£200m St Helens regeneration scheme passes final planning hurdle

Plans to regenerate redundant land at the Cowley Hill Works in St Helens and deliver a high quality residential-led neighbourhood have passed their final planning hurdle.

The scheme was approved by the planning committee in March and the Section 106 agreement between the local authority and the developer has now been completed, with outline planning permission now secured.

A joint venture between Liverpool-based land specialists BXB and developer Promenade Estates, the scheme will deliver up to 1,100 new homes, a hotel and commercial space off College Street, north of the town centre.

The development sits on 104 acres of the former Cowley Hill Works, operated by NSG Group, adjacent to the firm’s glass coating facility which continues to operate.

Gary Goodman, of BXB, said: “This is excellent news and comes at a very opportune moment as we assess bids from housebuilders.

“The scheme demonstrates our unique remediation and engineering skills and is an excellent example of how the right technical skills can unlock brownfield land for new housing.”

Cowley Hill Works is the largest brownfield land allocation within St Helens’ emerging local plan. The redevelopment of the site is expected to generate capital expenditure of £200m, with a further £15m expected to be spent on goods and services each year by the new residents and £1.5m of annual council tax receipts generated on full occupation.

Daniel Hynd, managing director of Promenade Estates, said: “This is an excellent example of the value we can add through our ‘brownfield first’ strategy and we remain on the look out for similar sites.

“The opportunity to work with local authorities to help them meet their housing needs from within the existing built environment will be vital if we are to protect our green belt from undue erosion.”