Permission granted to homes at Countess of Chester health park

Cheshire West & Chester Council’s planning committee has approved the construction of up to 90 new homes on green belt land, north of the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The scheme by NHS Property Services is for a 6.7-acre site next to the country park. It has been vacant since healthcare services ceased in that area 10 years ago and majority of the buildings were demolished in 2007.

Planning consultancy WYG advised on the project. WYG argued that that the land was surplus to requirements for health uses and that the new buildings would have no greater impact on the openness of the green belt.

WYG also addressed a number of other challenges posed by the application, providing a full range of multi-disciplinary services on the project, including masterplanning, ecology, heritage, landscape and community consultation.

The scheme is designed around a listed water tower on the site.

NHS Property Services will now progress with the sale of the land for residential development.

Mike O’Brien, associate director of WYG, said: “This was a challenging application on a site with a number of constraints so we are very proud to have secured permission for these much needed homes.”