New homes to replace properties ravaged by explosion

Four people were injured when fire ripped through properties in Abbotts Way last March following what fire chiefs believed to be an accidental butane explosion.

The devastating blaze saw neighbours evacuated from their homes and a temporary shelter set up at a local youth centre.  The properties were later partly demolished.

Now Cheshire West and Chester Council has rubber-stamped an application for two, three-bedroom homes, one four-bed property and two single-bedroom flats on the land.

Emergency services on the scene of the explosion in Abbotts Way. (Image: Cheshire Fire and Rescue)

A planning document submitted in support said the renovation will be carried out to 'modern building standards, creating much more energy efficient, sustainable homes'.

It said: “The subtle design changes to the proposed façade, slight variation of materials and reordered internal/external proposed layouts will create more desirable homes whist remaining in keeping with the surrounding context."

One representation was submitted in support of the application but raised concern that the development might impact the parking situation in the local area.

The report said the development would include off-street parking.

It added: “It is noted that none of the dwellings that previously stood on the site or the surrounding properties have off-street parking and are instead characterised by their green space and vegetation found between the dwellings and the highway.

"It is considered that the inclusion of off-street parking would result in a moderate level of harm to the visual amenity of the street scene and the surrounding area."

It said the proposed development would also seek to reinstate hedgerow along the site’s boundary along Abbotts Way and would result in a ‘significant overall enhancement of the site following the fire damage’.

It added: “When the development is considered as a whole, the moderate harm caused by the off-street parking would be outweighed by the significant visual enhancement the development would bring to both the site and the wider area through the sympathetic redevelopment of the site."

Emergency services rushed to Abbotts Way shortly after 1.30pm on March 22 to tackle the huge blaze affecting a house and two flats which had spread to nearby properties.

Six fire engines - from Winsford, Holmes Chapel, Chester, Northwich, Crewe and Sandbach - attended, alongside an aerial ladder platform. An investigation later found the fire started following an accidental butane explosion.