AN INSOLVENT company based in Guernsey has applied for permission to build 227 houses and a four-storey care home as part of Whiston's new garden village development.

Clean Sweep Holdings Ltd, which entered administration in March, has submitted a planning application to Knowsley Council for two areas of the proposed Halsnead Garden Village, near Whiston.

The application covers the site of a former garden centre in Windy Arbor Road and a large area of fields off Lickers Lane.

The larger of the two sites has already been the subject of a planning application from Stewart Milne Homes, which wanted to build 225 houses on the site but withdrew its application on July 8 after planning officers recommended rejecting it.

The sudden withdrawal of Stewart Milne Homes’ proposal, only a day before it was due to be discussed by Knowsley’s planning committee, provoked anger among councillors. 

Council leader Graham Morgan described the move as “completely unacceptable”, adding: “There is a clear message here – we will not be rolled over by any developer coming here into Knowsley and they have got to work with us and they have got to listen to us.”

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But the new application shows that by the time Stewart Milne Homes withdrew its proposal, the council had been in negotiations with Clean Sweep, the landowners, about its plans for two months.

A “statement of engagement” shows Clean Sweep had an initial meeting with the council on May 1, with two further meetings in June, and wrote to neighbours about its plans on May 27. The document also shows that the new application has addressed some of the concerns that led planning officers to recommend rejecting Stewart Milne Homes’ plans.

These include concerns about land ownership and road layout that planners feared would make it difficult to integrate the site into the wider garden village.

The new application also includes provision for £2.6 million in contributions from the developers, while Stewart Milne Homes had offered only £956,250 and said the higher figure was not viable.

However, like the initial application, the new proposals do not include any affordable housing despite a requirement that developments in the garden village contain 25 per cent affordable homes. As with other developers, Clean Sweep have said affordable housing would make the development not financially viable.

The application is only for outline permission at this stage, but envisages building a 100-bed care home on the site of the former garden centre in Windy Arbor Road alongside 227 houses across the two sites.

If all goes to plan, construction will begin next year with the first houses being completed in March or April 2022 and the whole development finished by April 2027.

It is not clear how Clean Sweep’s insolvency will impact on the development, although the application could be an attempt by Brighton-based administrators FRP Advisory to maximise the value of the land before selling it on.

The application is also sure to encounter objections from neighbours who have been opposed to the whole garden village development. The project, one of 14 approved by the government in 2017, has proved controversial due to the loss of green belt land and the impact on local services in Whiston.

Knowsley Council is due to make a decision on the application by December 7.