Council planners will this week be asked to give the green light to the £100m regeneration of St Helens town centre which will include new homes, a hotel, a market hall and office space. Tony McDonough reports
Councillors in St Helens are expected to approve £100m plans to transform the town centre when they meet on Tuesday.
Led by St Helens Council in partnership with ECF – a joint venture between Homes England, L&G, and Muse – phase one of the project will see new homes, a hotel, a market hall and office space built across a 24-acre site.
This week’s planning committee meeting will seek planning consent for a reserved matters application on the scheme which this year has undergone a series of design refinements that prioritise environmental and community benefits.
Phase one includes a new 22,400 sq ft market hall, 120-bedroom Hampton by Hilton hotel, 56 apartments, eight townhouses, extended transport interchange, 4,266 sq ft of retail space and a five-storey 75,000 sq ft office building
In June ECF announced additional green space through a more efficient residential layout. Instead of two blocks with 56 apartments, the scheme now proposes a single L-shaped building with 57 apartments. This reduces the development footprint.
A play area for families visiting the town centre will also be located within a newly landscaped public realm beside the steps of the new market hall.
Matt Whiteley, senior development manager at ECF, said at the time: “Sustainability is embedded in every decision – from refining the residential layouts to maximise open space and biodiversity, to recycling demolition materials for reuse on site.”
The project is backed by a £69.2m funding package from St Helens Council, with further support from the UK Government and ECF. It includes two Town Deal grants totalling £10.49m and £812,000 from the One Public Estate Brownfield Land Release Fund.
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Jon Matthews Architects and Planit have designed the scheme while the project team also includes CBRE, and transport consultant WSP.
Hilson Moran is providing energy, sustainability, utilities, air quality, land contamination, flood risk, wind, and noise consulting services. Liverpool-based Project Four is the CDM and Building Safety Act expert.