HALTON Council faces ‘difficult decisions’ over housebuilding on Green Belt land, the council leader has told members.

A meeting of Full Council recently met to rubber-stamp amendments to Halton’s Delivery and Allocations Local Plan's (DALP), which outlines the planning strategy for the borough up until 2037.

All planning authorities are required to have a local plan and Halton's has been in development since 2014. It was sent to the Secretary of State for approval following a Full Council meeting in December, 2019.

The document has since received amendments after being looked at by two government planning inspectors, with Halton councillors voting to make the amendments and take the plan forward to the next phase, which involves a six week public consultation.

Addressing members at the meeting which was held at the DCBL Stadium, Halton Council leader Cllr Mike Wharton said that if they did not approve the plan, the borough faced the prospect of having the Secretary of State intervene and produce one which had ‘no local flavour’.

He said: “The implications of not approving the modifications and progressing with te plan would open up to the borough to uncontrolled development as sites would not be protected by an adopted plan.”

A highly controversial issue had centred around building on protected Green Belt land, which is designed to operate as a 'buffer' between urban areas and the countryside.

The original document had intended to remove Green Belt protection around the village of Daresbury, but that has been restored in the new version.

The amended document also removes some of the sites which had been earmarked for housing development. These are:

  • Heath Road South, Runcorn
  • Pavillions Site, Sandy Lane, Runcorn
  • Land south of Beechwood Avenue
  • Former Dray Public House, Murdishaw
  • Land to the west of Chester Road, Daresbury
  • Land adjacent to the Foundary, Widnes

Safeguarded land is land between the Green Belt and urban areas. Several safeguarded sites have also now been removed.

These are:

  • Land to east of Chester Road, Daresbury
  • Land south of Daresbury Lane, Daresbury
  • All Saints Vicarage, Daresbury Lane

Cllr Wharton added that although some housing was being built on brownfield sites - land which has previously been developed - there was not enough to meet housing need.

He said: “While none of us would want to see the loss of Green Belt, we do have a responsibility to address the issues of delivering houses that are needed and addresses the national housing crisis and complies with government guidance.

"Brownfield sites are being developed but this will not address the overall housing need and, therefore, we have to make the difficult decisions of delivering on that need for housing.”