St Helens to adopt Bold Forest masterplan

With an indicative allocation of around 3,000 homes, the garden village represents a significant chunk of the local plan, and is starting to see housebuilders push for consents.

A report will go before St Helens’ cabinet meeting on Wednesday 21 January seeking sign-off for the Bold Forest Masterplan Framework, and for clearance to be given to the executive director of place services to make suitable amendments to the masterplan going forward.

Avison Young, SLR and Useful Projects are working with St Helens on the project.

In the masterplan area’s first applications, Wain Estates and Taylor Wimpey have each submitted bids to deliver 220 homes within Bold Forest, the latter seeking outline permission for homes north of Gorsey Lane.

Of the indicative 2,988 homes, around 500 are expected to be delivered in the duration of the current local plan period. According to the draft masterplan, the policy-compliant position of affordable housing is 30% throughout the scheme.

Overall, there are around 30 development parcels, most of these for housing, but also including a medical centre, retail, a village green, a primary school/nursery and senior living. A primary Main Street is to fulfil a “unifying role” at the scheme’s heart, while a Greenway connects the whole masterplan area in a central swathe.

With the masterplan framework set to be adopted, key tasks for officers this year on Bold Forest will include detailed design guidance and transport modelling.

The area has long been in mind for development, with the Bold Forest Area Action Plan dating back to 2017. An initial consultation on the garden village was held in April last year, with a second round held in November. The local authority is working with Social on public engagement.

Six character areas are proposed across the masterplan area: Highfields, Hall Lane Corridor (described as a ‘transitional’ area from the existing rural fringe, and home to both the Wain and Taylor Wimpey plans), Western Fringe, Country Park Edge (overlooking Clock Face country park), New Bold Edge, and finally the village centre/gateway to St Helens Junction. Similar in size to these areas is a local wildlife site.

As set out in the cabinet report, Bold Forest Garden Village will support its new housing with:

• A local centre, providing an accessible cluster of critical social infrastructure including a primary school and health provision, supported by retail and workspace
• A secondary hub, providing a smaller focal point for community activity located adjacent to the local wildlife site with a focus on interaction with nature via play or educational activities.
• Public spaces and amenities spaces, distributed at key locations throughout, to create opportunities for community events and activities. Public spaces are planned next to proposed social infrastructure and along the site’s edges creating shared amenities for both new and existing residential communities.
• Sports and play provision: a new sports pitch and play provision is located in close proximity to the Clock Face Miners Recreation Club, extending the local sports activity already established by the club. Other play provision throughout the site, so no home is more than 800m from open space.