THE future of Bewsey Old Hall remains uncertain after a planning appeal was suspended on Thursday.

Developer Urban Splash wants to convert the building into seven flats with 48 additional apartments nearby to preserve the future of the Grade II listed building and moated site.

But a Government inspector was forced to postpone the hearing just hours before it was set to finish after a site visit revealed that the new apartments would encroach on to land owned by the Woodland Trust.

No agreement exists between Urban Splash and the conservation charity, which has actually objected to the scheme.

Graham Bradley, from the Woodland Trust, said: “The trust objected to the block of new flats which, if built as currently designed, would inevitably result in both tree loss and damage to the contiguous woodland site which is part of our Warrington portfolio.”

Government inspector Colin Ball had heard almost three days of evidence during the hearing at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, launched by Urban Splash. Warrington Borough Council’s development control committee voted against the recommendation of the council’s own planning officers in rejecting the scheme.

The council is now fighting Urban Splash and the appeal process, which has already cost taxpayers thousands of pounds, may prove even more expensive.

Clr Linda Dirir (Lab – Penketh and Cuerdley) was on the panel that turned down the plans.

She said: “My feeling is that we have a reprieve and we now have time to get our wits about us.

“If this collapses we have to use this opportunity to get something else together so we can develop this into a heritage centre for the community.”

Urban Splash has criticised councillors for ignoring national policy by objecting to the design of the new building and said security, landscaping and vandalism repairs to the ‘dilapidated’ hall had cost taxpayers £57,000 last year.

Its solicitors argued that the hall has never been open to the public and, therefore, public access ‘cannot be lost’.

But Clr Dirir says it has been visited by youngsters including her own children since the 1970s and it remained open until Urban Splash closed its doors.

She added: “The size of these eight new buildings is unbelievable.

“It would look like an industrial unit if that was ever built in the centre of the park.”

Urban Splash will now have to re-survey the site.

John Groves, head of development services at the council, said: “Urban Splash must now provide further plans for the inspector to consider and after these have been reviewed the inquiry will then be reconvened.”

But if the inspector believes the changes are unacceptable he could scrap the appeal process and ask for an entirely new set of plans to be submitted.

A spokesman for Urban Splash said: “At present we don’t have timescales for the completion of this investigation but hope that the inquiry can resume in the near future.”