£2m funding for Moss Nook site approved

Harworth Group, a leading regenerator of land and property for development and investment, has secured a £2.05m grant from Liverpool City Region’s Single Infrastructure Fund (SIF) to accelerate development at Moss Nook.

The 95-acre brownfield site, just over a mile to the south of St Helens town centre, has an outline planning consent for 900 new homes.

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The site has a complex varied history over the decades with previous uses including a coal pit, colliery and a concrete pipe works. The funding follows a competitive bidding process and will help unlock the first phase of the Moss Nook project with around 240 residential units over 16 acres through financially contributing to the construction of a new spine road and associated infrastructure.

Harworth has already appointed a contractor for groundworks for Moss Nook’s first phase and intends to appoint a civils contractor to deliver the required spine road by the spring.

It will then market the engineered land for sale to a housebuilder, with the first homes to be built and occupied from next year.

The entirety of the site is likely to take between eight and 10 years to complete in its entirety.

Cushman & Wakefield advised Harworth with its funding application.

Cllr David Baines, leader of St Helens Council, said: “This plot of land, which is located between Sutton, Parr and Bold, has been derelict for a number of years and has previously been plagued by anti-social behaviour.

"It is great to see this funding secured which will help make the site a suitable spot for development in the future and has the potential to unlock new housing and additional facilities in the area. We are committed to putting brownfield sites back into use and funding like this is vital in helping us to make sure that can happen.”

Cllr David Baines

Meanwhile, Steve Rotherham, metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region, added: “We have a very clear policy that we should look at brownfield sites first when building the homes that we need in our city region.

“As land previously used for mining and other industrial processes, and located close to the centre of St Helens, Moss Nook is exactly the type of brownfield site we should be developing and I’m pleased that our £2 million funding will enable this project to come forward.”

Matthew Whiteley, development manager at Harworth Group plc, further added: “Moss Nook is Harworth’s first residential development in the North West following our purchase of the site in 2018 and we’re keen to exercise our technical skill in bringing forward this complex site as we have done on other former industrial land across the North of England and the Midlands. This grant provides the impetus to bring forward the site’s first phase to the market later this year and will finally begin to fulfil the potential of one of the Region’s largest single residential developments following years of stalled development.”