A plan to convert a document storage facility at Stretton into a prestige vehicle restoration/repair facility has been put to Warrington planners.
It involves an application by Tim Blackshaw to change of use from document storage to prestige vehicle restoration/repair at Walnut Tree Farm, on Northwich Road, Stretton.
The existing building comprises a previous potato storage building which has more recently been used for document storage by The File Room. However, that use has relocated following the sale of the business and the building is currently vacant.
The application site lies within Walnut Tree Farm and as with many agricultural practices, this has been subject to substantial pressure to diversity in recent years. As a result, a number of planning permissions have been granted on the site.
After more than 30 years of experience, Manchester-based Road and Race Ltd, who restore and repair prestige vehicles are now looking to expand. They specialise in prestige and racing car repair and restoration and are approved by a number of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers including Audi, VW, Mercedes-Benz and are recommended by Porsche.
The quality of their work has been recognised nationally and the company won Bodyshop Magazine’s prestigious Bodyshop of the Year Award in 2012.
The company is currently based in Manchester but is looking to add another facility in the Warrington area as it is centrally located for many of its customers. In support of their application the company states it is committed to becoming carbon neutral and to do so, needs to move away from traditional industrial estates.
The design objective has been to facilitate the new use with minimal alteration to the exterior of the building. In terms of appearance, the building will remain as existing with the same cladding and one existing roller shutter opening glazed to form the main entrance and the addition of an emergency exit door. In terms of the amount of development, the only addition will be 177 sq metres created by adding a small office and parts store at first and second-floor level. As the wider site is already well landscaped and the building has existed on site for some time, no additional landscaping is proposed. No changes are proposed to the existing access arrangements.
The applicants state the use is entirely appropriate to the site and the existing range of commercial uses at Walnut Tree Farm, involving the reuse of an existing building in the Green Belt
which will have no impact on the openness of the Green Belt and does not conflict with any of the purposes of including land in Green Belts. The building is of permanent and substantial construction.
The proposal will lead to investment, growth and jobs.
A delegated decision by Warrington Borough Council is pending consideration.
