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Published Delegated Executive Decisions

Welcome. This system contains information about published delegated executive decisions, including exemptions.

Decision Number: 0145 2019/20

Executive Portfolio:
Economic Regeneration & Housing
Decision Number:
0145 2019/20
Exempt / Confidential Item:
No
Ward(s) Affected:
All Wards
Declarations of Interest Received:
None
Title:
St. Helens Brownfield Register 2019
Summary of Decision:
To approve and publish the St. Helens Brownfield Register 2019.
Proposed Decision:
To approve the St. Helens Brownfield Register 2019 and future annual updates, and to make them available for public inspection in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.
Summary of Reason for Decision:
The Council is required by law to publish regular updates to its Brownfield Register. The Council’s first Brownfield Register was published in December 2017 and updated in 2018. The 2018 Register has now been reviewed and it is now recommended that the updated Register be published under the above regulations.
Reason for Decision:
National and local policy The Government’s Housing White Paper ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’ (February 2017) put forward a range of measures to increase the number of houses built across the country. Among the issues identified were that not enough local authorities are planning for the homes they need and that house building is generally too slow. The Government introduced a requirement to publish a register of brownfield land suitable for housing, as one of a series of measures to bring brownfield land back into use and to tackle the problems identified. The re-use of brownfield land is also a key priority of the Council as reflected in the ‘Submission Draft’ of the emerging St. Helens Borough Local Plan (approved by full Council on 19 December 2018). This proposes a balanced growth strategy within which the re-use of brownfield land would make a major contribution to meeting the Borough’s needs for housing development, supplemented by release of some greenfield sites. Definition of ‘brownfield land’ Brownfield or ‘previously developed’ land is defined in the National Planning Policy Framework as land which, in summary, is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land, and any associated fixed surface infrastructure. Brownfield land can occur both in urban and rural locations. The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 (the ‘regulations’) require each local planning authority to prepare and maintain a register of brownfield (or ‘previously developed’ land) that is suitable for housing development. The regulations implement primary legislation which is set out in the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The register must be in 2 parts. Part 1 must contains details of all brownfield sites in the Council’s area which meet the following criteria: a) The land has an area of at least 0.25 hectares or is capable of supporting at least 5 dwellings; b) The land is suitable for residential development; c) The land is available for residential development (having regard in summary to the intentions of the owner(s)) and/or developers); and d) Residential development of the land is achievable. The regulations set out further details of what is meant by the terms ‘suitable’, ‘available’ and ‘achievable’. Part 1 must also set out basic details of the sites including their size, potential dwelling yield and planning history. Inclusion of any site on the Register does not mean that any subsequent planning application would necessarily be approved. Part 2 of the Register is available for sites where the Council has decided to grant permission in principle. Permission in principle is a concept which was introduced by the Government in 2017 and provides an alternative way of obtaining planning permission that separates the consideration of matters of principle from the technical detail of the development. The Council can grant permission in principle either: (a) on receipt of a valid application from an applicant (under procedures set out in further new regulations introduced in 2017) or (b) by entering a site in Part 2 of its brownfield land register. Before using either of these routes to grant ‘permission in principle’, the Council must undertake publicity and consultation as set out in the respective sets of regulations. The updated St. Helens Brownfield Land Register 2019 The existing St. Helens Brownfield Land Register was first published following its approval by Cabinet on 06/12/17 and this was updated by the 2018 Register (approved 15/04/2019). It includes 108 sites, all of which are in Part 1 of the Register. No sites were identified in Part 2. The 2018 Register has now been updated. The total number, combined area and capacity of the 2019 sites compared to the previous versions of the register are set out below. Number of sites: Brownfield Land Register 2017:98 Brownfield Land Register 2018:108 Brownfield Land Register 2019:112 Combined area of sites (hectares): Brownfield Land Register 2017:212.11 Brownfield Land Register 2018:202.51 Brownfield Land Register 2019:196.34 Combined estimated capacity of sites (dwellings): Brownfield Land Register 2017:5,818 Brownfield Land Register 2018:6,028 Brownfield Land Register 2019:5,879 The new Register covers a slightly smaller total area and provides a slightly smaller total dwelling capacity than the 2018 Register. This is due to the successful completion of new dwellings on brownfield sites over the past year. The largest of the sites on the updated Register (all of which appeared on the 2017 and 2018 registers) include: · BR005-Moss Nook Urban Village, Watery Lane, St. Helens - 26.74ha · BR013-Land north of Elton Head Road, Thatto Heath – 7.31ha · BR027-Land at Cowley Street and Albert Street, Moss Bank – 32.06ha · BR061-Alexander Park - Former Pilkington HQ, Prescot Road, West Park – 9.24ha · BR088-Penlake Industrial Estate, Bold – 10.19ha · BR085-Ibstocks, Chester Lane, Bold – 9.00ha · BR091-Pilkington’s (Eccleston Works), Millfields – 9.57ha · BR098-Deacon Trading Estate, Earlestown – 9.07ha 18 new sites have been added to the Register, which could collectively deliver about 118 new dwellings. The 18 new sites are: · BR111- 388 Clipsley Lane, Haydock, St.Helens – 0.55ha – 5 dwellings · BR112 - Carmelite Convent, 1 Green Lane, Eccleston, St. Helens – 1.78ha –12 dwellings · BR113 - 3 Central Avenue, Eccleston Park, St. Helens – 0.18ha – 13 dwellings · BR114 - Former Eccleston Methodist Church Site, Burrows Lane, Eccleston, St. Helens – 0.3ha – 4 dwellings · BR115 - Former Bold Heath Water Works, Warrington Road, Bold Heath – 0.39ha – 6 dwellings · BR116 - Micklehead Barn, Micklehead Road, Sutton Manor – 0.51ha – 3 dwellings · BR117 - Land North West Of Woods House Farm, School Lane, Sutton Manor, St. Helens – 0.3ha – 1 dwellings · BR118 - 14-16 Bridge Street, St. Helens – 0.03ha – 15 dwellings · BR119 - Former Deacon Trading Estate, Newton Le Willows, St. Helens – 2.1ha – 16 dwellings · BR120 - Reflection Court, Canal Street, St. Helens – 0.62ha – 2 dwellings · BR121 - Claughton House, Barrow Street, St. Helens – 0.04ha – 18 dwellings · BR122 - 533 Warrington Road, Rainhill, St. Helens – 0.26ha – 9 dwellings · BR123 - Emmanual Church, Elephant Lane, St. Helens – 0.16ha – 12 dwellings · BR124 – Birch Tree Farm, Moss Bank Road, St. Helens - 0.32ha – 3 dwellings · BR125 – Land Adjacent To Rose Farm Cottage (Former Lowes Forge Site), Red Cat Lane, Crank, St. Helens - 0.3ha – 2 dwellings · BR126 - Eccleston Fire Station, Millfields, Eccleston – 0.40ha –12 dwellings · BR127 – Land Between Sutton Road Lancots Lane and Dismantled Railway Line, Lancots Lane, St. Helens – 1.14ha – 34 dwellings · BR128 - St. Helens Fire Station, Parr Stocks Road, St. Helens – 0.93 – 28 dwellings 14 sites previously on the Register have now been removed as they have all been completed. No sites have been removed due to being un-developable. The full list of sites on the updated Register is attached as Appendix 1 to this report. The maps in Appendices 2 and 3 show the locations of the sites. 26 previously listed sites remain on the Register but in an updated form to reflect a change in planning status and/or number of dwellings approved on them, or to correct a broken hyperlink. It should be stressed that all site capacity figures are estimates and that the housing capacity and speed of delivery of new housing on the sites will ultimately be guided by factors such as landowner intentions, land remediation costs, market conditions and overall development viability. It remains the case that all sites listed on the Register are in Part 1, and that no sites are included in Part 2. This is because no sites have been through the processes set out in the regulations (including the granting of ‘permission in principle’) to qualify for inclusion in Part 2. This approach is considered prudent at this stage given the need to focus available Council staff resources on the Local Plan process and the availability of other mechanisms (e.g. outline planning permission) to confirm the development potential of sites. It is recommended that the potential to use the ‘permission in principle’ mechanism be re-assessed when future reviews of the Brownfield Land Register are undertaken. City Region context At the Liverpool City Region level, it is intended to combine the latest reviews of the individual Brownfield Registers for the six constituent authorities into a single list. This will update an existing combined list for the City Region and act as a valuable information source, for example to support planning and investment decisions. Future Annual Updates The preparation of Part 1 of the Register is fairly straight forward, drawing from the Council’s existing information on previously developed land contained within the Council’s databases of sites with planning permission, from the Council’s Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and from pre-application discussions and Call for Sites exercises. As such, the preparation and publication of Part 1 of the Register is not controversial and simply a reflection of facts and information available to the Council. To this end, the decision seeks approval to publish future annual updates to Part 1 of the Register following review by the Service Manager - Development & Building Control.
Risks Associated with this Decision:
Failure to approve and publish the updated St. Helens Brownfield Land Register within its statutory timescale would result in substantial reputational risk to the Council.
Measures to Redress Risk:
Publish the updated Brownfield Register.
Anti Poverty / Human Rights / Agenda 21 Implications:
None
Attachments:
Please Contact Lyndsey Darwin: 01744 676117 for more details.