Path cleared for Castle Green’s 330-home Warrington scheme after DfT stand-off

The local council has rubber-stamped the developer’s Thelwall Heyes proposals after the Department for Transport lifted a block on the local authority determining the application.

The DfT had informed the council it was not to approve Castle Green Homes’ 330-home scheme despite Warrington’s planning committee having voted in favour of the project, in line with its local plan, in January.

This was because the DfT had been concerned about how the project might impact the delivery of a new rail link between Manchester and Liverpool. The housing scheme is proposed on 51 acres in Warrington that could accommodate a section of the proposed Northern Arc rail scheme, which is part of Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Court papers revealed that the DfT had previously sought to secure an option to acquire the site for £60m as part of the land assembly process for the rail project.

Two days before Warrington Council’s committee was due to determine Castle Green’s application “a senior civil servant at the Department for Transport on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport… [directed] Warrington Council not to grant permission on this application for a period of 6 months”.

This moratorium was extended to 30 October 2026 but is now understood to have been lifted, allowing the council to formalise the committee’s decision on 15 October.

Bridgemere Group and subsidiary Castle Green were granted permission to challenge the DfT’s decision to delay approval earlier this year.

It is unclear at this stage whether the legal proceedings will continue following the approval of the proposal.

Bridgemere declined to comment. Warrington Council, the DfT, and Castle Green did not respond to a request for comment.

To learn more about the scheme, search for reference number 2025/00444/FULM on Warrington Council’s planning portal.