Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will build 286 new homes at a Liverpool city region site and has pledged to include affordable housing and flood protection in the scheme. Tony McDonough reports
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has secured conditional approval from Sefton Council to build 286 new homes in Formby.
Councillors on the planning committee gave the green light to the scheme north of Brackenway. A legal agreement with the company will see affordable housing built as part of the project.
It will also bring “tangible” benefits to existing residents who currently suffer from the risks of flooding. Taylor Wimpey has carried out flood risk modelling, ecological studies as well as surveys of habitats, bat roosts and water voles.
The site will mean 7.9 hectares of grasslands and wetlands to the north of the nearby Wham Dyke will be retained and landscaped linear green corridors will be created. Green links to a new nature reserve extension in the north will help to enhance green infrastructure across the development and help increase local biodiversity.
In addition, the council report recommends a financial contribution of £188,760 or £660 per dwelling from the developer to further mitigate recreational pressures that could affect on the Sefton coastline.
Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning & Building Control, said: “As with every single planning application, both at officer and committee level all appropriate considerations, concerns and comments are taken into account before any decision is made.
“Crucially, this proposed development is likely to bring tangible benefits to existing residents who have previously experienced flooding. The development would also improve local ecology and bio diversity net gain in the area and has, in all other respects, fulfilled the planning criteria set out both on a national and local level.
“Of course the continued protection of our established communities is paramount and we have stated that a legal agreement will be put in place with the developer.
“This agreement seeks to ensure the proposed development will secure affordable housing, the long term management of open space, mitigation of any flood risk, management of watercourses, protect natural conservation sites and more.”
Land north of Brackenway, Formby, has been identified since 2015 as a site suitable for housing developments as part of the Sefton Local Plan, which seeks to address the borough’s housing needs up to the year 2030.