- New 30 year Local Plan 2020/50
- A plan for a Greater Skelmersdale
- 15,992 new homes for West Lancashire
- 1,000 acres of Greenbelt to be lost
- Massive new industrial estates
- 6,256 homes to meet Merseyside’s needs
- No Safeguarded Land—a developers free for all
In proposals that have just been published (click on link to view https://democracy.westlancs.gov.uk/documents/g1776/Public%20reports%20pack%2006th-Sep-2018%2019.00%20Planning%20Committee.pdf?T=10).
Labour want to scrap the existing Local Plan that still has 9 years to run and bring in a new Local Plan covering an unprecedented 30 years up to 2050.
Labour also want to scrap the established practice of safeguarding sites identified for future development. This would mean the Council abdicating its responsibility to manage the release of sites and allow developers, or as Labour say the “market”, to decide which sites should be developed first. It would also mean that all the sites needed for the next 30 years would be made available for development from 2020.
Labour want a huge increase in the existing annual target for both new homes and employment use and for some inexplicable reasons they want to provide land to meet the housing and commercial development needs of neighbouring councils in Merseyside - 6,256 new homes and hundreds of acres for new industrial estates.
Labour’s plans are irresponsible and if implemented, would have a devastating impact right across West Lancashire. They simply do not appreciate the importance of our Greenbelt.
The official figure for population growth in West Lancashire is 6,000 by 2041 and this can be met by the existing Local Plan. Labour want to triple this rate of growth by attracting large numbers into the Borough from neighbouring areas.
The Conservatives insist that land for future housing in the Borough should be strictly limited to that required to meet the local need, the maximum use be made of brownfield sites and releasing Greenbelt land should only be done as a last resort.
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