City council set to approve new Local Plan setting out key priorities until 2033 when the city’s population is expected to grow from 470,000 to 517,000, creating demand for extra homes and jobs. Tony McDonough reports

A new plan to grow Liverpool’s economy over the next 15 years identifies the need to build 35,000 new homes as the population of the cities rises above half a million.

On Friday, January 19, the city council cabinet will be asked to approve the new Local Plan setting out the key priorities to grow the local economy up to 2033.

It also includes new policy for controlling developments in the city centre and identifies the need to develop 370 acres of land for new jobs.

The document will also be scrutinised at a special Regeneration Select Committee on Wednesday, January 17, and at the first full council meeting of the year on Wednesday, January 24.

It also sets out a new robust process to limit conversions of properties into homes in multiple occupation (HMOs), will then go out to final public consultation before being submitted to the Secretary of State for inspection.

Liverpool’s population is expected to rise from 470,000 to 517,000 people by 2033 and the plan, which has been in development with numerous agencies since February 2013, has identified 100 detailed policies to manage this growth.

Consultation on the draft Local Plan occurred in early 2014 and in October 2016 and the feedback, which was garnered more than 2,100 comments from local residents, community organisations and business organisations, has been incorporated where possible.

Key to the plan is to focus future development on brownfield land and making sufficient provision for regeneration projects and job creation in the city’s key employment areas.

Liverpool currently has £14bn worth of regeneration projects on site or in the pipeline and in 2018 £1bn worth of schemes will be completed for a record fourth consecutive year.

Main points of the Local Plan include:

• Allowing the build of nearly 35,000 new homes to meet the needs of a growing population
• Providing the places to work for an estimated growth in jobs of nearly 38,000 – on nearly 150 hectares (370 acres) or nearly 250 football pitches in area 
• Protecting and managing developments affecting open space and the natural and historic environment of the city so that it is not significantly affected
• Promoting better quality new homes that are wheelchair accessible, meeting residents needs throughout their lifetime if necessary
• Increasing the supply of affordable homes
• Managing the over-concentration of developments such as hot food takeaways and HMOs
• Promoting key development areas especially within the city centre – protecting the key assets and role of those areas while encouraging and enabling more growth from Baltic Triangle in the South to Ten Streets in the north and the waterfront in the west to Paddington Village in the east.

Once submitted to the Secretary of State, Liverpool’s Local Plan will be considered by an independent inspector who will decide whether or not it is ‘sound’.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, who recently announced a new housing company is being set up to deliver 10,000 new homes, said: “Liverpool is undergoing unprecedented growth and this Local Plan sets out the framework on how and where this will continue and flourish.

“This is a hugely vital document and demonstrates our commitment to building new affordable homes and attracting new jobs.”