Planning Denied for Sports and Leisure Facility

The land to the south of Formby Business Park will now be exempt from develpment as part of the Local Plan, according to the findings of the Planning Inspectorate.

The proposed addition was for a sports and leisure facility and allowing a supermarket to develop on the unused land.

Formby Football Club owner Mr Hugh McAuley, had hoped to transform this site into a sports facility for the young people in Merseyside.

The Sefton Local Plan Inspector has published his findings which support the council's overall strategy and has decided, based on the evidence presented, that Sefton was correct in choosing the route of 'meeting identified needs strategy'

A quote from the report states - “I appreciate that the football element of the development would be a major benefit for Formby, but I consider this to be clearly outweighed by the amount and type of enabling development necessary to deliver this mixed-use scheme."

“Because only one employment site at Formby is required, factors including the less serious flooding constraint and the absence of potentially serious conflict with retail policy mean that the land north of Formby Industrial Estate should be allocated. “Consequently the land south of Formby Industrial Estate and the associated text should be deleted from the Plan. The total provision of employment land should be adjusted from 88 hectares to 81 hectares.”

Cllr Nina Killen reacted with “It's a real shame that the opportunities for improved leisure facilities won't be realised and I know a lot of work has gone into the plans for the site which were very ambitious.

I think it shows that flooding risk is at the forefront of the Inspector's mind and that should give confidence to residents about other sites where flooding is a concern.

As expected, the Inspector has found that around 600 homes per year will be needed, not 300 as some opponents of the plan have insisted.

No one wants to see green belt built on but the government insists that this housing need is met - the government's planning policy does not protect the green belt - and if sites are not allocated then developers would be able to build where they want which would put the green belt at even more risk.”

Councillor Maria Bennett, a Greenbelt campaigner said: “We have always supported the concept of a football and or sports facility somewhere within Formby. However we were not surprised by the Inspector’s findings. We can understand the disappointment of the owners of the site, however we think Sefton Council were wholly irresponsible to promote this site when another had already been previously allocated.”

Photo credit: Google