160 new homes planned at Great Sankey and Birchwood

MORE than 160 new homes will be built on two sites at Warrington if planning chiefs give the go-ahead.
A total of 92 properties would be built on the site of the former Sycamore Lane Primary School at Great Sankey while a further 69 would be built on the site of the former Foxwood Special School in Chatfield Drive, Birchwood.
Officers are recommending that both schemes are given the green light.
The properties are for private sector rent, with 30 per cent for affordable rent – that is discounted by 20 per cent from market value.
The proposals are for a mix of one and two bed apartments and two and three bed houses. The developments will include, car parking spaces, landscaping and tree planting.
The Chatfield Drive scheme is about 12 minutes walk from Birchwood railway station. Three objections have been received from nearby residents on the grounds of loss of light and wildlife habitats.
The Great Sankey scheme has attracted 37 objections from residents on the grounds of overcrowding of the site, traffic concerns with chaos predicted at peak times, loss of trees, noise and flooding.
Warrington South MP Andy Carter has added his concerns about traffic taking circuitous routes through residential areas to reach the site. He believes the possibility of a direct access to the site from the A57 should be explored.
But he says residents do not object to the principle of housing on the site.
Both schemes have been put forward by the borough council’s own housing development company, Incrementum Housing, and both sites are owned by the council.