No plans to move police in Halton Lea NHS plan
● HALTON Borough Council has moved to allay fears that Runcorn police station could move as part of the Halton Lea NHS Healthy New Town plan.
The Weekly News recently reported that a relocation could be on the cards, after the local authority said a plot north of Shopping City was being eyed to be redeveloped as ‘Second Avenue Square’.
A masterplan map published earlier this year showed the area encompassing the police station, the now-closed magistrates court and Halton 5 office complex as being earmarked to be turned into a mainly residential area with some mixed use.
Cheshire police and the county’s police and commissioner said they had not heard of any such plans, nor had Halton Lea ward councillor Dave Thompson who sits on the Cheshire police and crime panel.
A Halton Council spokeswoman said the Healthy New Town masterplan has proposed creating a development beyond Shopping City to boost links across the town centre, with a public square for ‘community activities’.
She said it could also include housing, and that improvements to the front of Shopping City and surrounding area had been proposed to make it feel more connected, rather than inward facing.
The Halton Lea NHS Healthy New Town project was announced in 2016. Its goal was to redevelop the area around Shopping City to incorporate innovative design features that would encourage and reward healthy living and include the construction or conversion of existing buildings to create 800 homes.
A major plan to rebuild Halton Hospital as a health campus was dealt a blow earlier this year when it was snubbed in a list of projects to share a slice of £760m NHS 70th birthday funding, with hopes now turning to the upcoming Autumn Statement.
A Halton Council spokesman said: “There are no plans to move Runcorn Police Station.
“It is an important part of the community and remains so.”