A FORMER pub and fire station are among brownfield sites in St Helens that will share funding to enable new homes to be built.
Across the region, 15 sites have been identified to share £23m as part of metro mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans to tackle the housing crisis.
These will see a total of £60m invested from a Brownfield Land Fund to remediate land to build at least 4,000 homes.
Where in St Helens will receive funding?
Among these locations are six sites in St Helens, including the former Sutton Arms pub on Elephant Lane, Thatto Heath, and the former Parr Stocks fire station.
The Star has previously reported after plans for a development by Gradan Homes at the Parr Stocks site were approved by St Helens Council's planning department.
Funding of £600,0000 has been earmarked for the project which will see 40 properties created.
READ > Council decides on former Parr Stocks fire station site homes plans
Meanwhile, Childwall Homes NW Ltd are seeking to build 12 homes at the former Sutton Arms site, with £118,000 allocated by the regional authority.
Other sites in St Helens to receive funding are Parr Mount Court, with £450,000 received for the 30-property Torus development.
Land at Manor Street, Peasley Cross has been earmarked for £690,000 for 47 homes to be created by Westchurch Homes Ltd.
A site at Rutland Street is to receive £1.15m for a Torus scheme to build 77 homes.
Meanwhile, the former Ibstock Brickworks on Chester Lane, Marshalls Cross, has been earmarked for £3.63m in funding for the 242-home project by Backhouse Properties Group Ltd.
Meanwhile, Dye House, in nearby Prescot, is to receive £680,000 for a 45-property scheme by Livv Housing Group.
'I want everyone to realise home ownership ambitions'
Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “We are specifically targeting brownfield sites to help protect our precious green spaces from over development - turning once-forgotten areas back into thriving communities.
“I want everyone in our area to have the chance to realise their home ownership ambitions – to get their foot on the property ladder and invest in their future.
“Yet, for too long, achieving that dream has been out of reach for many of our residents who have been forced to contend with a broken housing market, that simply doesn’t work for them. Thanks to devolution, we are working to put that right by investing £60m into to open up a pipeline of 4,000 homes across our six boroughs by ensuring that there are suitable sites for development.”
READ > Houses plans at former social club approved
At its meeting on Friday, November 18, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority approved in principle funding for the 15 sites, subject to due diligence.
Since the original Brownfield Land Fund was announced in July 2020, the Combined Authority has already agreed plans to invest £29m in 16 projects across the Liverpool City Region, which will deliver 2445 homes.
In planning terms, any land that has been previously developed is classed as brownfield. In the region, much of this land is derelict and formerly industrial so must be cleaned up before it can be redeveloped.
The Combined Authority investment will be used for site remediation and other measures required to make sites ready for development.
In total, 700 brownfield sites have been identified across the six local authorities of the city region. The updated brownfield register identifies 1,813 acres of brownfield sites which could provide space for more than 42,000 homes, if remediated.
Cllr Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority portfolio holder for housing and spatial framework, said: “We are determined to ensure there is a great choice of high-quality homes, right across the city region, as part of our ambitious plans to ensure that we tackle the housing shortage.
"Building on brownfield sites is at the heart of that process – after all there are around 700 of them with enough space to build 42,000 homes. The developments in this new pipeline are a great mix of schemes offering a wide range of different housing types. We need to ensure that, across our city region, we are building homes to suit everybody.”
The full list of pipeline sites across the region:
- Three Sails Point, Widnes, Halton (Magenta) - 184 homes, £2.76m
- Kew, Sefton (Torus) - 139 homes, £2.09m
- Parr Fire Station, St Helens (Gradan Homes) - 40 homes, £0.6m
- Melwood, Liverpool (Torus) - 162 homes, £2.43m
- Telegraph House, Crosby, Sefton (Virtue) - 72 homes, £1.08m
- Parr Mount Court, St Helens (Torus) - 30 homes, £0.45m
- Land at Manor Street, St Helens (Westchurch Homes Ltd) - 47 homes, £0.69m
- High Street Runcorn, Halton (Halton Housing) - 66 homes , £0.9m
- Greenleas, Leasowe Road, Wirral (Starship) - 17 homes, £0.24m
- Former Sutton Arms, Elephant Lane, St Helens (Childwall Homes NW Ltd) - 12 homes, £0.18m
- Land at Rutland Street, St Helens (Torus) - 77 homes, £1.15m
- Former Ibstock Brickworks, St Helens (Backhouse Properties Group Ltd) - 242 homes, £3.63m
- Dye House, Prescot, Knowsley (Livv Housing Group) - 45 homes, £0.68m
- Park House, Sefton (Anwyl) - 106 homes, £1.59m
- Cherryfield Drive, Knowsley (KMBC / Barratt Development) - 308 homes, £4.6m
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