Countryside bags 500-home consent in Warrington

The housebuilder has been granted planning permission for Rivers Edge, a scheme of 413 houses and 100 apartments at Spectra Park.

The mixed-tenure development, named Rivers Edge, will offer 76 homes allocated for affordable housing through a registered partner.

As outlined by Place North West in February, the 38.7-acre site sits within Inner Warrington in the borough’s Core Strategy. The northern part of the site was previously occupied largely by Spectra Packaging, while the southern part of the site was previously used as a driving range.

Countryside, which is advised by Lichfields, plans to deliver 100 apartments and 413 houses, with the breakdown being:

• Two-bedroom: 98 market housing, 42 affordable housing
• Three-bedroom: 288 market housing, 10 affordable
• Four-bedroom: 75 market housing

The site is divided by the new Centre Park link road. As part of its Section 106 agreement with the planning authority, Countryside, which has offices and a modular panel factory in the town,  is to invest £100,000 in local health services and contribute £300,000 towards transport and education.

The first homes are expected to be available for sale from this summer.

Mark Hadfield, managing director, partnerships Merseyside and Cheshire West at Countryside, said: “It’s very exciting for our business to be creating a new development near our office and modular panel factory in Warrington.

“This investment represents much more than just homes; our aim is to significantly contribute to the local economy and create opportunities for employment and training alongside our supply chain partners.”