PLANS to build 16 luxury houses on the site of a commercial vehicle depot at Culcheth are to go before Warrington planning chiefs next week.
The scheme involves the Trucks-2-Go site in Warrington Road at Mee Brow and would involve the demolition of existing buildings.
But part of the site is previously undeveloped land and is in the Green Belt and it is proposed that this would be developed as an amenity area.
A public footpath also runs through parts of the site and would need to be diverted.
Applicants are Elan Homes, who have carried out a number of housing developments in the Culcheth area in recent years.
Culcheth and Glazebury Parish Council have lodged objections mainly on the grounds of traffic issues and parking problems. They also question whether a development of four and five-bedroomed houses is appropriate for the village.
They point out that traffic is extremely heavy on Warrington Road.
Planning officers say the proposals are appropriate in a Green Belt area. The developer has agreed to pay £320,812 towards the fcost of affordable housing elsewhere and also £48,513 towards education enhancements at Culcheth High School.
They are recommending the scheme be approved.
6 Comments
Development on Green belt should only be allowed in “very exceptional circumstances”.
In recent case histories development proposals for affordable housing (which, it was confirmed, was much needed in the area) has been refused as not constituting ‘exceptional enough circumstances’ to encroach on green belt.
So how can luxury homes and included ‘amenity area’, which are not needed possibly be considered “appropriate”?
Where precisely is the £320,812 worth of affordable housing going to be built? “Elsewhere” is not on any local map.
Hope it’s not another ‘out of the borough’ venture!
Why are they not built on site? Whatever happened to ‘social inclusion’?
A token gesture, presumably by way of a S106 agreement, seems to be a tick in a box for this development too. The term ‘Green Belt’ means nothing these days Sha.
You only have to look at WBC’s recently published Local Plan for the years to come to realise that 🙁 People do seem to be now getting rather more rattled by it all though so maybe the council, land owners who are putting their land forward for development and the developers may have more of a fight on their hands than they ever envisaged. Time will tell……
I think ‘rather rattled’ is a gross understatement! I think WBC will certainly be in for more than they ever envisaged!
If the plot is deemed suitable for development then building about 40 ‘affordable’ houses instead of 16 luxury houses would be much better.