Wain Homes wins St Helens housing appeal

The developer has been granted permission to build 92 homes on safeguarded land in Newton-le-Willows after the planning inspector presiding over the case concluded “change itself does not necessarily equate to harm”.

St Helens Council has twice before rejected Wain Homes’ plans to build houses on a 12-acre site off Mill Lane, prompting the developer to appeal.

Read the full decision notice

At the time of the most recent rejection, the proposal was for 99 homes. However, this has since been reduced to 92.

Part of the appeal site was formerly in the Green Belt but was removed as part of the adoption of the St Helens Local Plan. This part of the plot is now undesignated, with the remainder of the site allocated as safeguarded land.

St Helens cited concerns several concerns about Wain Homes’ scheme including the safety of the access road, the effect of the development on safeguarded land, and the impact of the scheme’s design on the surrounding area.

However, the Planning Inspectorate found in favour of Wain Homes. It concluded that the project would “not appear isolated…[and] would relate well to the existing settlement” and added that the access road would not be “prejudicial to the safety of its future users”.

Finally, the inspector said the development “would not prevent the satisfactory future development of the safeguarded land” as contested by the council.