The Strategic Planning Board has approved Waters Corporation's planning application to build their new £60m headquarters, for mass spectrometry research and development, on Altrincham Road.
The American-owned corporation will have to pay the Council for the privilege though as the terms of the agreement will include payments to Cheshire East of £371,000 plus monitoring costs and £16,000 towards a National Trust bridge.
Waters' plans for the 15 hectare Green Belt site, previously occupied by Ciba-Geigy Life Sciences, include the demolition of Stamford Lodge which will be replaced with a 20,000 square metre building housing offices, laboratories, warehouse, storage and distribution areas, a staff restaurant and a gymnasium. A roof mounted plant room will be located to the rear of the building.
A 3-arm roundabout will be created on Altrincham Road for site access and there will be a surface level car park containing 496 spaces. Plans also include the creation of footpaths within the site and extensive landscaping, including the creation of a landscaped mound to the north of the development area.
The site, which is identified as a Major Developed Site in the Green Belt, has been vacant since 1998. Legal and General acquired the site in 2000 and obtained planning permission for its redevelopment, for office use, in August 2006. Almost immediately afterwards the site was bought by Rok Developments and the current owner, Waters Corporation, has recently purchased it. The 2006 permission granted to Legal and General is still a valid consent and could be implemented until 10 August 2011.
The majority of buildings within the complex have been demolished in the last few years with the exception is Stamford Lodge itself, which is in a poor and declining state of repair, but is an important bat roost. Waters submitted a sister application to erect a new bat house which the Strategic Planning Board have also approved.
The Strategic Planning Board report stated "As the proposal is helping to regenerate a disused site that has lain vacant for over 10 years and will bring employment opportunities for a minimum of 450 people to the area that do not presently exist, it would also be reasonable to conclude that the proposal is helping to address an important need: to generate employment."
The applications are recommended for approval subject to conditions and the satisfactory completion of a S106 Legal Agreement. The proposed conditions and terms include:
- The sum of £42,190 be paid to the Council for improvements to the Jim Evison playing fields and Burnt Hey Wood, including additions to the footpath and the creation of a fitness trail and equipment.
- The sum of £139, 380 to be paid to the Council for use at Jim Evison playing fields and pavilion for access and parking.
- The sum of £37,500 for the creation of a multi user route for pedestrians and cyclists, also to cover consultation, professional fees and project management costs.
- The sum of £107,000 to be paid to the Council to provide a footpath linking the site to Wilmslow. This includes £30,000 to cover the costs of acquiring the private drive on the playing field side of Altrincham road and part of the field.
- In addition, £45,000 would be paid to the Council to provide a safe crossing point for users of the footpath on Altrincham Road in the form of a toucan crossing.
- The sum of £16,000 be paid as a contribution for a National Trust footbridge crossing the River Bollin into Styal Country Park. After 12 years, if the contribution is not utilised it will be repaid to the applicant.
- The completion of the new Bat Roost prior to any demolition works to Stamford Lodge.
- A travel plan must be produced and operated for the development, in accordance with local and national standards, and they must pay the Highway Authority's costs associated with the monitoring and reviewing the travel plan.
- An Ecological and Landscape Management Plan must be produced for the management of landscapes and habitat within the site for 15 years from occupation in accordance with a set of management principles.
- No development shall take place until a programme of archaeological work in accordance with a written scheme of investigation has been approved because the County Archaeologist feels that Stamford Lodge may have been the successor to an earlier farm mentioned in medieval and post-medieval documents.
- Waters Corporation must also pay the Council's monitoring costs.
Waters aim to start work on the site in the autumn with the new Waters MS Headquarters expected to open in 2013.
The planning application (reference 11/0644M) to demolish Stamford Lodge and erect a new HQ building can be viewed at the Cheshire East Council planning portal, along with the sister application (reference 11/0637M) to erect a new bat house.
