Knowsley adopts local plan

Knowsley Council has approved the adoption of its local plan core strategy at its latest full council meeting, after the plan was declared sound and legally compliant by a Government planning inspector.

In his final report published in November, inspector Martin Pike found Knowsley’s local plan core strategy legally sound and compliant, concluding that with recommended modifications, the plan satisfies legal requirements and complies with national planning policy.

The local plan core strategy will guide development in Knowsley up to 2028. The council submitted its strategy to the government in November 2013, with interim findings from a planning inspector in January 2014 outlining a lack of sites to meet the five-year housing supply need, alongside questions over the deliverability of employment sites and the protection of some green spaces.

By June 2014, the council had made main modifications to its plan, including the release of nine of its green belt reserve sites for use as strategic urban extensions. The inspector’s second interim findings found that the revised version of the plan showed a sound approach to the delivery of housing in the area, and the plan was released for public consultation in October 2014.

Following the modifications, the plan received a greater public response than in the earlier phases, including objections to the release of some of the green belt sites.

The plan supports the wider aims of Knowsley Council and its partners to deliver 8,100 new homes across the borough in order to grow the borough’s population, to develop 400-acres of employment land to create jobs and to regenerate Knowsley’s town centres while enhancing the borough’s environmental assets.

Cllr Mike Murphy, Knowsley’s cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said: “This is a major opportunity for the Council and our communities as the plan will facilitate transformational change across Knowsley through new housing development, new employment opportunities and new and improved retail developments.”

The Plan is available on the council’s website www.knowsley.gov.uk/localplan and copies are available to view at Knowsley Council One Stop Shops and libraries.

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Ahhh, Knowsley: smack capital of Europe….

By Bryan Butterwoth

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