to west footpath and cycleway links employment centres and Barrowhall School with wider Warrington suburbs ■ A network of new footpaths within the Greenheart encouraging access across the landscape

Successful screenings in February 2020

TALE was formed following the death of Adam Lewis, a 24-year-old man who passed away from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome. Following his sudden passing, Adam’s family and friends formed the foundation to raise awareness of the Syndrome and to raise funds for vital heart screening for people aged between 14 and 35 years old. The Omega funding was put towards two successful TALE screening events on the 15th and 16th February 2020, where over 200 people between the age of 14–35 were tested at David Lloyd leisure centre in Warrington.

■ Network of amphibian tunnels installed so wildlife (especially Great Crested Newts) can cross all Omega roads in safety

With a gleaming new car park, the non-profit organisation/ social club can continue to be a hub for the community as it has been for over 60 years, playing host to numerous community groups supporting interests such as bingo, golf, amateur dramatics, quiz nights, live music and comedy, to name just a few.

Education: Engagement with the local primary school has already begun. Activities will be dependent on Covid-19 but will likely involve children coming to site for educational sessions - something they all seem to love!

Volunteering: Given the Green Heart is for everyone, we will invite the local community to jon us with (Covid-19 compliant) volunteering projects. We find this to be hugely rewarding and beneficial in terms of health and well-being.

Environment: The environment is extremely important to us and we will manage the site to maximise biodiversity opportunities. This often involves hugely rewarding planting days with the local community.

Robust, long-term maintenance: Long-term management of the site will be crucial to its success. The Land Trust has already engaged a local contractor to maintain the Green Heart so that it matures appropriately for everyone to enjoy.

Leisure and fitness: In time, we hope that the community will use the Green Heart for all types of ‘keeping fit’ activities. We often work with local providers to offer licences so groups such as Parkrun/Couch-to-5k, etc. can set up; we’d very much hope to see this here too.

The second phase of planting, which was completed in March 2020, will be passed to the land Trust in 2021.

Launch of 2020’s Community Bids for Funding If you are from a local charity or community initiative, and it sounds like we might be able to help you, please send us a short one page bid including: • Your individual/group/charity/project name and who is involved • Information on what you do, or would like to do • What support you would like to bid for, ie. time or funding • Statement on what difference the funding would make to you/ your group • Contact details (telephone, email and postal address) Please note that applications are open to charities and community groups only – commercial organisations will not be considered.

Please send through your bids to omegabids@glhearn.com. The closing date for all applications is 31 January 2021. We will then get in touch with those shortlisted for further discussions, with the winners announced in due course.

Virtual Launch of Aldon Wood If you’re a first-time buyer or have a growing family, you may be interested to see that in June this year, Taylor Wimpey virtually launched their Aldon Wood new homes development at Omega. Having re-started construction of the 180 property, 13 house type development in May, Taylor Wimpey is promoting 20% of the development for Low Cost Homes Ownership.

The new Great Sankey homes, a collection of three- and four-bedroom properties, are nestled within walking distance of numerous familiar local green spaces including Whittle Hall duck pond, Sankey Valley Park and the Green Heart public park.

We’re also delighted to confirm that Taylor Wimpey have already made almost £2,000 in local donations to health and social care charity, Making Space, Culcheth High School Community Campus, Eagle FC, and Warrington Town Netball Club.

Aldon Wood is due to complete in 2023.

Artist’s impressions of Aldon Wood.

IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT US If you have any questions about Omega generally or have any thoughts or ideas about the topics covered in this newsletter, you can contact us via omega@glhearn.com.

You can also use these contacts if you are experiencing any issues directly linked to the site; this may not be something Miller Development (the Omega team) can resolve directly for you, but we can certainly help by directing your queries to the right people.

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