A DEVELOPER has lodged a planning application for canalside housing.

Morris Homes wants to build 36 two-bed apartments, two two-bed townhouses and two one-bed apartments on land at Tower Wharf on the former Bluebird garage site next to Taylor’s boatyard.

The original scheme was for a student accommodation complex comprising 210 apartments but this was dropped due to community opposition.

Morris says the current 40-unit development is ‘a considerable reduction’ following concerns voiced by the Garden Quarter Association and local residents.

However, Garden Quarter Association secretary Jane Wolfe, in a round-robin email, is encouraging letter writers to comment because ‘Morris have decided to by-pass the community’.

A document accompanying the plan states: “The redesign and reduction of the canalside apartments has been targeted to address Cheshire West and Chester Council and CRT (Canal and Riverside Trust) points raised in respect of reducing the roof-scape of the earlier proposals, reducing the height from four to three storeys and reducing the units to achieve parking levels of 130%.”

Morris Homes is still completing its mixed scheme on the other side of the canal comprising apartments plus shops and restaurants linked by waterfront walkways.

Meanwhile, Miller Developments has been consulting over proposals for 409 canal-side student rooms on land near Telford's Warehouse in place of an office scheme which was never built due to the economic climate.