THE demolition of a brewery that dates back more than 150 years has continued in Burtonwood.
Founded in 1867, Burtonwood Brewery supplied many pubs and working men's clubs with beer and the company built up a large estate of pubs under its brand.
Located on Bold Lane on the border of St Helens and Warrington, many residents will have worked or known someone who worked at the site, which merged with the Thomas Hardy Bottling group in 1997.
The site was then acquired by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries in 2005 and subsequently purchased by Molson Coors ten years later.
Molson Coors confirmed in December 2020 that it was planning to close Burtonwood Brewery on Bold Lane and it vacated the premises in October 2022.
Despite the closure, the remaining bottling operations by Thomas Hardy Burtonwood were unaffected by the decision.
As previously reported, Thomas Hardy Burtonwood is behind the new plans, which propose to demolish unoccupied buildings to aid an expansion of the bottling business.
Planning documents state: “It is the intention that a full planning application will be submitted to seek permission for the demolition of redundant brewery buildings and structures, and the construction of an extension to the adjacent established bottling complex to provide additional storage.
“The site is an established industrial site which has developed and grown over many years.
“The first brewery on the site was depicted on the 1893 Ordnance Survey map, and since then the brewery has been updated and expanded.
“The Burtonwood Brewery site was vacated by Molson Coors in September 2022, and the applicant acquired it in October 2022.
“The former kegging facility was re-roofed and repurposed as warehousing by the applicant, while the remaining brewery complex is redundant and has fallen into disrepair.”
They add that the proposed development also includes the construction of an extension to the existing Thomas Hardy bottling complex to provide additional storage for both empty and full bottles.
There was an object to the plans but planning bosses approved the proposals in December 2023, stating: “The benefits of the scheme clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt and the other harm caused by the proposal."
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