Council-owned housebuilder advances Southport site
Sefton Council’s housing company Sandway Homes is set to secure consent for its latest development, due to feature 30 homes outside Southport.
Working with consultant GL Hearn and ESA Architects, Sandway is proposing the houses for a narrow 2.5-acre plot in Crossens, off the Plough Roundabout.
A third of the 30 houses are to be designated as affordable, and the housing mix on the site includes two, three, and four-bedroom properties. The site is allocated for development within Sefton’s Local Plan with a maximum capacity of 36 homes.
Sefton’s planning officers have recommended the scheme be approved at a committee meeting next week, although there have been some objections from local residents, some of which have been endorsed by Meols representative Cllr John Dodd.
Residents have hit out at the scheme over perceived overdevelopment of the site, along with the impacts on ecology and existing residents.
However, planning officers said the scheme would be acceptable if ecological mitigation measures were put in place, and argued in favour of its contribution towards the housing supply within the borough. A decision is due to be made on 26 September.
Sefton launched its housebuilding arm in October 2017; other projects in the pipeline include the former St John Stone RC Primary School site in Ainsdale, where the council has secured £600,000 from Homes England to redevelop the plot for housing.