PLANS have been submitted to convert a former warehouse in Warrington into a specialist ambulance station serving neonatal units across the northwest for newborn babies who are ill or born prematurely.
Full planning permission is sought for the change of use of warehouse to an ambulance station with staff facilities for North-West Neo-Natal Services at Unit 18, Gemini8 Business Park, Apollo Park, Charon Way, Warrington.
No external changes are proposed to the warehouse building or the area surrounding the building including the parking.
The staff facilities include rest spaces, washing facilities and office/admin rooms for ambulance staff. The proposal will mean the facilities can provide medical or health services to aid the work of the North-West neo-natal services.
The construction of the building was approved in October 2020 to provide commercial and industrial storage, general industry and industrial processes and completed in 2022.
The site is accessed from Apollo Park, leading from Junction 8 from the M62 and Burtonwood Road. This provides the ambulance services with high-quality access to Warrington, Manchester, Liverpool and the greater Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester area in an emergency.
The location of the development is said to be ideal for the proposed use as it provides excellent links via the motorway network to Merseyside and Greater Manchester and via Burtonwood Road to the wider
Cheshire area. This will help the neo-natal ambulance services reach patients throughout the northwest quickly and efficiently.
Overall, it is considered that the principle of the development is acceptable due to its location in an existing employment area with high-quality access to the M62 and nearby towns and cities in
Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.
The application does not propose any changes to the external appearance of the building, nor to the site surrounding the building.
The site will provide sufficient parking spaces for the number of ambulances and staff using the hub at any one given time. The 19 existing car parking spaces will be retained (including 2
electronic charging spaces and 1 disabled) and there will be 4 proposed internal ambulance bays and 2 external ambulance bays.
The ambulances from the hub will be out of the area for most of the day, while on shifts, and will return for shift changes and supplies periodically. The number of traffic movements will be
modest given this fact and the limited number of ambulances and staff and no more than would be expected for the current storage and distribution use of the site.
Given the location of the site amongst existing commercial and industrial facilities and a significant distance (at least 250 metres) from the nearest residential properties, there will be no adverse impacts on neighbouring residential
or commercial properties.
A delegated decision is pending consideration by Warrington Borough Council.
The proposed site
