1,500 NEW HOMES FOR LIVERPOOL CITY REGION’S KNOWSLEY BOROUGH

Liverpool City Region’s Knowsley Council has signed off on a plan to build 1,500 homes on 200 acres between Halewood and Everton FC’s Finch Farm training ground.

The site was one of ten reallocated for residential development under Knowsley’s local plan, adopted in 2016.

The site includes two large plots located north and south of the Liverpool to Manchester rail line, and some smaller parcels off Greensbridge Lane and Higher Road.

Knowsley Council and planning consultancy Optimum Environments, with support from multidiscplinary firm WSP, drew up the masterplan, which also proposes to expand and upgrade Finch Woods as a public park.

Housebuilders Redrow, Bellway and Miller Homes are among the 19 landowners within the masterplan area.

Redrow has the single largest plot at nearly 50 acres, while Bellway’s largest plot amounts to 30 acres. Bellway submitted plans in February for 413 homes across two of its plots.

Last October, Redrow submitted a hybrid application for 730 homes across two plots totalling 90-acres, while Miller Homes submitted plans for 162 homes that same month.

During the East Halewood public consultation process, which ran from February to April 2019, residents raised concerns over the ability of existing infrastructure, such as schools and health centres, to cope with the rise in population that further residential development would bring.

The most recent council report on the masterplan said: “East of Halewood will provide a high-quality and distinctive new residential offer for Halewood – a place served by excellent infrastructure and accessible to all.

“It will be the most sought after and significant scheme of its type in the south of the city region.”