Haydock Point returns with 1.3m sq ft plan after site leaves Green Belt

Haydock Point has returned to the planning system with a 1.3 million sq ft manufacturing and logistics proposal, several years after a larger version of the St Helens scheme was dismissed on appeal.

Peel Land has submitted an outline application for the employment campus near Junction 23 of the M6, south of Haydock Park Racecourse. The revised proposal is around 500,000 sq ft smaller than the earlier 1.8 million sq ft scheme and includes major highway works, HGV facilities, landscaping and a broader mix of employment uses.

The biggest planning change is not simply the reduced floorspace. The site was in the Green Belt when the earlier scheme was refused, but the adopted St Helens Borough Local Plan removed the relevant land from the Green Belt and safeguarded it for longer-term employment development.

Haydock Point application brings a smaller scheme back

The new Haydock Point outline proposal would create a manufacturing and logistics campus of about 1.3 million sq ft. Peel says the development could support around 1,845 jobs and contribute more than £110 million in gross value added to the local economy.

The illustrative masterplan includes large and smaller employment units, managed HGV parking, driver welfare facilities, an alternative fuel hub and supporting community-facing uses. The project website also refers to leisure, health, childcare and food and drink uses within the wider employment campus.

Because the application is outline, the detailed appearance and layout would not all be fixed at this stage. The current process is about establishing the acceptable development parameters and access arrangements, with reserved matters applications expected later if outline permission is granted.

Peel’s Haydock Point project material sets out the current development concept and the proposed mix of employment and supporting uses.

The site is no longer in the Green Belt

The planning history makes the land’s current status particularly important. Some reporting of the new submission has described the site as Green Belt land, but that is not the current development plan position.

The adopted St Helens Borough Local Plan removed land in this part of Haydock from the Green Belt as part of its strategy for meeting long-term employment land needs. The plan’s examination material records the exceptional circumstances relied on for releasing employment sites around Haydock and creating revised Green Belt boundaries.

The Haydock Point project FAQ is explicit that the current site is not in the Green Belt. That does not erase the history of the earlier appeal, but it substantially changes the policy framework against which the new application must be assessed.

This is an important distinction for practitioners. A site can move out of the Green Belt through the statutory local plan process, after which a later planning application is judged against the adopted allocation or safeguarding policy rather than the former Green Belt designation.

The adopted St Helens Borough Local Plan provides the development plan context.

Earlier 1.8m sq ft scheme failed on appeal

The new proposal follows a much larger application dating back to 2017. That earlier scheme sought about 1.8 million sq ft of predominantly logistics development while the site remained within the Green Belt.

The local authority did not determine the application within the relevant period and the proposal went to appeal. The Secretary of State ultimately dismissed the scheme, accepting that it would cause unacceptable harm including Green Belt and landscape harm.

That history matters, but it does not mean the new application is simply a repeat attempt. The development plan has changed, the proposed floorspace has been reduced and the current masterplan includes more landscaping, HGV facilities and a wider employment mix.

The correct question is therefore not whether the old appeal was dismissed. It is whether the new application is acceptable under the policy framework and evidence that apply now.

Highway works remain central to the project

Haydock Point sits close to Junction 23 of the M6, where congestion and highway capacity have long been central planning issues.

The current proposal includes a new stretch of road intended to redirect traffic away from the existing northern arm of the A49 and through the development towards the A580 East Lancashire Road. Peel presents this as a way to improve the operation of Haydock Island as well as serving the employment site.

That is likely to be a major part of the planning assessment. Strategic employment growth can create substantial HGV and commuter movements, so the council and highway authorities will need to be satisfied that the mitigation works are deliverable and proportionate to the development proposed.

The highway package may also become important to viability and phasing. Infrastructure that benefits a wider area can strengthen a scheme’s public-benefit case, but only if it can actually be funded and delivered at the right stage.

Employment benefits are being put at the centre of the case

Peel says the scheme could create 1,845 jobs and generate more than £110 million in GVA. It has also referred to a social value strategy, local construction spending and opportunities for nearby businesses to expand.

Those claims will need to be assessed alongside the adopted employment strategy and the detailed evidence submitted with the application. Economic benefits can carry significant weight, particularly where a local plan has deliberately safeguarded land for future employment needs.

The application also proposes a mix of manufacturing and logistics rather than a single-use distribution park. That may help explain why the scheme is being presented as an employment campus rather than simply a collection of large sheds.

Planning Geek’s planning application guidance explains the distinction between outline permission and the later reserved matters stage.

Landscape and ecology have not disappeared from the debate

Removal from the Green Belt does not remove every environmental constraint. The current proposal still has to address landscape character, ecology, drainage, air quality, noise and the relationship with surrounding communities.

Peel says the masterplan would provide new ponds, wetlands, grassland and wildlife corridors, more than 600 trees and new recreational routes. Those measures form part of the attempt to respond to the impacts identified around the earlier proposal.

The council will need to judge whether that mitigation is sufficient and whether it can be secured through conditions or planning obligations.

For practitioners, this is another reason not to treat Green Belt release as the end of the planning exercise. Allocation can establish the strategic principle of development while leaving substantial site-specific work to the application stage.

Why Haydock Point is a useful planning case study

Haydock Point shows how dramatically a site’s prospects can change between one application and the next without the underlying land moving anywhere.

The earlier project confronted Green Belt policy directly and failed. The new proposal arrives after a local plan process has reconsidered the strategic need for employment land and altered the Green Belt boundary. It is also smaller and includes a different package of infrastructure and mitigation.

That does not guarantee approval. The application still has to satisfy the development plan as a whole and resolve transport, landscape, environmental and delivery issues. But the starting point is materially different from the one faced by the 2017 scheme.

What happens next

St Helens Borough Council will now validate and assess the outline application, consult statutory bodies and consider representations before reaching a decision. The application reference was not yet prominent in the public search results checked for this report, so readers should use the council’s planning register once the submission is fully indexed.

Place North West reported the submission on 5th October 2026, while the developer’s project website provides the current masterplan and supporting claims.

For Planning Geek readers, the most important point is the changed policy context. This is not simply a previously refused Green Belt scheme coming back with fewer square feet. It is a new application following a local plan decision to take the land out of the Green Belt for future employment needs.