PLANS for a new building to help a business expand in Chester look set to be refused, despite hopes it will safeguard jobs and create more than £1m in investment.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s planning committee meets in January to discuss an application from the Oasis Group, a document storage firm, for a portal-frame building at Mouldsworth Hall.

Sandstone ward Councillor Hugo Deynem (Con) has called the application into the planning committee on the grounds that the development will bring economic benefits, create jobs and diversify agricultural land.

According to a planning report the site is hardstanding and currently used on an informal basis for parking, while close to open fields.

Permission for a document storage business to operate from the site was previously approved in 1997 as part of an agricultural diversification scheme and operates separately from Mouldsworth Hall Farm.

A design and access statement submitted by applicant states: “The development will equate to an investment of around £1.25m and will secure the long-term future of the business in Cheshire West.

“All businesses need to expand and grow to remain competitive, and the present site is nearing capacity. Without this development the company will have to consider other options including moving to an entirely new site.

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“Given the relative lack of available sites in Cheshire West, it is likely that this will mean transferring operations to another region entirely, putting rural jobs at risk.

“As the two Cheshire West sites operate together, it is probable that both sites would be closed and moved.”

It adds: “The site lies within the countryside and has been established over a 25-year period through a series of long-term investments. Insofar as the site is immovable, the development requires a countryside location.

“On a wider level, the Cheshire and Warrington LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan2 seeks to continue economic growth through the region, building on previous success and making the economy diverse and resilient in the future.

“Document storage and management (which would be considered part of the business services sector) is an important part of the economic picture, with the whole sector accounting for 15 per cent of employment.”

But council planning officers have recommended the application be rejected as it represents “major development” and “would cause visual harm to the intrinsic character and beauty of the open countryside”.

The planning report states: “The proposal would represent inappropriate development within the green belt.

“No very special circumstances exist which overcomes the substantial harm caused by the inappropriateness of the development.

“The building would be very large and prominent causing substantial harm to the openness of the green belt.”

Councillors will have their say on the proposal when it goes in front of the planning committee on Tuesday, January 9.