850-home plan for Runcorn green belt

SUBURBAN sprawl could be about to swallow up a swathe of fields and farmland at Runcorn’s eastern edge as councillors decide whether to approve the construction of up to 850 Redrow houses with a neighbourhood centre in Daresbury.

Elected members sitting on Halton’s development control committee will have to contend with reams of concerns raised by residents worried over the loss of greenery and other issues ranging from design quality to the creation of a dark alley.

Planning officers have recommend approval for the three applications, paving the way for Redrow to plough ahead and build them.

The firm will have to pick which of the first two sets of proposals to pursue because they overlap on the same patch of land.

All three schemes are based around Delph Lane in Daresbury and two railway lines running through the area.

The first application is for 550 two, three and four-bedroom homes, with up to 15,000 square metres (sq m) of employment space and a 3,000 neighbourhood centre.

The second is for 295 similar homes on a separate plot, and the third is for 300 houses, again with two, three and four bedrooms.

Given permission for all three, it is likely Redrow will opt for the first and third to maximise the number of units.

A report published ahead of the meeting said identical applications are being decided by the Housing Secretary Sajid Javid after an appeal submitted by Redrow to the Planning Inspectorate was called in.

Councillors are now tasked with deciding what to do now have 10 pages of representations summarising the grievances, views and any support voiced by residents, parish councils and other organisations.

The issues raised in planning applications from impacts on traffic, pollution and nature to alleged ‘poor design’, proximity to the railway, loss of hedges, flooding, the ‘industrialisation’ of the area, poor public transport, lack of health facilities and many more.

Waterways operator Peel Holdings has also slated the plans, reporting that it has ‘major concerns’ over what it branded a ‘piecemeal planning approach’, a lack of a strategy to provide critical infrastructure and the closure of neighbourhood roads.

Peel added that the plans do not make the most of the canal and argued that the proposed neighbourhood centre and marina should be incorporated.

Network Rail has also raised concerns over the potential for bridge strikes with the underpasses on Delph Lane and Keckwick Lane.

The Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture has also protested that the plans do not fit with the area’s development plan and strategic framework.

Halton Council’s development control committee meets at 6.30pm on Monday, February 5, at the Municipal Building in Widnes to decide the three applications.

The meeting is open to the public to attend.