Knowsley approves 88 ‘zero-bills’ affordable homes
Also signed off by the council’s planning committee: a series of improvements to Grace Park in Halewood.
Knowsley Council met last week to debate and ultimately vote to approve the two projects.
Apartment blocks form a gateway at the Fox’s Bank Lane entrance of the project from Starship and Onward. Credit: planning documents
Land at Halsnead Farm
Developers: Starship Build and Onward Homes
Architect: DK Architects
Planner: Eden
Hailed as a launch project for the Future Homes Liverpool City Region by planner Eden, Starship and Onward’s 88-home neighbourhood will be built using modern methods of construction.
What is more, through the partnership between Starship and Octopus Energy, the homes will be designed to a “zero-bill” specification.
This zero-bill model debuted at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, with the promise that residents would be able to live 10 years without having to pay an energy bill through its energy efficient design, digital energy monitoring technology, use of batteries, and incorporation of solar panels.
The homes will be constructed on an 8.5-acre site off Fox’s Bank Lane, part of the wider Halsnead Garden Village project. They include 51 semi-detached and terraced houses and 37 flats with between one and four bedrooms.
The exact tenure mix will be revealed in due course, but the scheme will include ample properties for social rent.
Of the 88 homes, seven are to be designed to be fully wheelchair accessible, with the rest set to meet enhanced accessibility standards.
Around five acres will be reserved for development, with another 3.2 dedicated to open space. The landscape plans from Layer.studio include the provision for more than 90 trees, hedgerows, and shrubs to be planted.
The project team includes Curtins, TEP, Lanpro, Amenity Tree, Steven Hunt, Line Design Technology, Hepworth Acoustics, and Fusion 21.
You can learn more about Onward and Starship’s plans by searching reference 25/00617/FUL on Knowsley Council’s planning portal.
Meet Onward and hear about the registered provider’s plans to accelerate affordable housing delivery. Book your ticket to Place RESI.
Grace Park
Developer: Knowsley Council
Planner: WSP
Landscape architect: WSP
The 17.5-acre green space will get a much-needed refresh, with adjustments and improvements made to the playground, a sustainable urban drainage system installed, additional cycle paths brought in, and a civic plaza and club house built. There will also be a 47-bay car park added.
Plans also include the conversion of the existing grass pitches into artificial ones.
“This investment will transform Grace Park into a vibrant, accessible and sustainable community hub, delivering significant improvements in sports provision, biodiversity, connectivity and overall amenity for Halewood residents,” said Cllr Shelley Powell, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods.
Knowsley’s cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, Cllr Tony Brennan, added: “These plans will transform Grace Park into a high quality potentially Green Flag status park which the whole community will be able to enjoy and benefit from.”
The refresh of Grace Park is part of the local authority’s £30m investment into Halewood, which is funded through a series of awards from the Levelling Up Fund, City Region Sustainable Travel Settlement, and Section 106 contributions from housebuilders like Redrow, Bellway, and Miller Homes who are at work developing sites that are part of the 1,500-home East of Halewood masterplan.
The project team includes Steve Wells Associates, Survey Operations, Wardell Armstrong, Ascerta, and SureScreen Scientifics.
Learn more about the project by searching reference 26/00037/KMBC1 on Knowsley Council’s planning portal.
