Taylor Wimpey tries again with major Formby plan

Outline plans for up to 286 homes on land north of Brackenway are in line for approval at Sefton’s planning committee next week.

The housebuilder secured a resolution to approve the scheme, which would be accessed from the A565 Formby bypass, as far back as March 2019.

However, prior to a decision being issued, and due to a delay in signing the Section 106 agreement, the Formby and Little Altcar Neighbourhood Plan was made. That plan, as officers report, in some respects became the more up-to-date development plan for Formby.

Amendments to the scheme since then include various proposed measures around flooding and drainage. The Environment Agency, having originally objected, has now given its backing to the proposals.

Taylor Wimpey’s professional team includes planner Avison Young, masterplanner Randall Thorp, drainage and flood consultant RSK, Croft Transport Solutions, The Environment Partnership, Tier Environmental and Resource & Environmental Consultants.

Both Formby Parish Council and Formby Civic Society are opposed to the scheme, which like the 2019 application has attracted a raft of objections, much of it concerned with transport & highways and flooding.

However, the site is allocated for housing in the local plan. Planning officers still believe the proposal to be acceptable in principle, adding that not only would it give rise to flooding concerns on-site, its measures will help existing neighbours already at flood risk, also adding to the area’s ecology.

The total site area is 53.6 acres, 24 acres of which are developable. The remainder forms both accessible and non-accessible open space.

Currently accessed from Paradise Lane, the site is undeveloped, although a small area is classed as brownfield due to the presence of structures associated with horse stables.

North of the conurbation, the site is bound to the south by Eight Acre Brook, while Wham Dyke runs in an east/west direction through the centre of the site. The Freshfield Dune Heath reserve lies directly to the north, with RAF Woodvale beyond. The A565 runs to the east of the site.

Although layout, scale, appearance and landscaping will be fleshed out at the reserved matters stage, the site’s access is included in this application.

The volume of affordable housing will also be revealed only at that stage, although Taylor Wimpey has said it is committed to the neighbourhood plan’s affordable housing and housing mix policies.

Conditions suggested in the recommendation to approve include a Section 106 contribution of £188,760 to mitigate recreational pressure on the Sefton coast, a sum more than double of what was suggested in the initial consideration of the proposed development.

In July, Taylor Wimpey was among 40 housebuilders who committed to “tackling head-on” the net-zero challenge, while the firm has also advanced its 350-home plans at Halsnead Garden Village this summer.

Sefton’s planning committee meets on 25 August.