Wirral greenlights former West Kirby fire station revamp
Blueoak Estates will start work on site later this year to deliver 32 apartments off John Kirby Way, following a successful appeal a year after the council originally extinguished the plans.
Pritchard Architectural Design designed the scheme, which will create 32 homes across two linked buildings.
The blocks will range from three to 4.5 storeys and feature seven one-, 21 two-, and four three-bedroom apartments.
Of the 32 homes, six will be affordable.
Residents will have access to a total of 8,900 sq ft of amenity space in the form of landscaped areas, green and brown roofs, and private patios and balconies.
A total of 32 cycle and 26 car parking spaces will be provided for residents, including two accessible.
The existing 1970’s fire station on site will be demolished to make way for the project. The facility has been vacant since its closure and relocation to Saughall Massie in 2016.
Wirral Council refused the scheme last May due to the West Kirby site being designated for commercial use. The local authority has since agreed that residential development on the site is acceptable in principle.
The site is part of a wider area, named ‘The Concourse’, which has been earmarked for redevelopment for several decades.
Asteer Planning is the planning consultant for the scheme.
Also on the project team is landscape architect LDS and transport consultant CBO Transport.
Iain MacLean, managing director of Blueoak Estates, commented: “We’ve worked incredibly hard to create a design that would not only fit well aesthetically with the surrounding environment, but to ultimately bring a considerable amount of quality homes to this popular town, whilst reducing development pressure on Green Belt land.”
Alice Henderson, senior Planner at Asteer, added: “The proposed development will create much-needed market and affordable homes in a highly sustainable location within West Kirby.
“It will bring a redundant and visually unappealing site back into use and will act as an important catalyst for the wider Concourse area, providing developer confidence and stimulating investment in an area, which has been identified for regeneration of a long period of time.”
To find out more about the plans, search for application number APP/21/01853 on Wirral Council’s planning portal.
