Go-ahead recommended for 185 Widnes houses

Bloor Homes’ application to build on 18 acres of greenfield land off South Lane would provide 37 affordable residences, in addition to 148 market dwellings.

Halton Council will be discussing the application on Monday, with planning officers suggesting planning permission be granted.

Of the 37 affordable homes proposed, nine would be for shared ownership and nine would be for social rent. The remaining 19 would be first homes, homes that must be discounted by at least 30% and sold to those who meet the government’s first homes eligibility criteria.

Many of the 148 houses proposed by Bloor comprise of three-bed residences – 67 of which would be market priced and 10 would be affordable. The remaining affordable homes would have either one or two bedrooms. A total of 81 homes would have four bedrooms. These would all be market properties.

Access to the development would come from two points off Derby Road, which borders the northern part of the site.

The project team includes energy consultant Briary Energy, engineer Lees Roxburgh, geo-environmental expert Brownfield Solutions, air quality consultant Miller Goodall, ecologist TEP, I-Transport, Tree Solutions, and JPM Acoustics. Stantec is the planning consultant for the scheme.

Bernard Greep, planning director at Stantec, said: “Stantec has worked closely with Halton Council to bring forward this planning application for the development of a high-quality residential scheme in Widnes.

“We’ve held several meetings with the council’s planning and highways officers, which have helped to shape the attractive proposals that are being presented to committee,” he continued.

To learn more about the project and see the plans yourself, search application reference number 24/00007/FUL on Halton Council’s planning portal.