Green Belt fire station wins approval

A NEW 24-hour fire station on the outskirts of Warrington have been given the go-ahead by planning bosses – despite the site being in the Green Belt.
But the borough council’s development management committee are to impose strict conditions.
Existing trees on the site must be protected – and there must be additional planting to screen the site from a nearby farm.
The plans were put forward by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and involve the former lorry park and petrol filling station site at Poplar Park, Cliff Lane, Lymm.
Planners admit the proposals represent a significant departure from the borough’s development plan and are inappropriate for a Green Belt site.
But the need for a modern fire station and training centre is such that it is considered a special reason to allow the development to take place.
Fire Service chiefs want to build a 24-hour fire station and safety centre which would have seven full-time staff on site during each shift Up to five vehicles could be kept there.
The safety centre would provide a training facility to be used by specialist personnel by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service personnel and could also be used by school children and groups from across Cheshire and the wider community as part of a statutory duty to deliver education against fire risk.
The safety centre would have five full time staff, occasional staff and volunteers.
Planners say the M6/M56 interchange, which is close by, has been identified as a hot spot for life risk road traffic collisions. It is not within the new fire service response time of 10 minutes.
In addition to this, it will provide a high quality training environment for firefighters as a whole and the special crews to be based at the fire station.
The scheme is still subject to approval by the National Planning Casework Unit – but this is expected to be a formality.