Rethink for Runcorn resi after extra care pulled

Housing association Riverside is being forced to rework plans for part of its £60m town centre regeneration project after Halton Council decided the 65 care beds proposed were not needed.

Riverside secured planning approval in 2023 replace the outdated local centre at Palace Fields, demolish 26 homes, and deliver 134 new ones.

Of these, 65 were to be extra care homes, including a pair of bungalows. However, Halton Council has evaluated the area’s housing need and concluded extra care is not required.

As a result, funding earmarked to support the delivery of the extra care portion of the project has been pulled. Without this funding, the extra care scheme is “no longer deliverable”, according to planning documents.

Riverside has applied to the council to amend the wording of the planning consent to remove reference to extra care and a specific number of units.

The scheme will now be redesigned, likely with fewer units overall.

Work on the replacement local centre is ongoing.

Lichfields is advising Riverside.

A council spokesperson said: “As part of preparations for the Riverside Palace Fields project, Riverside Housing Association consulted Halton Council’s adult services team to understand the level of demand for extra care provision in the borough.

“The adults services team advised that, under our model of care, there is currently no appetite for proposed plans. No funding was withdrawn, as funding for the project had not been secured.”