ANGER AFTER FLATS GIVEN GREEN LIGHT:
ARUNCORN landmark is to be converted into flats after planning chiefs approved redrafted plans.
Planning chiefs gave the go ahead for Halton Housing Trust to transform Victoria House on Holloway into 22 apartments with six neighbouring houses at a packed Runcorn Town Hall civic suite on Monday.
The matter had been deferred in May when councillors raised ‘extreme reservations’ with the plans, which were also slated by Halton Borough Council design and conservation officers.
Since then Halton Housing Trust has ditched its plans to install a fourthstorey extension on the rear of the building, which critics said would have towered over existing nearby homes.
They also removed some windows and reangled others to reduce invasions of privacy into neighbouring properties.
The extension had also been redesigned to be more in keeping with the area.
However, resident and meeting speaker Victoria Jones accused Halton Council’s planning report of ‘extreme bias’ and ‘misrepresenting’ the plans.
She said the report had wrongly not counted bedrooms as ‘habitable’ rooms when it came to the issues of privacy and distances between windows on neighbouring properties
Miss Jones had been credited with winning the deferral for residents back in May after convincing councillors.
Lib Dem councillor Chris Rowe, who represents the neighbouring Heath ward, spoke on behalf of residents, outlin- ing their concerns over the project being ‘out of character’ with the area and anticipated parking chaos that is expected to add to existing problems caused by rail commuters leaving their vehicles in the area.
He added that some nearby homes will suffer a ‘drastic loss of sunlight’.
James Nicholls, of Halton Housing Trust, said the scheme would ‘enhance a historic building’ and spoke of the need for homes in the borough, commenting that ‘ developing affordable housing isn’t for the faint-hearted’.
The committee pressed ahead and approved the plans, despite reservations from Cllr Dave Thompson who accused Halton Housing Trust of failing to provide play facilities for children.
Cllr Thompson said there was a risk of ‘non-determination’ in deferring the plans again for more amendments and said that although the distances between buildings will not be ‘ideal for everybody’, he said the applicant had ‘at least met the residents half way’.
Halton Housing Trust acquired Victoria House, formerly known as the ‘Cottage Hospital’ from NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group after it was deemed surplus to requirements.
As the session dispersed, a member of the public accused the planning committee of ‘destroying’ Runcorn.
She said: “You destroyed my town and now you’ve destroyed a bit more of it.” Cllrs Arthur Cole, who sits on the Halton Housing Trust board and Carole Plumpton-Walsh, who had spoken out to defend the plans on the Weekly News Facebook page, declared interests in the scheme and did not take part in the vote.