St Helens site primed for housing
Plans for 164 homes in Thatto Heath are earmarked for approval, with developer Vistry Partnerships allocating half for affordable accommodation.
St Helens’ planning committee will consider the application on 1 November. Planning officers recommend that the head of planning be delegated to approve the scheme pending a Section 106 agreement.
The proposal is for a site north of Elephant Lane close to Thatto Heath railway station. The site, 12.6 acres and sitting between Thatto Heath Road and Elm Road, is currently vacant and overgrown.
Previously, parts of the site have housed a day centre, allotments and storage space for Network Rail. There is a vacant police station site adjacent to the site frontage on Thatto Heath Road.
Three-bedroom homes make up the largest element, with 91 dwellings planned. There would also be 17 four-bedroom homes, and 56 two-bedroom.
Eighty three homes are to be affordable: 64 shared ownership and 19 rent-to-buy.
The proposal would also see the reconfiguration of a public car park located on the western boundary of the site off Thatto Heath Road. The proposal would provide 17 car parking spaces including two disabled spaces, providing an increase of two spaces on the current set-up.
The 81 open-market homes break down as 27 two-bedroom, 37 three-bedroom and all of the four-bedroom houses.
In August, Place North West reported that St Helens Council had exchanged contracts with Vistry for the local authority-owned land. Vistry will deliver the market housing under its Linden Homes brand, with the other 83 homes to be developed by Torus.
Advisers on the development include MPSL, Ridge, e3p, Professional Consult, Redmore Environmental, Urban Green, AES, Rachel Hacking Ecology and SCP.
The planning reference number is P/2022/0480/FUL.
