A DEVELOPMENT of 48 affordable homes could be built in a corner of a new garden village project in Whiston.
The properties, proposed by Wavertree-developer Forth Homes, would occupy a 2.5 acre plot on the edge of Halsnead Garden Village – the major development planned for former green belt land.
Although part of the garden village, the site itself is wedged next to the Tarbock Island motorway junction and would be separated from the rest of the development by a small area of woodland and Windy Arbor Road.
The development, described by Forth Homes as “wholly affordable”, includes a block of 12 flats and 36 affordable houses, along with one market-rate house for the site’s previous landowner.
Although a masterplan approved by Knowsley Council requires 25 per cent of the garden village’s 1,600 homes to be affordable, the Forth Homes plans are so far the only part of the development to include affordable housing.
Plans for a much larger part of the garden village on the other side of Windy Arbor Road were approved by the council at the beginning of July but contained no affordable homes.
The development should have included 90 affordable homes, but developer Bloor Homes said this would make the project “economically unviable”.
The junction of Windy Arbor Brow and Windy Arbor Road, where Forth Homes plans to build a "wholly affordable" development as part of Halsnead Garden Village. Picture: Google Streetview
Plans for another part of the garden village, submitted by Stewart Milne Homes, also contained no affordable housing but have since been withdrawn.
Although the site was not earmarked for development in the original garden village masterplan, pre-application advice from the council has said that a residential development would be acceptable.
However, council officers did raise some concerns regarding noise levels from Windy Arbor Road and the M57/M62 slip road that runs along the southern edge of the site.
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A noise assessment submitted with the plans suggested that noise levels would be acceptable if fences were built to act as a barrier to the roar of the traffic from the motorway.
The council expects to make a decision on the plans by October 9.
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