Wrightington Parish Council

Do you own or know of any land in West Lancashire that might be suitable for development in the future? West Lancashire Borough Council is undertaking a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise as it starts work on its new Local Plan for 2023 to 2038.

The Council would like to hear about sites in West Lancashire that could possibly be used for housing, business, employment land, Traveller accommodation, retail, commercial uses, or for people to build their own homes.

You can tell the Council about sites you believe are appropriate for development by filling in the official ‘Call for sites’ form online which will be available at www.westlancs.gov.uk/callforsites from Thursday 13 February 2020.

The Council will consider all sites put forward on official forms by Thursday 26 March 2020 when the consultation ends, and these sites will form the 'pool' of sites from which proposed land allocations will eventually be chosen in the new Local Plan.

Even if you have submitted a site for consideration previously, you will still need to send the Council details of the site – the Council is starting with a 'clean slate' when considering potential development sites for the new Plan and previously submitted sites will not automatically be carried forward for consideration.

Later in 2020, the Council intends to make public the information it receives about suggested sites, as part of the first consultation exercise on the new Local Plan. People will then be able to comment on the sites submitted. This will help the Council as it looks to choose the most appropriate sites for allocation. As such, the more information you can provide on a site, the better able the Council and others will be to reliably consider your site suggestion.

Councillor David Evans, Portfolio Holder for Planning, said: “If there is land that you think should be considered for development please let the Council know by completing the official ‘Call for sites’ form.

“Putting a site forward in this exercise is not a guarantee the Council will subsequently allocate it or support its development in the future. All sites will need to be judged against relevant planning policies and other considerations.”

If you have any queries about the Call for Sites or how to complete the online form, please call 01695 585194.

For more information on this press release, contact the PR unit on 01695 585011.