£110m plans given go ahead at Winwick Street but Time Square bid on hold (From Warrington Guardian)

£110m plans given go ahead at Winwick Street but Time Square bid on hold

A £110m project to transform a gateway into Warrington has been given the go ahead.

Up to 1,000 jobs could be created when the work starts on the Winwick Street site, near Central Station. Key features of the scheme include a cinema, more than 600 new homes, continental dining facilities, a hotel and a health centre.

But plans for a similar development

on Time Square, near Warrington Market, have been put on hold because of concerns that the developers had not contributed enough towards affordable housing programmes elsewhere in the town.

Warrington Borough councillors met at a specially arranged meeting of the development control committee, on Friday evening, to discuss the proposals for the two major developments.

Despite giving their backing to the Winwick Street development, the scheme is of such significance that it is the Deputy Prime Minister who has the final say on whether the project should go ahead.

The work at Winwick Street will also see the Dallam centre relocated and improved at a substantial cost to the developer who has also put together a benefits package to provide sport, recreation and open space improvements worth £4 million.

The 613 new properties would all be luxury apartments and the site would also provide office space, as well as leisure and retail opportunities.

The scheme was passed despite concerns expressed by traders at Warrington Market that if a cinema was allowed in the Winwick Street development, it would threaten the proposals for Time Square which also include a cinema. That scheme was expected to bring in around 500 new customers to the market.

Further discussions between the developers behind the Time Square application and the council are now expected to take.