Police station flats plan back on the table despite opposition

Controversial plans for flats on the site of a former police station are back on the table.
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Last August, an application for a four-storey building housing flats and shops at Atherton Police Station was withdrawn.

That plan was for 18 apartments, three commercial premises, a retail unit and a parking area, plus access point on the Bag Lane site. The existing building would have been demolished.

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Independent Network councillors Jamie Hodgkinson and Stuart Gerrard had both objected to the idea, citing concerns about the scale of the plan and the lack of car parking.

The former police station on Bag Lane, AthertonThe former police station on Bag Lane, Atherton
The former police station on Bag Lane, Atherton

But those opposed to the plans have seen their joy short-lived, with scaled-back plans now submitted by application Decland Carlin to Wigan Council.

The new proposals would still see the police station building bulldozed, but this time a part two-storey, part three-storey building will be built in its place, comprising nine apartments and parking.

In a planning statement on behalf of the applicant, agent Neil Pike Architects said it would be a “significant improvement” for the area and replace an “unsightly” and “blighted” site.

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They said significant amendments had been made to the proposals, including reducing the scale and massing of the proposed building, and design changes to the layout and plans that resulted in revisions to the elevations of the proposed building.

They said: “These changes were reviewed by the case officer who responded by confirming that generally the proposals were now acceptable, but there remained minor issues which related to aspect, interface distances and overlooking, which are now resolved.

“This revised application is now considered to be in a form that is acceptable to the local authority.”

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