What is a Local Plan and what does it mean for Sefton?
The process has begun and will shape the future of the borough.
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
Like me, you’ll likely have had a leaflet through your door explaining that Sefton Council has begun the process of creating it’s next Local Plan (or at least you will do when the post eventually catches up).
As the leaflet explains, this Local Plan will guide how the borough grows and changes over the next two decades. It is a very bureaucratic process which involves a lot of confusing terminology - not least when you realise that ‘safeguarded’ land is that which is going to be built on - but it’s also very important. In today’s newsletter we explain what you need to know about the process and how to get involved.
Today of course falls two years since the dreadful attack on Hart Street but, in line with the wishes of the bereaved and survivors, we will not be giving it great focus. Instead, we will join people across the town in observing a three minutes silence at 3pm. We also encourage anyone who would like to access support to do so here.
Southport briefing
🍽️ The Brewers Fayre restaurant at Ocean Plaza will close on September 10. It is one of more than 100 sites being closed by the chain’s owner Whitbread as it continues with a strategy to replace its restaurants with additional bedrooms and smaller dining facilities for guests rather than the wider public. The Morris Dancers, in Scarisbrick, will also close down as Beefeater sites are also affected by the plan. Dominic Paul, Whitbread’s chief executive, previously: ‘We plan to convert all our remaining branded restaurants to an integrated food and beverage offer that is preferred by our hotel guests and will unlock the addition of more highly profitable extension rooms. Our continued efforts to drive our commercial plan and efficiencies will extend our market-leading position and allow us to take share from our competitors, many of which are struggling to grow.”
🗑️ A Southport restaurant has unexpectedly found itself drawn into the Clacton by-election in which Nigel Farage is standing against 33 candidates including novelty character Count Binface. The Reform UK leader called the by-election after facing scrutiny over his financial affairs which include multi-million pounds gifts from a Thai-based billionaire and he has argued he should be judged by the public rather than dedicated watchdogs. On Monday, Count Binface published a manifesto which included policies such as ‘cutting your taxes and raising everyone else’s’ and capping the price of 99 ice creams at 99p. An surprising local connection appeared in number 17 on the list, which states: “The hand-dryer in the gents’ toilet at the Great Himalayas restaurant, Southport to be moved to a more sensible position.”
🧥 A family Uniform & Coat Swap will be the first in a series of six free community clothes swaps at Southport Market. Organised by the non-profit Hearth Network CIC, the initiative is designed to both provide access to clothing for those struggling financially and to reduce textile waste. According to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, Sefton households throw away more than 11 kilos of clothing per household per year, much of which could be reused rather than sent to landfill or incineration. The uniform and coat swap takes place from 10.30am to 2pm on August 9th, with families invited to bring outgrown school uniforms and coats to swap for others their children need. It is free to attend and open to anyone, whether or not they have items to bring. Rebecca Armstrong, Project Lead at The Hearth Network, said: “This event is about community as much as clothes. It’s a chance for Southport parents to help each other back to school, to keep clothing out of landfill, and to have a warm Sunday morning at the market together — with a coffee, a chat, and a shared purpose. Every uniform donated is one less family worrying about September.” Swish & Stitch is delivered in partnership with Southport Market, Enhance Events, and the Uniform Hub (Compassion Acts) at the Victoria Centre in Southport. Any items not taken on the day will go to the Uniform Hub to support Sefton families year-round. Full details and the full calendar of events are available here.
🧑⚖️ Five men have been jailed for their roles in a plot to steal expensive vehicles from Southport and West Lancashire. Within less than a year, around 40 cars, vans and motorbikes were taken in keyless thefts where relay devices were used to bypass the vehicles’ security systems. The stolen vehicles were then either hidden in remote locations or had their tracking devices removed. They were stolen in Southport, Ormskirk, Skelmersdale, Burscough, Wrightington, Liverpool and between January and November last year and evidence of the gang’s activity was found in the phone of one of the criminals who had been chased while driving a stolen Jaguar. The five men appeared at Preston Crown Court last week (23rd July) for sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal. James Miller, 23, of Langtree, Skelmersdale, who also admitted supplying cannabis and ketamine, was jailed for three years and eight months. James McKeown, 23, of Snowdrop Street, Liverpool, was jailed for three years and eight months. He further pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and handling stolen goods. Ryan McNair, 39, of Willow Hey, Skelmersdale, was jailed for three years and two months. Thomas Fleming, 26, of Moorgate, Ormskirk, was jailed for two years and two months. He also pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis. Jason Miller, 24, of Inglewhite, Skelmersdale, was jailed for 22 months. He also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
What to know as Sefton begins new Local Plan
By Jamie Lopez
Sefton Council has begun the process of creating a new local plan which will shape how the borough develops over the next two decades.
Councils are obliged to adopt a local plan and they are hugely important in the planning permission process and an authority’s ability to block inappropriate developments. If a council is unable to prove it has enough housing planned to meet demand, it has less power to block applications on sites it does not wish to be developed.
Each local plan identifies the number of new homes and other developments needed to meet local needs over the designated period and where development should take place to accommodate growth. It also identifies areas which should not be developed, those which need improving, and the factors which will be taken into account when determining planning applications for development.
The next local plan will cover from 2029 to 2044 and a consultation process has now officially begun with leaflets being delivered to homes across the borough. These state that “the new plan will help make sure development is planned thoughtfully, fairly, and with the long term interests of Sefton’s residents, businesses and visitors at its heart”.
As part of this stage, a series of public events and online consultations will run to allow feedback from residents and businesses. It has also published a scoping report outlining the broad purposes of the local plan and what the authority hopes to learn during the initial consultation phase.
It states: “This report is the first step. It sets out the topics the Plan must address, the issues we already know about, and the questions we want to ask residents, businesses, and stakeholders at this early stage. This will help shape the direction and content of the new Local Plan before we begin drafting policies or identifying sites for development.”
As outlined in the scoping report, the local plan must identify the overall number of new homes required over the plan period, provide a sufficient supply of land for new homes in the right places, and ensure a suitable mix of homes is provided.
While local plans are of great importance in the legal side of the planning process, they are also notoriously difficult to engage with and generate interest in. The inaccessible nature of them is not helped by terminology which can either be inaccessible or downright confusing. As an example, ‘safeguarded’ land is often assumed to mean sites which are protected from development when in fact it refers to those which will be developed - just not yet and only for a designated purpose such as housing or employment space.
