New investment earmarked for Ellesmere Port is welcome news for the next generation of housing delivery
I read with interest in the regional media this week, that Ellesmere Port will potentially receive an investment of £2bn. With easy connections to Liverpool, Chester and Warrington, as well as an increase in commercial development, it’s easy to see why there’s such a spotlight on the town right now. This is great news for the town and its residents, and for the future of housing delivery in the area.
We are working hard in Ellesmere Port to deliver a scheme of 141 new homes on the site of the old Greyhound Stadium. We are one of around seven housebuilders working in the area, to deliver more than 1,100 much needed homes for people who want to work and live in the town. There are also a further 5,500 homes planned for Ellesmere Port by 2030. This made me think about the importance of having the right strategy in place to ensure that we continue to deliver housing in the right locations and meet demand.
The independent review by Amion Consulting, which highlights the potential £2bn investment, outlines the success of the town’s regeneration programme as a key contributor. It appears that existing businesses are thriving, and new, profitable businesses are popping up in the town. With this success and regeneration comes the requirement for more homes.
We have been working towards delivering our Chase Park site since July 2016, when we were granted planning permission to redevelop the site by Cheshire West and Chester Council. Affordable homes remain an important offer in up and coming towns. They allow people who are passionate about their home towns and the places that they work to stay there and afford to live there. We are working with Cheshire West and Chester Council to bring forward the first phase of 45 affordable homes at Chase Park. We are also on site building a further 96 homes for open market sale with shared ownership and affordable rent options, to provide a mix of tenures to meet the high levels of demand that the successful regeneration of the town is creating for homebuyers. The £2bn investment earmarked for Ellesmere Port will only add to this demand as communities continue to grow.
If we are going to continue to deliver successful housing schemes in towns and cities however, planning remains key. We need to understand and try to earmark where regeneration is going to have a positive effect in order to build homes in the right areas. Ellesmere Port sits between the thriving cities of Chester and Liverpool and benefits from excellent transport links, meaning that not only is it a great location for commuters but it is also an industrious town in its own right. With the Northern Powerhouse and HS2 still top of the agenda for councils, towns like Ellesmere Port are becoming increasingly important as regeneration hotspots and as such, remain firmly on our radar, so that we can assist in delivering the next generation of housing.
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