D-day for hotel and club plan
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ACRUNCH meeting is to decide the fate of a controversial bid for outline planning permission to build a country club hotel on a field at the edge of a conservation area in Runcorn.
SOG Pension Fund has applied to build the 30-bedroom property with function room and restaurant on land on Heath Road South.
Halton Borough Council’s development control committee is due to decide the matter at the Municipal Building on Kingsway in Widnes at 6.30pm on Monday, October 2. Members of the public can attend. First filed in June last year, the application sparked opposition from residents who feared the loss of greenspace and view and also raised concerns about the 1.2-hectare site’s proximity to Heathside Nursery.
A Halton Council report published ahead of Monday’s planning meeting said a total of 114 representations have been made.
Of the initial 92 submitted in 2016, three were in support and 89 were in objection spanning a gamut of concerns covering wildlife impact, business impact, hazardous land contamination, traffic, lack of need, loss of land for grazing horses and walking dogs, and the land’s greenspace status.
Further consultation resulted in complaints that the scheme would bring heavy traffic, the risk of expos- ing chemical waste contamination, and one resident asked ‘are the Inland Revenue aware of this speculative development by the pension fund?’
Halton Council’s reporting officer for the application also criticised the application, slating it for not including ‘important details’ about nearby landfill containing ‘chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminated lime wastes from the former ICI CastnerKellner works’.
Supporters of the scheme said a good hotel and restaurant would be welcomed in the area.
SOG Pension Fund is part of SOG Ltd, owners of the Heath Business And Technical Park.
A spokesman for the firm said no artist’s impressions were available at ● this stage, although a design statement lodged with the local authority showed a basic computer generated image of a building with outdoor tables and chairs near some greenery.
Cllr Chris Rowe, Lib Dem, Heath ward, said he would remain neutral over the matter but was keen to represent residents, and organised two meetings this week to discuss the plans in the run-up to the planning committee session.
He said reaction to the plans had been ‘mixed’ but despite the level of opposition he thought the scheme would go through as changes to the initial plan would suggest it would now gain the development control committee’s support.
Cllr Rowe said: “Some people think the application is a good idea, but the majority do not and there are persuasive arguments on both sides.
“Regarding the planning meeting, I have already asked that Cllr Gareth Stockton or myself be included in the list to speak.
“The fact that this is the second ‘bite of the cherry’ means the amendments should have addressed the failings of the original application.
“If that is the case then it stands a good chance of passing as the committee would have to find genuine planning reasons to reject the application.
“Having said that there is an opportunity for objections to be voiced at the meeting and Gareth and I are happy to voice those objections on people’s behalf.”