Green light to 976 new homes being built in Formby and Hightown

A Planning Inspector has given the green light to more than 11,000 new homes being built across Sefton.

Land at Liverpool Road - 319 houses (Image by Google maps Images)

The new homes would include 846 homes in Formby and 130 new homes in Hightown.

Martin Pike has written to Sefton Council to say that he is likely to find the authority’s Local Plan ‘sound’.

The proposal, a blueprint for the future growth of the borough between now and 2030, will lead to a building bonanza by developers with an average of 640 new properties built every year, nearly half of them on Green Belt land.

Most of Sefton’s recommendations were accepted, however a proposal for new employment and retail land south of the Formby Tesco supermarket - which would have included the construction of a new home for Formby Football Club - was dismissed.

A number of sites have already been earmarked for new homes, including 319 at at Liverpool Road, Formby; 678 on land at Crowland Street and at the former Kew park and ride in Southport; 243 at the former Ainsdale High School; and 1,400 east of Maghull.

Brackenway - 286 houses and West Lane - 40 houses - (Image by Google maps Images)

Around 6,200 homes would be built in urban areas and on ‘brownfield’ land, with the rest of the 11,460 built on the Green Belt.

Mr Pike said in his findings: “I am satisfied that delivery of the identified housing supply is achievable.

“The remainder has to come from Green Belt sites; the strong developer interest suggests that these will be built out.”

There is bad news for families looking for more affordable homes in the borough.

He said: “I acknowledge that the full affordable housing need would not be met, but substantial additional Green Belt releases would be required to meet even part of the shortfall.

“There is clear evidence of the potential for those in need of affordable housing to continue to occupy private rented accommodation, though this is unlikely to fully meet their needs.”

The inspector estimates the construction of 500 new homes a year over the next five years, with 694 new builds a year from year six onwards.

It will see a rapid growth in construction, with an average of 383 new properties build each year in Sefton over the past ten years.

Other key findings include:

• The inspector finds that the Local Plan’s ‘aim of meeting the need for homes, jobs and services as sound’.

• The ‘expansion of settlements in proportion to their size has not always been possible due to the environmental constraints, the limited availability of land within the main urban areas and the borough’s restrictive administrative boundaries’.

• ‘The selection of housing allocations and safeguarded land has been rigorous, objective and robust.’

Sefton Council leader Cllr Ian Maher said: “The initial findings from the Inspector are very supportive and subject to a few minor amendments, set us up on a clear path to adopt the plan.

“The next steps involve us modifying the draft plan which will go back out for consultation, submitting the new Plan which when approved will enable us to adopt our Local Plan in 2017.”

Cllr Daren Veidman, Cabinet Member Planning and Building Control, said: “We have known all along if Sefton Council didn’t identify sufficient land for development, the local authority faced the risk of being found to have an unsound Local Plan – with the real risk that the council will lose control of planning decisions on Green Belt land.

“However the comments from the Planning Inspector are very pleasing and reinforce why we submitted the draft plan in the first place.”

FULL LIST OF SITES in Formby and Hightown: (Reference, sites, & number of homes propsed)

MN2.12; Land north of Brackenway, Formby; 286

MN2.13; Land at West Lane, Formby; 40

MN2.14; Former Holy Trinity School, Lonsdale Road, Formby; 50

MN2.15; Formby Professional Development Centre, Park Road, Formby;15

MN2.16; Land at Liverpool Road, Formby; 319

MN2.17; Land at Altcar Lane, Formby; 29

MN2.18; Power House phase 2, Hoggs Hill Lane, Formby; 20

MN2.19; Land at Andrew’s Close, Formby; 87

MN2.20; Land at Elmcroft Lane, Hightown; 120

MN2.21; Land at Sandy Lane, Hightown; 10

FULL LIST OF other SITES across Sefton: (Reference, sites, & number of homes propsed)

MN2.1; Bartons Close, Southport; 136

MN2.2; Land at Bankfield Lane, Southport; 220

MN2.3; Former Phillips Factory, Balmoral Drive, Southport; 158

MN2.4; Land at Moss Lane – Churchtown South; 450

MN2.5; Land at Crowland Street, Southport; 678

MN2.6; Land at Broome Road, Southport; 215

MN2.7; Land at Lynton Road, Southport; 25

MN2.8; Former Ainsdale Hope School, Ainsdale; 243

MN2.9; Former St John Stone School, Meadow Lane, Ainsdale; 40

MN2.10; Meadows ATC, Sandbrook Road, Ainsdale; 49

MN2.11; Land south of Moor Lane, Ainsdale; 75

MN2.22; Land at Hall Road West, Crosby; 14

MN2.23; Land at Southport Old Road, Thornton; 85

MN2.24; Land at Holgate, Thornton; 221

MN2.25; Land at Lydiate Lane, Thornton; 265

MN2.26; Land south of Runnell’s Lane, Thornton; 137

MN2.27; Land at Turnbridge Road, Maghull; 40

MN2.28; Land north of Kenyons Lane, Lydiate; 295

MN2.29; Former Prison Site, Park Lane, Maghull; 370

MN2.30; Land east of Waddicar Lane, Melling; 178

MN2.31; Wadacre Farm, Chapel Lane, Melling; 135

MN2.32; Land South of Spencers Lane, Melling; 18

MN2.33; Land at Wango Lane, Aintree; 25

MN2.34; Aintree Curve Site, Ridgewood Way, Netherton; 100

MN2.35; Former Z Block Sites, Buckley Hill Lane, Netherton; 100

MN2.36; Former St Raymond’s School playing field, Harrops Croft, Netherton; 65

MN2.37; Land at Pendle Drive, Litherland; 52

MN2.38; Land at the former Bootle High School, Browns Lane, Netherton; 63

MN2.39; Former Daleacre School, Daleacre Drive, Netherton; 37

MN2.40; Former Rawson Road Primary School, Rawson Road, Seaforth; 20

MN2.41; Former St Wilfrid’s School, Orrell Road, Litherland; 160

MN2.42; Klondyke Phases 2 and 3, Bootle; 140

MN2.43; Peoples site, Linacre Lane, Bootle; 110

MN2.44; Former St Joan of Arc School, Rimrose Road, Bootle; 48

MN2.45; Former St Mary’s Primary School playing fields, Waverley Street, Bootle; 72

MN2.46; Land East of Maghull 1,400