Heath School rebuild go-ahead despite safety objections:

ASCHOOL rebuild project in Runcorn has been given the go-ahead three years on since the Government blocked it because of the potential risk of children being exposed to toxic gas in a major incident.

Planning chiefs green-lighted the redevelopment of The Heath School on Monday after plans were redrafted to assuage concerns of the Heath And Safety Executive (HSE).

Modifications included moving the proposed school building further away from the Inovyn and MexiChem chemical works and agreeing to limit pupil numbers to 1,250.

Cllr Dave Thompson, who sits on the planning committee, slammed the HSE’s demands as ‘ridiculous’ and said the body’s decision to opposed the application under its previous form in 2013 had cost the public purse.

In response to a request for details, Andrew Plant, planning officer, said the process of assessing the risk had cost in excess of £80,000 in legal fees to barristers when the matter was called in three years ago.

Other speakers included Malpas Road resident Andy Young, who criticised the plans saying the proposed buildings including a bin store and sprinkler tank were too close to homes and would infringe privacy.

Cllr Gareth Stockton, Lib Dem, Heath ward, spoke on behalf of residents.

He said the reduced privacy could result in ‘1,250 pairs of eyes staring down’ on residential properties.

Cllr Bill Woolfall, a member of the planning committee, sought clarification over why Halton Borough Council and HSE disagreed over whether children at the school would face a ‘significant risk of harm’ from a toxic chemical leak.

A planning officer told him the HSE’s definition was based on the ‘risk of dangerous dose’ while the local authority’s used ‘risk of death’, which was ‘10 chances per million of death’.

The meeting heard the HSE had powers to refer planning applications to the secretary of state to consider and had done so in 2013 after Halton Borough Council approved previous plans for The Heath School.

The minister heeded the HSE’s advice and blocked the proposal.

This time, Halton Council had agreed conditions with the HSE to lower the chance that it would refer the matter to Whitehall.

Cllr Thompson pummelled the safety regulator’s policies.

He told the meeting: “We sat here in 2013 with a perfectly good planning application at which there was minimal public concern and they Artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment of The Heath School in Runcorn objected and the extent of their objection beggars belief.

“We all know the whole of Widnes town centre, which has been rebuilt and redeveloped, would not have happened if we followed the HSE.

“They have objected to every single application about improving this borough. Three years later we have another proposal – there’s three years of added cost to building a school. We’re talking about a lot of money.”

After the meeting, Mike Egan, of Malpas Road, told the Weekly News that he was a Labour Party member but was disappointed with the panel’s decision, claiming they had not ‘even bothered to take their electorate into consideration’ and that they ‘didn’t take any notice’ of residents.