KNOWSLEY Council has secured £12 million for a 'garden village' development that could deliver 1,600 new homes.

Halsnead Garden Village, located near Whiston in Knowsley, is one of only 14 sites in England which have been awarded Garden Village status by the Government.

Garden villages are based on garden towns and cities – developments of at least 10,000 homes – but smaller in scale.

Halsnead Garden Village could create around 1,000 jobs.

Halsnead is the largest combined housing and employment site in the city region, with the potential to deliver approximately 1,600 homes and 22.5 hectares of employment land.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said the project will deliver a range of high-quality housing for Knowsley and the rest of the city region. 

The combined authority said employment element of Halsnead Garden Village will attract multi-million-pound investment in the logistics and advanced manufacturing sectors, creating highly-skilled and well-paid jobs.

This funding will enable the delivery of major transport infrastructure improvements.

This will include Tarbock Island at junction six of the M62 and a further six junction improvements to build adequate capacity and resilience in the surrounding highways network and improve access to the Halsnead Garden Village site and to the wider Liverpool City Region.

The combined authority has agreed to release £12 million to deliver the project.

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “We were very keen to support this application for what is one of our city region’s most significant development sites. 

"By providing this funding we will remove the transport constraints that have stopped the site being developed, enabling the creation of much needed homes and a significant number of jobs, which are expected to boost the local economy to the tune of more than £40 million per year.”

Cllr Graham Morgan, Leader of Knowsley Council, said: “We are delighted that the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has confirmed this funding towards the Halsnead Garden Village development.

“This is a highly ambitious project for Knowsley and a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a new unique settlement, hundreds of new jobs and make a major contribution towards the region’s economy.

“The council has been working closely with private developers who are really keen to progress their plans and the delivery of these off-site transport and infrastructure improvements will ensure the development of the site is able to progress.”

The specific highways improvements involve:

  • Fox’s Bank Lane/Cronton Road – signalisation works and road widening;
  • Lickers Lane/Fox’s Bank Lane – signalisation works, footway improvements and vegetation removal;
  • Stoney Lane/Cumber Lane – signalisation works;
  • Stoney Lane/Dragon Lane – carriageway widening and creation of a new right turn;
  • Windy Arbor Road/Greene’s Road – reconfiguration of existing signalised junction;
  • Lickers Lane/Windy Arbor Road – carriageway widening and signalisation;
  • Tarbock Island – carriageway and bridge widening on Windy Arbor Road, quadrant widening to the gyratory and additional lane provision on the M57 approach and signalisation of existing arms.