Plans in for hundreds of homes on greenfield land in Haydock

Proposals seeking permission to build 464 houses on land south of Florida Farm have been drawn up and sent in to St Helens Council planning department.

A design and access statement, submitted by eSCAPE Urbanists Ltd, on behalf of applicants Barratt and David Wilson Homes North West, sets out the details of the proposed development.

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It says: "The application site comprises greenfield land approximately 18.99 hectares in area within the settlement boundary of Haydock".

It says the site is "well contained", bound by the East Lancashire Road immediately to the north with existing residential development backing onto the site along its east, southern and western boundaries along Avery Road, Springfield Park, Brookside Way, Liverpool Road and Vicarage Drive.

It adds a small section of the site at the south-west corner fronts on to Vicarage Road.

An introduction in the document states: "The proposed development will deliver 464 new homes and make best use of a residential allocation that lies in the urban area, with a well-designed and high-quality development which will fit in with the character and appearance of the local area".

It says there would be "a mix of semi-detached, mews and detached properties including bungalows".

The proposed development would include a mix of two, three and four-bedroom houses. 

The application adds the plan would include "delivery of 30 per cent affordable housing".

The design and access statement summarises: "The proposed development of 464 new homes will make an important contribution to meeting housing need in the local area, including the provision of much needed affordable homes.

"This will be a high quality development that respects the local character and successfully integrates existing landscape features into the new development."

Plans for 464 houses have been submitted (Image: eSCAPE Urbanists Ltd (St Helens Council Planning Portal))

However, the plans have already drawn objections from residents and development has been a hot political topic in the area since the controversial M6 Major warehouse developments at Florida Farm, where Amazon and Kellogs units were built on green built land. 

The plans stated that in a pre-application consultation it was said 660 people viewed the consultation website with 158 comments, including 61 feedback forms. Of these 11 respondees were supportive of the application, three undecided and 47 were against the development.

One resident who has submitted an objection to the proposals for the houses, said: "Having gone through the building of the monstrosity warehouses at the opposite side of the ELR, with the loss of green belt and the increase in traffic and light pollution, we are now subjected to another significant building development, this time directly at the back of our house.

"We appreciate that the borough may need additional housing stock, to increase rate income etc, but there has been no thought to the required increase in the infrastructure eg schools and medical services.

"The stated access points to this proposed development are in our opinion extremely hazardous and could be dangerous and the increase in household cars in this area will cause additional traffic issues."

The planning application is on standard consultation to the public until Friday, October 6.