Liverpool city council is hosting a public information roadshow this week on a new 15 year plan that sets out to build 29,000 new homes and protect public parks from being developed on.
A series of pop-in sessions, presentations and debates will run from tomorrow (Tuesday, 18 October) and forms part of a six week consultation exercise on Liverpool’s draft Local Plan which ends on Monday, 31 October.
The city council is seeking feedback on a series of priorities to grow the city’s economy up to 2033, such as identifying and protecting land for jobs and housing.
Liverpool’s population is expected to rise to just short of half a million people by 2033 and the draft plan, which has been in development with numerous agencies since February 2013, has identified 81 detailed policies to manage this growth.
Key to the plan is to focus future development on brownfield land, with brownfield sites and sites already approved for housing earmarked for 29,600 new homes and making sufficient provision for regeneration / job creation across brownfield sites in the city’s key employment areas.
As well protecting parks the Local Plan will also respond to the recommendations in the recently published Mayoral review of Green and Open Spaces. The review recommends the creation of a series of corridors for walking, cycling and the linking of wildlife areas as well as taking forward the Mayor of Liverpool’s citybike scheme which has introduced 140 bike stations since 2014.
The Local Plan ‘drop-in’ sessions will be held on:
• Tuesday 18 October, 10am-1pm – Lee Valley Library, Childwall Valley Road, L25 2RF
• Tuesday 18 October, 3pm-5pm – Garston Sports Hall, Banks Road, Garston, L19 6HG
• Wednesday 19 October, 3pm-6pm – Allerton Library, Allerton Road, L18 6HG
• Thursday 20 October, 2.30pm-4.30pm – Spellow Library, County Road, L4 3QF
• Friday 21 October, 10am-1pm – Croxteth Sports and Wellbeing Centre, Alt Cross, L11 0BS
In addition to the drop-in sessions, there are additional third-party events:
• Tuesday 18 October at 6.30pm – Merseyside Civic Society is holding a presentation and discussion on the Local Plan at the Quaker Meeting House, School Lane, Liverpool. Find out more.
• Wednesday 19 October, 3pm-5pm – Rotunda Organisation will host this meeting for residents and businesses in Kirkdale. 109 Great Mersey Street, Kirkdale, L5 2PL. Please contact Emma Jenson via email
• Monday 24 October, 5.30pm-7pm – Engage Liverpool is hosting this session on 6th floor of Cunard Building, Pier Head. All welcome. Find out more details and how to register, click here.
The key priorities in the draft Local Plan are:
• Protect all of Liverpool’s parks for the future health and wellbeing of citizens
• Prioritise brownfield sites to allow creation of 29,600 homes by 2033 (according to Government figures, city may need a further 9,000)
• Identify and protect brownfield over 100 hectares of land for economic growth/ regeneration / job creation
• Focus shops and services within district and local shopping centres
• Limit the concentration of Hot-Food Take-aways
• Direct new student accommodation development and control an over concentration of houses in multiple occupation (HMO’s)
Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “Liverpool’s Local Plan is a roadmap for the city’s growth. It demonstrates our commitment to building new homes, attracting new jobs and critically, protecting our parks and opening up new ways for future generations to enjoy them.
”Everyone living and working in Liverpool will be affected by this plan and what it sets out to achieve – which is a healthier and more prosperous city – and we want to hear from as many people as possible in this consultation to help us fine tune those aims.”
The Local Plan, which is 300 pages long in content, will replace the existing Unitary Development Plan 2002, is a national Government requirement and will be scrutinised by an Independent Inspector appointed by Government.
Once the consultation is completed a final version of the Local Plan will then be independently assessed from next summer.
Subject to any legal challenges it will then be adopted by the city council in late 2017.
A copy of Liverpool’s draft Local Plan and all associated response forms will be available via: http://liverpool.gov.uk/localplanconsultation
Copies and forms are also available, during normal opening hours, at:
• Municipal Buildings One Stop Shop, Dale Street, Liverpool
• Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EW
• All Community Libraries across the City
All representations must be returned to the city council by 5pm on Monday, 31 October, by one of the following methods:
• Via the City Council’s Local Plan portal (link above)
• e-mail to: Development.Plans@liverpool.gov.uk
• post to: FREEPOST RRUK-HRTT-LATT, Liverpool City Council, Planning and Building Control, Municipal Buildings, Dale Street, Liverpool L2 2DH.
For additional queries, the public can also call the Development Plans Team by telephone on 0151 233 3021.
