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Plans under preparation

Plans and Polices 

Below are some of the documents that are currently in their preparation stages, which are yet to be adopted by St Helens Borough Council.  

The Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) 

  • This is a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) currently being prepared for the Liverpool City Region (LCR). The SDS will be a statutory land-use planning document that will set out a framework for building and development in the LCR looking ahead for at least the next 15 years. 
  • When it is finalised, it will form part of the Development Plan for the city region including St Helens Borough Council along with Local Plans and Neighbourhood Plans. This means it will be a material consideration when assessing and determining planning applications.
  • Please visit the LCR's Spatial Development Strategy page for more information.

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) 

  • The St Helens Borough Local Plan up to 2037 (Local Plan), was adopted in July 2023. Within the Local Plan there is an acknowledgement that a number of existing Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) need to be reviewed and a number of new SPDs that need to be produced.  
  • SPDs are documents which build upon and provide more detailed advice or guidance on policies in an adopted Local Plan. They can be used to provide further guidance for development on specific sites or on particular issues, such as shop fronts and transport, to hot food takeaways and biodiversity. SPDs are capable of being a material consideration in planning decisions but are not part of the Development Plan. 
  • When a formal Statutory Consultation is undertaken on a SPD, further details will be available on the Consultations and latest news page. 

Neighbourhood Plans 

  • These are prepared separately by a parish council, or neighbourhood forum and allow local residents to create a plan with real legal weight that directs development in their local area. 
  • Once 'made' a Neighbourhood Plan will form part of the Development Plan. The Neighbourhood Plan can be a powerful tool to ensure the community gets the right types of development, in the right place, this could include sites for new homes, shops, offices, services, facilities and infrastructure. 
  • More information can be found on the Neighbourhood planning page.

Local Development Scheme 

Under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004), the Council is required to prepare and publish a timetable for the production of the Local Plan. This is known as the Local Development Scheme (LDS). 

The latest  Local Development Scheme (September 2020) (PDF) [265KB]  was prepared in September 2020.