Breck Homes acquires Elton Head Road land for '170 home' project

As reported by the Star back in August, land off Elton Head Road was put back on the market after a previous and controversial planning application was withdrawn.

Submitted on behalf of The Jones Partnership in December 2021, the proposals for a 109 home development claimed that the land should have been released from the green belt to support local housing demands.

Although the application was withdrawn, with more than 20 letters of objections lodged, St Helens Council later designated the area as 'safeguarded housing land' in its Local Plan.

This means that the land is safeguarded against development in the short-term, but it will be removed from the greenbelt in 2037 to meet long term housing demands.

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The land was subject to a controversial planning application in 2021 (Image: Legat Owen) After estate agents Legat Owen publicised the sale of the land, which lies next to St John Vianney primary school, housing developer Breck has publicly announced that it has purchased the site.

Although the land is designated as safeguarded housing land, the developers state that they are planning to submit a formal planning application for 170 homes at the site.

With Breck signs installed around the site, this has inevitably caused upset in the community after the controversy of the previous application and the safeguarded status of the site.

Information from St Helens Council's Local Plan states that planning permission on safeguarded sites will only be granted following a future Local Plan update, which evidences the need for additional land.

The Star has contacted Breck as it is not clear if it intends to attempt to override the safeguarded status of the site or wait until the duration of Local Plan in 2037. However, we have not received a response.

Breck signs have been installed around the site (Image: Contributed) In a public statement on LinkedIn, Breck said: "We’ve completed the unconditional purchase of a greenfield site at Elton Head Road in St Helens for the development of 170 homes.

"The 3.61 hectare (8.94 acre) site has been purchased from a private landowner using our company’s cash reserves and we now intend to submit a planning application."

Andy Garnett, director at Breck, said: “St Helens is an area of the North West with a growing population and therefore strong demand for housing of all types.

"We see a real opportunity at Elton Head Road to use our expertise to develop high-quality homes to benefit the next generation.

“We were able to use our company resources to act quickly and secure the site and we now look forward progressing the planning application which will allow us to begin construction.”

Will Rees, director at Legat Owen, added: “The site’s status as safeguarded greenbelt has created strong interest from the housebuilder market for private and affordable housing.

"One of the reasons the client agreed to sell to Breck was the company’s offer to purchase unconditionally and swiftly - the sale took a matter of weeks to complete from the agreement of terms.”