Client
Taylor Wimpey
Size
1,600 dwellings
Local Authority
Knowsley Council
Sectors
Residential, Mixed-use
Key Project Information
- This site represents the second residential phase of Halsnead Garden Village which is one of the government’s 14 pilot Garden Villages first announced in 2017, which is due to provide up to 1,600 homes, employment land and a country park in total.
- As such, this will be one of the first Garden Village developments to be brought forward in England, and is a flagship scheme for Taylor Wimpey.
- We provided planning and EIA support for the application process which lasted over 3 years. Although already the allocated, the scheme was not without it’s challenges with significant viability, levels and heritage issues to overcome. The scheme also went through review by the Places Matter Design Panel.
Taylor Wimpey secured an interest in the site in 2018 and sought a full planning permission for 350 dwellings on the site. We were asked to project manage the planning application and EIA process to achieve a full deliverable planning permission as promptly as possible, with connectivity to adjacent parcels to facilitate future phases.
This included extensive pre-application to ensure the design and layout were acceptable and met the requirements of the emerging Halsnead Design Guide which was ultimately adopted around the time the application was submitted in July 2020.
The scheme comprised a full planning application with Environmental Impact Assessment for 337 homes on 16 Ha of land off Fox’s Bank Lane within Halsnead Garden Village, Whiston, which was submitted to Knowsley Council in July 2020.
During the course of the application the layout and mix were amended to meet the requirements of Council Officers, consultees and the Halsnead Design Guide, with the number of houses increasing to 350 as a result.
The proposals comprise a mix of three- and four-bedroom houses, with the Foxes Clump mature woodland retained in the centre of the site, with other large areas of open space around the site entrance to the east and to the south of the site. The development will also result in a contribution of £3.2m to local services and infrastructure.
The scheme was unanimously approved at planning committee in July 2021.
Images courtesy of Taylor Wimpey.