Demolition work at Weavers Cottage, 13 Wigshaw Lane, Culcheth, has been stopped after residents reported that the roughly 200-year-old home was being pulled apart without planning permission. Quite how anyone thought dismantling a historic cottage first and sorting out the paperwork later was a sensible plan is a mystery.
Warrington Borough Council's building control service visited the property and instructed the developer to stop, confirming that the necessary approvals were not in place. The owner has also been asked to make the building watertight while the situation is assessed, which is rather more urgent than the usual planning paperwork shuffle.
Cllr Cheyvonne Bower said a resident contacted her on Tuesday night after becoming “devastated” by the apparent demolition. She said the owner had previously been refused permission for work on the property and that she could see no justification for demolishing it.
“I contacted Warrington Borough Council’s planning and building control which agreed to send a representative to the site,” Cllr Bower said. “The property owner has now been asked to stop work and make the property watertight while the situation is assessed.”
The council confirmed there is no planning consent for the works and said an investigation is underway. That is welcome news for anyone who thinks Culcheth character is worth preserving, rather than replacing every distinctive building with something that looks as if it came from a catalogue.
Weavers Cottage was marketed for £425,000 in September last year, described as an “approximately 200-year-old” property “full of character and charm”. Council mapping indicates that the two-storey, whitewashed detached home predates 1897.
Plans submitted in November 2023 proposed a two-storey rear extension, a raised roof, porch and canopy extensions, remodelling and replacement windows intended to create a “more standardised appearance”. The council refused that application, citing an unacceptable impact on residential amenity because sufficient distances from the neighbouring property to the south on Thompson Avenue would not have been maintained.
A revised application submitted in March this year fared no better. A council officer's report said very little of the original structure would remain, describing the scheme as almost a replacement dwelling. Planners then refused it because its size, scale and design would harm the character of the existing home and the surrounding area.
Cllr Bower, who is both a local historian and parish councillor, said preserving historic buildings helps protect the community's architectural heritage and gives residents a tangible connection to the past. She also stressed that following planning rules is important for safety, sustainable development and preventing the sort of haphazard construction that can erode an area's identity.
She added that she felt compelled to act to try to save the property, even at this late stage. For once, the planning system has managed to do something useful before an old piece of Culcheth was reduced to rubble.