Radcliffe Meadows Nursing Home in Culcheth has now been demolished, and if we are being honest, that boarded-up old building on Twiss Green Lane was not exactly enhancing the village ambience. Less country village charm, more abandoned set from a budget crime drama.
The former single-storey, 12-bedroom care home closed in July 2020 and had been left empty and boarded up ever since. Concerns had grown that it could become a magnet for anti-social behaviour, which is the polite planning-language way of saying nobody wanted it sitting there getting worse while we all pretended not to notice.
Warrington Borough Council’s planning department has approved plans to clear the site and replace it with nine new homes: two three-bedroom houses, four four-bedroom houses and three five-bedroom houses, all two storeys high. A new two-storey care facility is also planned, with 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, says the scheme will meet local demand for housing and specialist care. In its planning documents, the company described the site as uncared for and run down, and said the proposal would bring high-quality homes to a sustainable location on what it called brown belt land off Twiss Green Oaks.
They also argued the designs would respect neighbouring properties, use consistent materials, offer privacy, and fit in with the surrounding mix of 1990s homes and newer builds. That all sounds very polished, as planning statements tend to, though around here we know the real test is whether it looks decent once the builders have gone and the wheelie bins arrive.
On the plus side, removing a derelict building is a genuine improvement. Culcheth does not need boarded windows and creeping neglect, especially on a site that once provided care. The promise of a new supported living facility is also welcome, particularly if it brings proper local care provision and jobs back into the village.
That said, residents were not exactly throwing bunting across Twiss Green Lane. Eighteen representations were submitted, raising concerns about parking for the care facility, noise, overlooking, and tree removal. Those are not petty grumbles. Parking in village developments can become a daily theatre of nonsense, and once trees are gone, no amount of glossy landscaping language brings them back quickly.
Despite those objections, the planning officer concluded the development would make efficient use of a previously developed site within a defined settlement. The officer also said it would contribute to housing supply in the borough and provide a new six-bed care facility to help offset the loss of the old care home.
Warrington Borough Council’s view was that the scheme would not cause unacceptable harm to the area’s character, neighbouring residents’ amenity, highway safety or local ecology. In plain English, the council thinks the benefits outweigh the worries.
For local context, this story came via reporting by Nathan Okell and included the usual publisher furniture about USA Today, The Herald and the Public Notice Portal. The actual village takeaway is simpler: Radcliffe Meadows Nursing Home is gone, the eyesore has been dealt with, and Culcheth is getting more houses plus a smaller replacement care facility. Sensible in principle, provided the finished result does not turn into another case of lovely brochure, awkward reality.