Sustainable future secured at the heart of St Helens
A new project that is hoping to create a more sustainable town centre for St Helens has been submitted for a reserved matters planning consent.
The planning application is set to cover a new Market Hall flanked by a mixed-use areas set around a 120-bedroom hotel, 64 new homes, a 75,000 sq ft office and over 10,000 sq ft of modern retail space, along with high-quality public spaces.
In addition, a separate planning application, which is set to be submitted within the next few weeks, will include plans to replace an outdated bus station with a new multi-model transport interchange. This will be partly funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as part of a major upgrade of sustainable travel facilities.
As well as creating better transport facilities, the plans for St Helen’s will also make the area more environmentally friendly. The project will create high quality landscaped areas in which nature can flourish. Enhanced by trees, plants and wildlife, the overall project masterplan will deliver a biodiversity net gain for St Helens of over 1000%, changing the look and feel of the town centre.
To underline the schemes sustainability credentials, all the new homes outlined in the plans have been designed to reduce energy bills and will meet the energy use intensity performance of a Passivhaus building – a standard used to reduce energy consumption through use of highly efficient insulation, airtight building envelopes, and other measures.
Councillor David Baines, Leader of St Helens Borough Council and Liverpool City Region Portfolio Holder for Net Zero and Air Quality, said: ‘We are ambitious for what can be achieved through this once in a lifetime regeneration scheme, and we should all be excited about what the future holds.
‘We are determined to preserve and celebrate our local heritage in the detail and delivery of the project, but we are also looking to the future, with an attractive, thriving and sustainable town centre for families to enjoy. It’s not just about buildings and public spaces – it’s about the jobs it will create in the delivery phase and years to come, the children it will inspire, and the pride it will give all of us in our home. Ensuring we have a well-connected, modern public transport system is key to this, and that’s why I’m delighted with the ongoing work to deliver a new fit-for-purpose bus station.
Mayor Steve Rotheram has set the Liverpool City Region an ambitious goal of achieving net zero by 2040 – a decade ahead of the UK national target.
He added: ‘St Helens town centre is on an extraordinary journey of growth and, with such ambitious plans on the horizon, I’ve no doubt that we’ll be expecting to see much higher numbers of visitors over the next few years. That’s why it’s vital that we invest in quality, sustainable travel infrastructure to make sure the town can keep up with the increased demand.
‘Once complete, this new interchange will be the first of its kind to be delivered under our franchised bus network – a move which is going to be nothing short of transformational for our area. St Helens will be the first to benefit from franchising and, together with our new publicly owned fleet of hydrogen buses on the busy 10A route and £2 bus fares, we’re setting a new standard for public transport in the town.’
Image: Neil Martin
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