Job-creating fire station redevelopment plans backed

Angela Swift Group has been given consent for its proposed scheme to redevelop a former fire station in Eccleston into a care home, which would create up to 60 jobs.St Helens Council’s planning committee backed an officer’s recommendation to approve the development at a recent meeting.The project will see the demolition of the Eccleston Fire Station and the building of a 64-bed care home on the Millfields site.The proposed building is three storey and the number of bedrooms to be provided has been reduced from 66 bedrooms to 64 bedrooms during the determination of the application.A total of 25 car parking spaces, including two electric vehicle charging points are provided to the front of the site. Amendments have increased the landscaping areas to the front of the site.The ground floor includes communal facilities including a resident’s lounge, dining areas and salon. Externally are a number of communal facilities including a decked terrace overlooking the dam and communal garden areas.The proposed facility is to incorporate residential and dementia services.Benefits include the creation of around up to 60 full-time and part-time jobs within the area.An officer’s report considered by committee members said the scheme “brings significant benefits in providing accommodation for the elderly, as well as having the knock-on effect of increasing housing supply”.Eccleston fire station is redundant following the opening of the new community fire station on Violet Way in St Helens.