A DECISION to reject plans for a huge logistics and manufacturing development in green belt land in Haydock has been upheld by the Secretary of State following a public inquiry.

The proposals for the Haydock Point site, which is to the north east of Junction 23 of the M6 Motorway, were rejected by St Helens Council in December 2020.

The applicant, Peel L&P, had drawn up the proposals, which it claimed would invest £160m in the borough.

The decision went to a public inquiry earlier this year – with the Planning Inspectorate supporting the council's decision over the potential harm that would be caused to the green belt land.

In a decision notice Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Local Government, Communities and Levelling Up, said: "The Secretary of State has carefully considered whether the harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and the other harms he has identified, are clearly outweighed by other considerations.

"Overall, the Secretary of State considers that the eight benefits of the proposal are not collectively sufficient to clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt and other harms such that very special circumstances would exist to justify permitting the development.

"As such he finds conflict with development plan policies on the green belt."

The application sought outline planning permission to build two warehouses totalling about 1.8 million square feet of employment space on 42 hectares of open farmland, mainly to be used for logistics with up to 20 per cent for general use, including manufacturing.

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At the planning hearing in 2020, Peel said that it aimed to create 2,500 jobs once fully operational, and around 265 construction jobs.

The decision was released on the same day that Mr Gove upheld decisions to approve permission for the Parkside logistics development in Newton-le-Willows and the Home Bargains Distribution Centre at Omega West, Bold, at the border of St Helens and Bold.

Several years ago the development of giant warehouses – now occupied by Amazon and Kellogg – on green belt land at Florida Farm, in Haydock led to an outcry among residents.