CONOR McGinn says the Draft Local Plan that will shape the borough's future must place more emphasis on finding brownfield land.

Mr McGinn, who has faced accusations from campaigners of sitting on the fence over the green belt issue, particularly in Haydock and Rainford, says he is clear on his position that there needs to be more emphasis on finding brownfield sites for building on. 

The Labour candidate for St Helens North, who was elected in 2015 with a majority of 17,291, added: “Clearly there are concerns in some parts of the borough about the proposals in the Draft Local Plan and I’ve been very clear on two aspects of that.

“Firstly, that we need a strategy for jobs, growth and investment. 

“We need jobs for people here and to encourage others to live, work and visit St Helens.

“But I’ve also said very clearly that the initial proposals about green belt land didn’t place enough emphasis on the need to source brownfield sites first and the percentage figure of the (green belt) area the council were proposing to release was too much.”

The green belt is an issue that has been seized upon by other parties who have been launching their campaigns in the past fortnight – but Mr McGinn feels the debate must be wider.

He added: “While I understand that people in some parts of the borough are more affected by this than others, and they are absolutely right to make their voice heard, there are a lot of issues here in St Helens. This is not the only or indeed the most important one in a general election.”