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Development News
GREEN LIGHT FOR NEW PARK AT FORMER CRONTON COLLIERY
Euan Hall
PLANS for a new informal country park on the site of the former Cronton colliery, in Knowsley, have been given the green light to proceed.
The former colliery is among the first sites released by the Government accelerated approach to surplus land disposal. Ownership of the site has now been transferred over to the Land Trust who will oversee restoration, the sustainable development and management of the open space. The transfer also includes a financial endowment to cover all future management and provide some capital improvements. “At long last, the Land Trust is proud to be able to start working towards opening up the former Cronton colliery which has cast a shadow over the local community for some time,” says Euan Hall, chief executive of the Land Trust. “There is a lot of public support for the establishment of an informal country park at the colliery which has been agonisingly close to opening for a few years now.” The Trust initially secured a grant to aid the colliery’s restoration, however plans for restoration and development into an informal
country park were mothballed after losing the funding during the economic crisis. Cautious of the previous hurdle, the Trust warned that although there was enough money secured to make the necessary improvements for the park to be open long term. Euan added: “We will be coming back to the community to liaise over plans for restoration and to a secure long-term future for the Cronton site as ecologically valuable open space which will greatly benefit both people and nature.” The Home and Communities Agency, who was previously responsible for the land, accelerated disposal in order to push forward local delivery for developing sites. Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the HCA, said: “We are leading the way by making more land available for development through a range of options that will help developers get on site more quickly and help communities access the homes, amenities and public space needed in their local area.”
Chester uni plans new student halls CHESTER University is planning a multi-million pound proposal for student accommodation on the University of Chester’s main campus, on the outskirts of the city centre. The university will be submitting the planning application to Cheshire West & Chester Council in the next few months. If planning officers approve the scheme for self-contained units and enhanced sports facilities opposite the University’s Seaborne Library, construction work would start in late summer 2011, with the aim of completing the project the following year. The scheme includes three blocks
CGI of new Chester halls
with self-contained units for 203 students, comprising a bedroom and study space, en-suite bathroom and galley kitchen. A new multi-use artificial pitch, new floodlit tarmac tennis courts and a new 100m athletics track are also planned. Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Wheeler, said: “It was extremely encouraging to witness the almost universally positive reaction to the University’s modest plans for new facilities, which would address students’ needs and enable us to
remain competitive within a challenging market. “The information sessions enabled us to clarify once again that this is the only accommodation proposal in which the University currently has an interest and to re-emphasise that the building would be within the existing campus boundaries. “Our visitors told us that they appreciated the chance to hear at first-hand what the University had to say about its immediate accommodation needs.”
Award for employment law team
Sponsors David Sorensen, of DX and Martin Edwards
WEIGHTMANS has more than one reason to celebrate its merger with Mace & Jones, after its employment team was crowned ‘Employment Team of the Year’ at the Liverpool Law Society Awards. The Employment Team of the Year award was a highly contested accolade with competition from DWF and Hill Dickinson. The victory comes as another member of the employment team, Laura Kearsley, has been shortlisted for Assistant Solicitor of the Year at The Lawyer Awards. Martin Edwards who is now an employment partner at Weightmans collected the award on Saturday evening. He said: “Everyone was delighted to take home ‘Employment Team of the Year’. For those formerly with Mace & Jones it was recognition of what they have brought to Weightmans: outstanding employment law expertise.” Patrick Gaul, managing partner of Weightmans said: “This is great news for our employment team which is establishing Weightmans as one of the leading firms for employment law advice in the country.”
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