A new estate on the site of a former youth club which was destroyed in a blaze has been given the green light.

At a meeting held at Runcorn Town Hall last  night, a much-depleted Halton Council Development Management Committee rubber-stamped an application by developers Mersey Regeneration to construct 38 new homes on Palace Fields Avenue.

The site was once occupied by Lord's Taverners Woodside Youth Centre which was ravaged by fire in 2018. Cheshire Police said at the time they believed the centre was targeted deliberately.

An application for 48 homes was originally submitted in 2022 but was revised down, with an application for 38 properties subsequently being submitted.

At last night's meeting only five of the 11-strong committee were in attendance, with the rest having given apologies for absence or missing through illness.

Committee member Cllr Rob Polhill raised concerns over the width of roads on the planned new estate. The plans shows a six metre carriageway access road, a five metre subsidiary road with associated two metre footways.

He told the meeting: "It's not just on this development, but we've long heard complaints about bin wagons not being able to get through. There's issues of car parking and emergency vehicles."

Andrew Plant, the council's divisional manager for planning and development, said officers had been in discussion with the applicant since 2022 to make adjustments which made the scheme acceptable from a highways perspective.

The 3.2 acre site is a mix of greenfield and previously developed land, bound by Palace Fields Avenue to the north and west, with the A533 Southern Express Way to the south and existing residential properties to the east.

The scheme will see eight, four-bed homes, 16, three-bed properties, and four, two-bedroom homes constructed. There will also be 10, one-bed properties which would be made available for affordable rent.

Government regulations require a percentage of all new build homes to be deemed affordable via schemes such as affordable rent.

Recommending approval, a report to the committee said the affordable housing mix on this scheme did not provide the recommended number of two, three and four bedroom properties, instead only providing one bed homes.

Committee member Cllr Chris Loftus quizzed officers on what was deemed by 'affordable', he said: "If you live in Halton what is classed as affordable? If you're on minimum wage, no house is affordable."

Mr Plant replied that the definition of affordable housing was set out in both national and local planning strategies, and that they had to be complied with in order for a scheme to meet planning requirements.

The plans were unanimously approved by the five members.