Warrington to reapprove £55m development
Demetrius’s application for outline planning permission is expected to be approved at Thursday’s committee, subject to conditions of a Section 106 agreement.
Named Wireworks, the development of 550 homes, a 160-bed hotel, and 33,000 sq ft of commercial space has been in the pipeline for years.
The site is a three-acre council-owned car park between Winwick Street, Dallam Lane, and Tanners Lane.
Developer Demetrius, a vehicle of Iliad, first proposed the mixed-used development in 2005. It received approval in 2007, yet construction did not begin.
Revised plans for the 550 homes were put forward in 2019, but the council was concerned that the scheme’s blocks were too tall at 17 storeys.
In 2022 another outline application was approved, but negotiations concerning the S106 agreement were drawn out.
Demetrius was obliged to carry out an S106 agreement to secure 10% affordable housing and £207 per residential unit towards the Town Centre Travel Plan.
During these negotiations, in 2023, Warrington Council adopted a new local plan – meaning Demetrius’s application would have to go to committee again – and is now subject to approval.
The planning consultant who applied on Detmeritus’s behalf was Zerum. The buildings were designed by architect Tim Groom and landscape architect Layer.studio.
Construction of the four 12-storey towers will now be able to go ahead. No timescale for delivery has been given.
The proposal aims to create “well-designed and sustainable new homes alongside commercial/office space and a new hotel, creating a diverse neighbourhood that supports economic growth”, according to the architect.
The project has been valued at £55m.
Demetrius’s previous application has been taken into context and the officer’s recommendation remains to approve the plans.
Iliad is a Liverpool-based developer. In 2021 doors opened at The Eight, a £30m, 120-apartment scheme in the city’s Ropewalks area, where the developer has been active for many years.
Wireworks has an industrial history as a wire-making factory, a leather tannery, and a coal yard.
To view the application, use the reference number 2019/35548 on Warrington Council’s planning portal.
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That part of town desperately needs development now. It looks terrible.
By Anonymous
It may be named a warring-town, but it doesn’t need to look like a war zone! Bit of colour?
By Wolfie
Why on earth wouldn’t they want a 17 story tower in the town centre, right next to the railway station. Bonkers. 4×12 is at least a good benchmark to build from.
By DenseCity
Not viable in a million years. £55m to build 550 apartments with a TG design, who is their QS?
By QS
Assume none of the occupants will have children, what are all these people, going to do, Warrington is poor on leisure,why not pour concrete on all the town, south Warrington is disappearing rapidly, without any new infrastructure.
By John hewison