Radcliffe Meadows Nursing Home on Twiss Green Lane, Culcheth, is set to be demolished after Warrington Borough Council granted planning permission for a substantial redevelopment.
The former 12-bedroom, single-storey care home closed in July 2020 and has sat abandoned and boarded up ever since. Frankly, it has hardly been a glowing advertisement for the village, and residents have understandably worried that the neglected building could become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.
In its place will come nine two-storey homes: two three-bedroom houses, four four-bedroom homes and three five-bedroom properties. A new two-storey care facility will also be built, providing six bedrooms, a TV lounge, kitchen, activity room and roof garden.
The applicant, Twiss Green Barns Ltd, a Cheshire-based family-run business with more than 20 years of industry experience, said the scheme would meet local demand for housing and specialist care. The company described the site as brown belt land off Twiss Green Oaks and said its plans would use high-quality materials, local trades and local merchants.
Twiss Green Barns Ltd also said one of the homes could be used as an assisted living facility, bringing employment and essential care back into the village. That is a worthwhile aim, although the smaller six-bedroom centre is not exactly a like-for-like replacement for the former care home. Calling it an offset is planning language doing a fair bit of heavy lifting.
Residents submitted 18 representations during the application process, raising concerns about parking for the care facility, noise, overlooking and the removal of trees. Those are not trivial grumbles, particularly in a village where roads and parking can already feel as though they were designed for a quieter, less car-dependent age.
However, the planning officer concluded that the proposal would make efficient use of a previously developed site within a defined settlement. The officer said it would contribute to Warrington's housing supply, provide a new six-bed care facility and help meet demand for supported housing for adults in the borough.
The application was also judged not to create unacceptable impacts on the area's character, neighbouring residents, highway safety or local ecology. That should offer some reassurance, though the real test will be whether the promised landscaping, parking and privacy measures survive contact with construction and future residents.
The decision was reported by Nathan Okell, Chief Reporter. The article was presented through an exclusive subscriber partnership with USA Today and noted that it did not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.