St Helens Borough Council has granted planning permission to Taylor Wimpey for the first phase of development on the Moss Nook site that will feature up to 900 new homes, open space and sports pitches.
This latest planning consent for 258 new homes provides yet another example of St Helens Borough Council proactively helping to bring brownfield sites back into use, with Moss Nook being a large, complex brownfield site, historically used for mining and a number of heavy industrial processes.
With support from St Helens Borough Council, £2m of funding was secured from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to support the remediation and infrastructure work necessary for this first phase of development, helping to fulfil the sites potential as one of the region’s largest single residential developments.
The positive planning outcome also provides further recognition for the quality of the St Helens Borough Council’s planning department. The government have recently published planning statistics which demonstrate that the planning in St Helens has an enviable record, including 100 per cent of applications determined within the statutory or agreed timescale during both 2019 and 2020.
Welcoming the announcement, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities Councillor Jeanie Bell, said:
“This plot of land has been derelict for a number of years and has been plagued by anti-social behaviour. So, it is great to see approval given for the first stage of development which will improve the appearance of the area and allow the opportunity for more people to access quality housing in our borough. Our residents deserve good quality housing and we as a council will work hard to deliver that.
“We know from our evidenced based research that we have high demand for housing across the borough, I therefore urge developers and investors to look no further than St Helens for a place of great potential with many strengths and opportunities.”
Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning, Councillor Richard McCauley, added:
“We continue to visibly demonstrate our policy of brownfield sites first when building the new homes and facilities that we need in our borough, working with our partners to attract support funding to make brownfield sites viable and our first choice.
“Our high-performing planning service is helping to secure distinct, attractive, healthy, safe, inclusive, and accessible places in which to live, work, visit and invest.”
