GREEN belt land in St Helens is needed for development, says a town councillor, in order to keep pace with neighbouring towns and cities.

This comes after plans to consult on proposals to release green belt land at sites across the borough for housing and employment development were given the go-ahead.

Residents will have an eight-week period during which they can express views on the plans, it was decided unanimously at a Cabinet meeting held last Wednesday (November 16).

Councillor John Fulham, St Helens’ cabinet member for growth, says unless these developments take place, St Helens risks falling behind surrounding towns and cities.

He said there is currently insufficient land allocated for the developers and investors who are expressing interests in “taking advantage of St Helens’ location at the heart of the north west”.

According to a draft local plan, the move to develop on green belt has come about to enable the housing and employment land targets to be met in full over between 2018 and 2033.

Land would also be removed from green belt and safeguarded to meet housing and employment development needs for the following 15 years - 2033 to 2048.

If the plans come to fruition, more than 4,000 houses will be built at 16 sites across the borough in the next 15 years - and employment development would take place in outlying areas.

Following the meeting, Cllr John Fulham told the Star: “Cabinet has agreed to hold a public consultation on our ambitious plans to transform St Helens with a draft 30-year vision for growth, know as the ‘preferred options of the local plan’.

“Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester have been transformed over the past 15 years and, with the significant appetite to invest from the private sector, it is now St Helens’ turn to capitalise and capture the growth that has been going on around us.

“If our proposals are approved, over half of the borough - 56 per cent - will remain Green Belt.”

The plan states that green belt currently makes up 65 per cent of the borough, and the revised green belt would covering 56 per cent.

At Cabinet, it was discussed how St Helens has more green belt land than nearby boroughs, including Sefton with 51.4 per cent, Knowsley with 48.7 per cent, Wirral with 46.6 per cent and Liverpool with 4.7 per cent.

Cllr Fulham added: “This is the first time that Green Belt land has been released in St Helens, and now is the time. If we do not capture and shape the growth open to us then the investment, jobs and homes will go elsewhere and in these volatile times that’s not a price worth paying.”

To take part in the consultation, use the response form to send comments to the development plans team by post, email or hand by noon on Monday, January 30, 2017.

Copies of the form can be downloaded at sthelens.gov.uk/localplan. Hard copies will soon be available at the town hall reception and libraries.