Southport Visiter

Site puts brownfield areas on the map

- BY OLIVER CLAY oliver.clay@reachplc.com @visiter

Omega Holidays was establishe­d in 1979 and was family owned and managed until becoming part of the JG Travel Group in 2017. The family friendly approach to customer service remains a core part of the Omega offering.

DEVELOPERS and residents can now check an interactiv­e map of brownfield sites around Southport.

Each plot is marked by a dot and features details of whether it is owned by the council or not, the size, minimum suitable number of properties it could fit and whether planning permission is in place.

Some sites features miscellane­ous notes.

The map was created by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which has identified and mapped more than 17,000 brownfield sites around England totalling around 27,700 hectares (68,450 acres) – about the same size as Birmingham – and with enough space for more than 961,000 homes.

It is not entirely comprehens­ive, with some derelict sites not featured, and some of the featured plots may already be being built on.

Among those to welcome the map’s launch was the National Federation Of Builders (NFB), which said it could help to tackle the housing crisis.

It said commentato­rs and decision makers can use it to better understand the challenges, rather than assuming it shows that nearly a million homes can be provided.

Richard Beresford, NFB chief executive, said: “This tool is another example of the private sector rising to the housing challenge.

“It may not give the full brownfield story, but it serves as a reminder that local authoritie­s must do more to enable developmen­t within our existing communitie­s.”

Rico Wojtulewic­z, House Builders Associatio­n senior policy adviser, said: “There are a large number of brownfield sites not included in this tool, as well as sites that are not deliverabl­e.

“Mapping them helps the entire housing supply chain understand how complex land ownership and sites allocation­s really are.”

 ??  ?? The National Housing Federation map of brownfield sites around Southport
The National Housing Federation map of brownfield sites around Southport

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