PLANS to demolish an office block in Grappenhall in favour of new housing have been approved.

Warrington Borough Council has given the green light for the old Cruden site off Knutsford Road to be pulled down after falling into disuse in 2020.

The office block will be steamrolled, and the site will then become home to a new housing development.

Plans of this sort have been in the works for a number of years, going through various iterations and either being refused or withdrawn.

Warrington Guardian: The offices will be torn down, and the site will be used for housingThe offices will be torn down, and the site will be used for housing (Image: Drome Architects)

In 2017 plans were submitted to demolish parts of the site in order to build housing, but the plans were withdrawn the following year.

There was an application in 2020 to demolish one of the properties on the current site in order to build a two-bedroom home, but this was rejected by the local planning authority the same year.

However, the current plans have now been given the go-ahead by the council's planning bosses, and the office block is set to be torn down.

Of the new homes, a portion of them will be allocated as 'affordable housing.'

The office block fell into disuse in the summer of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Planning documents suggest that eight of the 10 new homes will have four bedrooms, with the two 'affordable' homes having three bedrooms.

In order to accommodate the new development, plans show that 26 on-site parking spaces are to be axed, taking the total down from 57 spaces to 31.

Developers of the site say they are guided by the following objectives:

  • Create a high quality, attractive contemporary designed residential infill;
  • Sensitive to adjacent uses and complementary to the existing residential neighbourhood;
  • Offering a mix of housing types and tenures; 
  • Respecting the landscape character setting of the locality and retaining key assets with enhanced reinforcement (e.g. hedgerows, trees and valued habitats) to be integrated into the layout which will ensure a green landscape-led design; 
  • A development that will respect the identity of this part of Warrington and responds positively to the climate change agenda by promoting green buildings and maximising energy efficiency; 
  • Minimising impact upon the openness of the greenbelt.

This application was approved by Warrington Borough Council on November 8 and must commence on or before November 8, 2026.