An alleged “pet cemetery” has been given as a reason not to build flats on a derelict housing site in Runcorn.
The claim has been made in a list of objections to a proposed block of either 33 residential apartments or 32 apartments for the over-55s at 33-37 Irwell Lane.
If approved, the project will include demolishing the existing buildings, which have become a reputed magnet for anti-social behaviour (ASB) and arson in recent years, and also a rumoured drug squat.
Amid the six representations made to Halton Borough Council and general concerns about road safety and loss of flora and fauna is a claim that the site is host to a “pet cemetery”.
Planning officers have made no attempt in the report to respond to the claim.
Other objections include allegations the block will become “some sort of YMCA."
There are also concerns about falling house prices and a lack of proposed design imagery.
The report said Mersey ward councillors were broadly in support of the plans because the site is “blighted by dereliction” and “ASB”, and expressed a preference for the over-55s project as being more in keeping with “the local demographic area”.
Halton Housing is understood to have engaged in discussions over the future of the site.
The project has been recommended for approval, with a requirement for a further application setting out the details to be lodged in future.
