Plans in for Rainford Hall development

Plans to repurpose Rainford Hall in St Helens have been revealed.The historic venue is owned by the Pilkington family and forms part of the wider Rainford Hall estate.It was changed from residential use to offices in the 1980s, and while this was initially a popular move, a planning statement drawn up by AM Planning Consultants noted that it has been “difficult to sustain occupancy levels beyond 35-40 per cent.As such, an alternative use has been proposed to revert the offices back into residential accommodation.Steps Together – which operates private specialist health, wellbeing and addiction treatment services for individuals and families experiencing difficulty with mental health and allied drug or alcohol addictions – would be the end users.It already operates a number of rehabilitation centres and outpatient services.Lined up is transforming Rainford Hall in a 20-bedroom luxury residential care facility, with a number of changes proposed.The application is with St Helens Borough Council.