PLANS for a seven-storey building comprising 26 apartments look set for approval.

An application for the land, on Winwick Street, will come before the development management committee at its meeting on Thursday.

The proposals include the development of the building comprising the residential apartments, and 342 sq m ground floor commercial floorspace, together with an amenity garden, cycle and bin storage and other associated works.

The committee is recommended to approve the application, subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement, with delegated authority given to the development manager to make minor amendments to planning conditions and reasons as may be necessary prior to the issue of the decision.

But, in the event that the Section 106 legal agreement remains unsigned six months after this resolution, that the application is reviewed by the development manager and if ‘no meaningful progress’ is being made to sign an agreed Section 106 agreement then delegated authority is given to the development manager to refuse the application in the absence of an agreed Section 106 agreement, without which the development will be ‘unacceptable in planning terms’.

A report to the committee highlights that the application was approved subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement in November 2022.

“The adoption of the Warrington Local Plan on 4th December 2023 means that there are some material changes to the assessment of the proposals and that the conditions and S106 attached to the permission will need to be updated,” it says.

“All applications must be determined in accordance with the Local Plan unless other material considerations indicate otherwise.”

Furthermore, the report says the application site is located in the Winwick Street conservation area and is classed as an area of ‘archaeological potential’.

It says: “The application proposes the erection of a seven-storey residential block comprising of 26 units. This would be made up of 10 one-bed units and 16 two-bed units.

“At ground floor, this is proposed to be used as Class E commercial floor space up to 342 sqm.”