A REVISED application to build 117 homes on playing fields at Sidac Social Club has been approved.

Planning permission was granted for 129 homes on land to the south of the social club and an area of the club’s car park last December.

The previous permission was granted subject to a Section 106 legal agreement securing the development of playing fields, changing facilities and a car park on Sherdley Park.

Construction has already begun on the scheme.

On Tuesday, St Helens Council’s planning committee were asked to approve amended proposals for a reduction to 117, slightly larger homes.

As with the previous application, no affordable housing has been offered by the developer of the site, Countryside.

This drew stinging criticism from Haydock councillor, Martin Bond, who compared it to another application for a housing scheme in Rainford.

Cllr Bond said: “We’ve got two applications before us today, one from a FTSE 250 company that turns over just under a billion pounds a year and one from a private family company that turns over no-where near that.

“The private family company’s application involves contribution of almost £100,000 for affordable housing in an application to build 50-odd houses and yet this application contains none.

“I know we can’t do anything about it, there’s no right in law, but morally, when large developers do this, it really, really disappoints me.

“We’ve got generations coming up behind us whose hope of buying their own home is just disappearing over the horizon.

“I think its incumbent, morally for these large, capitalist organisations that are going to make lots and lots of money out of this, to make sure people get a fair crack of the whip.”

Countryside did submit viability assessment to the council, which was reviewed by the authority’s retained viability consultants Keppie Massey.

Keppie Massey have advised that the viability assessment demonstrates that the development is not “sufficiently viable” to support affordable housing.

Jan Lourens, senior planning manager for Countryside, said: “Although we’re going to have larger properties, there’s going to be 12 less of them.

“Therefore, as defined by the council’s own advisors, the scheme does not have sufficient viability to provide affordable housing.

“And we have the previous position of the 129, which didn’t have sufficient headroom to provide affordable housing either.”

Members granted planning permission subject to numerous conditions and through the signing of a new Section 106 Agreement.