A MAJOR plan to provide 80 homes in a block of up to 10 floors in Warrington town centre comes before the borough’s development management committee next week.
The scheme involves the demolition of the existing Bank House office building on the corner of Bank Street and Mersey Street and replacing it with the new block, which would contain 30 one-bed units and 50 two-bed units.
There would be a rooftop amenity space and the ground floor would be used for commercial use – retails, offices, restaurant or bar.
Warrington Borough Council planning officers are recommending the scheme be approved. They say that although the proposed building would be significantly higher than the existing two-storey offices and adjoining building, it will be a similar height to the multi-story car park and the Time Square office and cinema development.
This, they believe, is acceptable.
Officers say the development will be a high-quality addition to the existing regeneration of a wider area.
Although a number of existing trees will be lost, they will be replaced and the addition of a sizeable Fastigiata Purple Beech on the Mersey Street frontage will be a noticeable landscape feature in future years.
Four parking spaces are proposed for the commercial units but no spaces are proposed for the 80 residential apartments. The applicant is offering to reserve 20 spaces for residents in the nearby multi-storey car park for two years.
An illustration of the proposed 10 storey building
