Kingswood plans 432 homes at derelict Winstanley Hall
Wigan Council will consider the full application from the housebuilder, which seeks permission to sensitively restore a 16th-century mansion into a 36 flat block, complemented by an adjacent 396-home neighbourhood.
The grade two star-listed Tudor Winstanley Hall is found off Pemberton Road to the south west of Wigan town centre and has become dilapidated and dangerous over the past 25 years.
Kingswood Homes wants to conserve the hall’s heritage assets – including two smaller listed buildings – at the 59.5-acre site, while building a 396-home neighbourhood on its surrounding grounds across from Winstanley Park.
Winstanley Hall complex would be converted into 36 apartments and houses, which would include a 1,000 sq ft community space, and a mixed-use lodge building, intended to serve as a sales suite during construction.
Once complete, the lodge would become a heritage centre with a café hatch.
The proposed housing mix within the hall is 14 one-, eight two-, three three-, and four four-bedroom houses. Seven two-bedroom apartments would round off the offer.
A typical street within Kingswood’s 396-home neighbourhood. Credit: via planning documents
Of the 396 surrounding properties, 99, or 25% are to be affordable. Proposals indicate there would be four one-, 135 two-, 199 three-, 44 four-, and 14 five-bedroom houses on offer.
Paul Butler Associates is the planning consultant, and Chambers Architecture Conservation is the chief designer working on Kingswood Homes’ behalf. Layer.studio is in charge of landscaping matters.
A fully costed condition survey by Cavendish Bloor indicates a baseline cost for the conservation repairs to heritage assets at Winstanley Hall as being £37.5m, with a conservation deficit of £26m.
A public consultation over the project ran in May, teeing up Kingswood to apply to Wigan Council for an EIA screening opinion in June.
Both parcels would provide more than 728 car parking spaces for residents.
Paul Jones, managing director of Kingswood Homes, said: “We’re pleased to have reached this crucial stage in our journey to restore Winstanley Hall.
“Our planning submission represents months of careful work with heritage specialists and planning consultants to develop a scheme that respects the historical significance of the hall while creating a viable plan for its future.”
The scheme is split across two parcels, with Winstanley Hall to the west. Credit: via planning documents
The project team includes LK Group, Cavendish Bloor, Blackett-Ord Conservation Engineering, BNP Paribas, WSP, Clement Acoustics, Betts Consulting, Dobson Owns, Cheshire Woodlands, and Base Energy.
To view the application, use the planning reference number A/25/099717/MAJOR on Wigan Council’s planning portal.
How it was allowed to decay is disgraceful.. it needs to have it’s Tudor feel restored.. outside.. AND inside.. at least in the community space.. there must be some features left worth incorporating.
By Anonymous
Great news and could have happened 25 years ago with less Enabling Development if English Heritage had been more open minded.
By Grimly Fiendish
The nation itself should have the ability to sue the owners of national heritage sites who let them decay to ruin.. no other country would allow it.
By Anonymous
No infrastructure.. ( shops, school, medical facilities) again
By Mags
433 homes with no infrastructure to the surrounding areas. An already busy through road and absolutely no consideration for the local community or wildlife. A huge housing project under the guise of restoring a heritage site … but to Flats!
By Anonymous
Where are these extra 700+vehicles going to be accommodated on already jammed up roads
When will the Council wake up to the chronic shortage of road space now
With lots of popular roads being no go areas now
By Fred lever
An already very busy pemberton road will have another 500 to 700 extra cars. The figures submitted don’t really add up which makes me think there is a plan to increase the number of homes in years to come.
By David Young
I have lived in Winstanley for over 50 years it will be a disgrace to build on the green belt land. Such beautiful surroundings why would the Council allow this to happen ! Totally agree that Winstanley Hall should be updated and brought back to life but please leave the surrounding areas alone.
By Anonymous
Shame on you for promoting green belt building.
By Anonymous
To promote such a project is disgraceful and not very empathetic to the community this is effecting in such a negative manner
By Anonymous
Every developer firstly pays for planning and when a development is built contributes circa £1000 + per property to the Local Council / economy …. so it would be remise to say that it does not contribute to the local Authority coffers. how that money is spent for local direct services is key and paramount when taking into account stamp duty / taxes so just a bit of food for thought – many thanks
By Mike Ashall
Shocking proposal more houses in an already overly populated area. It’s all about money for developers and others who have financial interests that are not made public until after the event !!!! no consideration for schools, medical services, shops, recreational facilities for kids and young adults. Plus all the additional road congestion and air pollution. Shame on Wigan Council for encouraging/allowing this project on Greenbelt Land.
By Anonymous
Green belt land should only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. This is not exceptional and no doubt there will never be any public access to the area around Winstanley Hall if it’s ever completed. The loss to wildlife and farming will be huge and no doubt further plans around these houses will start to appear. There are no facilities to cater for so many new households. Public transport is only available near Winstanley Primary school, Holmes House Avenue and much further down Pemberton Station. This will lead to much more congestion on an already very busy road.
This development should not go ahead.
By Anonymous
The community space isn’t even in the hall it’s in one of the outbuildings, so no need to worry about keeping the features in there. The road is only for the private apts as public are going to be discouraged from driving to there. The so called heritage centre is no where near the hall, it’s just off Pemberton road. This is Kingswood and English heritages way of including the community.
By Anonymous
I wish to object to this development on the grounds of further deterioration of air quality and increase of noise, reducing the quality of life, and health implications, for those people within the surrounding area of Pemberton Road
By Philo
Wanton destruction of greenbelt, long established wildlife habitats and an overassumption the local infrastructure is up to supporting this development.
Air quality will suffer too as we already have to contend with the pollution from the nearby ‘oh so smart’ motorway, and what about the much publicised impact of global warming, with the predicted flooding when the antiquated drainage can’t cope because the of the concreting over of the natural landscape? I wouldn’t like to live near the bottom of this awful development.
Wigan Council should be ashamed at it’s lack of foresight. Might be more money today, but at a far bigger cost than ever envisaged. What happened to the green credentials the council were once proud to advertise?
By LC Clogg
There is plenty of brownfield in Wigan that could be redeveloped, albeit decontamination eats into developer profits, so this development is an easy option.
Very much doubt the hall restoration will ever come to fruition, and the same with the community facilities. Not enough profit unless the price of the houses is high enough, which may preclude many people in the affordability stakes.
By Anonymous
Surely this can’t be approved after the Tyldesley factory fiasco? I can see the headlines now “Once voted Britain’s friendliest street….”. This one could go national press if approved.
Also anyone who’s walked up Winstanley road at dusk time can clearly see there is a substantial bat population in the area…. And guaranteed the greenbelt will be a haven for Badgers, Dormice and birds.
By Anonymous
We think it’s a wonderful planning application and a great idea to restore the hall and build lovely homes for the future and such a wonderful place to live
By Anonymous
It would be a crime to build houses on this lovely country side
By David aston