CONTROVERSIAL plans for 39 apartments in the centre of Culcheth have been thrown out by the council.

Developers had wanted to build the assisted living flats for those aged 55 and over on land close to the Culcheth Arms pub on Church Lane in the village.

But the scheme has been blocked by council officers who had a list of concerns over the plans for the four-storey building.

In a report published this week, council planning officers slammed the scheme as having an 'unacceptable impact' on highways safety due to too few parking spaces.

The report added: "There is too little parking capacity on nearby roads to support overspill parking and so the impact on the safety of vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Church Lane in particular would be severe."

Planning officers also said the size of the building would be too large and affect the look of the area.

Warrington Guardian:

The land in Culcheth

The report added: "The proposed development would cause unmitigated visual harm to the character and appearance of the site and its setting, by way of the imposition of a large new built form in an area at the rear of commercial and residential properties.

"This would harmfully reduce spaciousness within the existing urban grain by reason of its incongruous scale and massing, appearing crammed-in when seen from the surrounding properties and their curtilages."

And it said there was no affordable housing element to the proposal and it would be oppressive for neighbours living on Newsholme Close.

Previous plans to be built 10 homes on the site were approved before the latest application was submitted.

One of the objection letters said: "After getting approval for 10 houses on the small parcel of land, which was sufficient and in keeping with the area, they want to test the resolve of the council.

"If they can't get the old 31 apartment application approved why not go for a monolithic 40 apartment one, not three storeys high but four/"