Homes approved for green belt land despite protests

Residents staged a protest against the plans in November 2024

Plans to demolish a former nightclub and build up to 23 homes on green belt land have been approved, despite hundreds of objections.

Sefton Council has given the go ahead for the development on the Shorrock's Hill nightclub site in Formby, Merseyside, which closed down in 2015.

Five petitions and more than 800 letters of objection were lodged, with Formby Parish Council saying developing the site amounted to a "land-grab" and raising concerns about the lack of an appropriate housing mix.

Planning officers said the benefits from the development "outweigh the harm arising from the loss of existing trees and the absence of a housing mix".

The residents said green spaces next to the site, which was also known as Falcon's Crest in the 1980s, would be "destroyed".

A protest in November last year also questioned the need for more development in Formby generally, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Residents said they were concerned about the environmental impact of the plans

The plot, off St Luke's Church Road, is owned by the Ascot Group.

Plans were submitted to Sefton Council on their behalf by Baldwin Design Consultancy Limited, which said the site "has been designed to complement and respond to the surrounding area, create local identity and a cohesive sense of place".

They said the scheme would provide "an essential contribution to the housing stock in the Sefton area as well as enhancing the local settlement".

The application sought consent for a 100-space public car park with toilet block.

The council report noted that the local authority had received five petitions and more than 800 individual letters objecting to the proposals.

These also raised concerns about the "detrimental impacts on ecology, loss of amenity for existing Formby residents and insufficient infrastructure to support further housing development".

The planning committee approved the application with conditions including a requirement for the developer to start work within the next three years.