No action possible over Deck developers
HALTON Council has said developers who are yet to build retail and leisure units at The Deck flats in Runcorn more than a decade since the scheme received the go-ahead are not in breach of their planning conditions.
Taylor Woodrow was given the green light in December 2005 to build 10 blocks totalling 466 oneand two-bed apartments on a former ship repair yard off Mersey Road.
More than 12 years on, the apartments remain uncompleted and no retail units such as cafes have been installed.
The eighth planning condition that Halton Council imposed in 2005 required that the proposed retail and leisure units would be ‘completed within three years of the starting date or the completion of the apartment block where the unit is to be situated’, unless otherwise agreed by the local authority.
A council spokeswoman said that since the building where the units were supposed to be situated have not been constructed yet, the council cannot take action or order that the units be built. The development remains incomplete with several blocks yet to be built.
Taylor Wimpey, which inherited the scheme when it split from Taylor Woodrow to form an independent company, put two sections of the land – with enough room for four blocks with planning permission for 178 flats – up for sale in 2015, but remains the owner.
The sales flyer said the land also had outline planning permission for two retail units.
Outline planning permission had previously been granted in March 2005 to the Manchester Ship Canal Company, part of Peel Ports, to build a mixed use residential, commercial and retail development with open space at the site, comprising 466 flats and three retail units.
A fireworks show celebrated the launch of The Deck flats in 2006.
Taylor Wimpey was approached for comment but had trouble tracking down the information due to the time elapsed. ●