Councillors agreed to adopt the Local Plan on April 20 following a Full Council meeting at Southport Town Hall.

The Local Plan will support the provision of more than 11,000 new homes and over 80 hectares of employment land in the borough and encourage the creation of jobs while protecting the best of Sefton’s natural and built environment.

Stuart Barnes, Sefton Council’s Chief Planning Officer, said: “The adoption of the Local Plan for Sefton is the culmination of many years of work and scrutiny. In essence the Plan looks at the most suitable way in which we can meet the future needs of the borough in the context of complying with national planning policy and legislation – particularly in relation to the identification of land to facilitate housing growth.

“Our Local Plan was endorsed strongly by the Government Inspector and its adoption helps provide some certainty for Sefton’s residents, developers and those who do business in the borough.”

Now the Local Plan is adopted, it will guide the decisions on planning applications, including sites identified for housing development.

Stuart Barnes added: “The adoption of the Local Plan provides an opportunity for Sefton to meet its housing and employment needs. We believe it will help Sefton to grow in a sustainable way and encourage significant investment in the borough bringing much needed jobs.

“We would like to thank everyone who engaged in this lengthy process – our communities, landowners, potential investors, councillors and council officers. There is already strong interest from developers in bringing forward a number of these sites, and we will be communicating with our communities and inviting comments upon the receipt of planning applications over the coming months and years.”