People in Liverpool are being given a final say on the city’s proposed Local Plan that will see the creation of 35,000 new homes and 38,000 new jobs. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool’s Local Plan is looking to kick-start the creation of 35,000 new homes and 38,000 new jobs over the next 15 years.

On Friday, the city council launched a six-week public consultation into the Local Plan which has been designed to meet the challenges of a predicted population rise in the city of 47,000 people.

The draft plan, which has been endorsed by the city council’s cabinet, has identified 100 detailed policies to manage this growth, building on work to protect the city’s heritage and also includes a new policy for controlling developments in the city centre.

It will also enshrine a new robust process to control the number of conversions of properties into homes in multiple occupation (HMOs).

The council will aim to use the Local Plan to support its recently published City Plan, which is focused on delivering a post-pandemic recovery. The Local Plan and City Plan embody the stated commitment  of Mayor Joanne Anderson and her Cabinet to better environmental, social and equality standards.

Following consultations in 2014, 2016 and 2018, the draft Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in 2018 to be assessed by an independent inspector. Delays due to COVID-19 meant the the inspector finally conducted the Examination in Public hearings in October 2020.

To be found sound, the Local Plan must comply with all necessary legal requirements and pass the tests of ‘soundness’, which require that it should have been positively prepared so that it meets the future development needs of Liverpool and it must be justified, effective and consistent with national policy.

As a result a number of modifications buy the inspector, the public are now being asked one final time for their feedback, but this time only on these proposed changes. People can read or download the Combined Schedule of Main Modifications and provide feedback online and by email until 5pm, Monday 23rd August by clicking here.

Key to Liverpool’s Local 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.

It will also enforce various area-based masterplans in the Baltic Triangle, Ten Streets, the Commercial District, the Cavern Quarter and the Upper Central area of the city centre. It will shape Liverpool’s development needs until 2033 by:

• 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 homes in multiple occupation (HMO’s).
• Promoting key development areas especially within the city centre – protecting the key assets and role of those areas while encouraging and enabling more growth.

Cllr Sarah Doyle, Cabinet member for Development and Housing, said: “COVID has given everyone time to think about what type of growth Liverpool needs, where and who it will benefit – and this Local Plan provides the framework to how this will happen.

“This Local Plan sets out to determine how we make Liverpool a healthier and more prosperous city that meet the needs of a changing population, and with our city plan will help shape Liverpool’s post-pandemic recovery.”