Consultations and latest news
Consultations
Community engagement in planning policy is one of the main ways local people can have their say in how development is managed in their area. The council is also required by law to allow local residents to read and comment on new local planning documents before they can be adopted. Therefore, the council consults on and communicates important information in the preparation of them.
Currently the following documents are available to view and comment on.
Latest News
September 2025
Supplementary Planning Documents Public consultation - Wednesday 17th September 2025 to Wednesday 29th October 2025.
St Helens Borough Council (the council) is currently undertaking a six-week public consultation on four Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). Following the adoption of the St Helens Borough Local Plan up to 2037 (Local Plan), the council has prepared a number of new and updated SPDs. These documents will add further detail to the policies contained in the Local Plan.
The four Supplementary Planning Documents currently being consulted on are:
Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document
The purpose of this SPD is to set out the council's expectations in relation to affordable housing provision on development sites, to ensure that prospective developers are aware of the requirements that need to be met when submitting a planning application for residential development. It provides guidance in relation to the interpretation and implementation of the policies in the Local Plan, in particular, Policy LPC02: Affordable Housing.
Houses in Multiple Occupation Supplementary Planning Document
The purpose of this SPD is to set out the council's approach to better manage the provision of new Houses in Multiple Occupation throughout St Helens. It provides guidance in relation to the interpretation and implementation of policies in the Local Plan, in particular, Policy LPC01: Housing Mix, along with Development Management policies such as Policy LPD01: Ensuring Quality Development and Policy LPD02: Design and Layout of New Housing.
Local Economy and Social Value Supplementary Planning Document
The purpose of this SPD is to set out, to developers and applicants, the council's approach to encouraging economic growth within the Borough alongside the council's aspirations to secure additional outcomes (known as social value) for local residents, communities and businesses e.g., through education, employment, training and other development opportunities such as housing. This involves increasing employment opportunities by helping local businesses to improve, grow and take on more staff, helping businesses to find suitable staff and suppliers, especially local ones, and improving the skills of local people to enable them to take advantage of the resulting employment opportunities.
Locally Listed Heritage Assets Supplementary Planning Document
The purpose of this SPD is to set out the criteria for identifying buildings and structures of special local architectural and historical interest, the process for adding these buildings/structures to a 'local heritage list' and to offer them a level of protection against undesirable alterations and/or irreplaceable loss.
Comments can be made online using the webforms below, or alternatively can be made in writing to the Planning Policy Team, Development Plans, Development & Growth, Place Services, St Helens Borough Council, PO Box 512, St Helens, WA10 9JX or by email to planningpolicy@sthelens.gov.uk no later than 5pm Wednesday 29th October 2025. In making a response, please ensure that you reference what specific SPD your response relates to.
Affordable Housing SPD - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/KGZYO5/
Houses in Multiple Occupation SPD - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/1XBSQG/
Local Economy and Social Value SPD - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SUPZGH/
Locally Listed Heritage Assets SPD - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SSWGM8/
May 2025
Call For Sites
St Helens Borough Council invited interested parties to submit suggestions for new housing development as part of the St Helens 2025 Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) between Friday 4th April & Monday 5th May 2025.
The Council will give due consideration to all sites put forward, but they will be assessed against planning policy and other relevant planning considerations. Submitting details of a particular site does not guarantee that the Council will include the site in the SHLAA and the Council's housing supply. Furthermore, should a site be included in the Council's updated SHLAA its inclusion does NOT mean that the Council will automatically approve future development through a planning application. At this time, the Council are not considering Green Belt sites and are specifically looking for brownfield or greenfield sites within urban areas.
Bold Forest Garden Village Masterplan
Following adoption of the Local Plan in July 2022 land at Bold Forest was allocated for the development of a notional 2988 new homes.
St Helens Borough Council supported by Avison Young - and design team partners, SLR Consulting and Social - launched a community consultation on the emerging Bold Forest Garden Village masterplan proposals which took place between Monday 14th April & Friday 2nd May 2025.
The masterplan aims to bring forward a new sustainable residential community, consisting of approximately 3,000 homes, alongside associated community infrastructure and amenities.
As the largest housing allocation in the Liverpool City Region, transforming this 128-hectare site into a high-quality development will support the boroughs growing population and become a key source of housing supply over the coming years.
Nearby residents and businesses had the opportunity to view the proposed initial masterplan approaches and speak directly with the project team. Further information can be found on a dedicated website: boldforestgv.co.uk
August 2024
The St Helens Locally Listed Heritage Assets - Nomination Consultation has now closed. However, interested parties can still submit nominations by completing the Locally Listed Heritage Asset Nomination form.
What are we looking for?
Any building or structure of some significant historical or architectural interest can potentially be added to the list, particularly if it can be shown that it contributes to the character of an area and is valued by local people.
We would be particularly interested to hear of buildings and structures which are:
- substantially unaltered and retain the majority of their original features
- of local architectural value and include design qualities typical of the local area
- surviving examples of buildings/structures illustrating local architectural history or design and buildings associated with local historic events, strong community or socio-economic development significance (e.g. schools), people, locally or nationally important architects, engineers or designers
- individual buildings or groups of buildings which contribute positively to the local area - for example, key landmark buildings, notable buildings on important routes into the area, which create a vista or contribute to the skyline.
If you require any help in completing the Locally Listed Heritage Asset Nomination form, then please contact a member of the Development Plans team by telephone on 01744 676190, or by email at planningpolicy@sthelens.gov.uk.
April 2024
At the Council Cabinet meeting on 24 April 2024, having taken into account the representations received during earlier consultation drafts, St Helens Borough Council formally adopted the following Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs).
· Design Supplementary Planning Document (PDF, 46 MB)
· Developer Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (PDF, 3 MB)
· Open Space Provision and Enhancements Supplementary Planning Document (PDF, 1 MB)
· Transport and Travel SPD 27.01.2025 (PDF, 14 MB)
The Design SPD will replace the 'Design Guidance' SPD (2007) and the 'New Residential Development' SPD (2010). The Transport and Travel SPD will replace the 'Ensuring a Choice of Travel' SPD (2010), 'Guidance Note for Travel Plans' (2016) and 'Guidance Notes for the Submission of Transport Assessments' (2016). As both the Developer Contributions and Open Space Provision and Enhancement SPDs are new documents, neither will be replacing any existing SPDs.
The SPDs will be used to inform decisions on land use planning in St Helens and are 'material considerations' in the decision making process, supporting the planning policies of the adopted Local Plan.
· Adoption Statement (PDF, 112 KB)
· Consultation Statement (PDF, 1 MB)
· List of Consultees (PDF, 147 KB)
The SPDs came into operation on 24 April 2024. Any person aggrieved by the SPDs may apply to the High Court for permission to apply for judicial review of the decision to adopt the SPDs. Such an application must be made promptly and in any event not later than three months after the date on which the SPD was adopted.
December 2023
Both Rainford Parish Council and Windle Parish Council as the relevant bodies have had their applications to designate their parish areas as Neighbourhood Area's for the purposes of neighbourhood planning approved by St Helens Borough Council. This is the first step in preparing a Neighbourhood Plan, which once 'made' will become part of Development Plan (along with the Local Plan and any other relevant documents).
Rainford Neighbourhood Area
Rainford PC Neighbourhood Area designation application (PDF, 191 KB)(opens new window)
Rainford PC Designation area map (PDF, 803 KB)(opens new window)
Windle Neighbourhood Area
Windle PC Neighbourhood Designation App form (PDF, 106 KB)(opens new window)
Windle PC Neighbourhood Designation Area Map (PDF, 2 MB)(opens new window)
Further information on Neighbourhood Planning is available here.
July 2022
The Local Plan was adopted at the council's Full Council meeting on 12 July 2022.
St Helens Borough Local Plan up to 2037 (PDF, 25 MB)(opens new window)
St Helens Borough Policies Map (PDF, 97 MB)(opens new window)
Share this page
