Green Spaces Emergency declared to protect parks and open spaces

Article date: 22 July 2026

As part of the emergency declaration, Council Leader Councillor George Woodward will now write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government calling for a revision of the way it calculates how many new homes should be built in the borough. This follows new targets that have increased St Helens Borough's figures from 486 homes to more than 700 homes a year.

Councillor Jack Benyon, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning, who brought forward a motion to deliver the Green Spaces Emergency, said: "We are fortunate to live in a borough that is filled with green spaces that provide a wealth of benefits for our residents, from offering children safe spaces to play, great locations to provide free walking and cycling routes, and beautiful places that give people a physical and mental boost while enjoying nature and supporting the rich biodiversity of our wildlife and flora at the same time.

"We want to act now to keep these lifelines to so many safe and while we start the process of drawing up a new Local Plan, which will put in place long lasting protections. This Green Spaces Emergency Declaration shows our intent to act straight away. We believe imposing higher housing targets without adequate support for a brownfield-first approach will put our parks, green spaces, farmland and Green Belt at unnecessary risk."

As part of the Green Spaces Emergency the council will now complete four key actions which are:

1. Identify the borough's most valued council-owned parks, playing fields and green spaces and explore securing their permanent protection through Fields in Trust Deeds of Dedication.
2. Make sure the new Local Plan considers whether the policies for protecting parks, playing fields and green spaces should be strengthened.
3. Create a route for residents, community groups and parish councils to nominate the local green spaces they most value, mirroring the opportunity that the Council's Call for Sites already gives developers and landowners to put land forward for development.
4. Strengthen policy so that open space on new residential developments is designed and delivered to adoptable standards with support for ongoing maintenance built into the site.

Updates on actions one and three will be given to future Cabinet Meetings meanwhile the new Local Plan is scheduled for submission to Central Government in autumn 2028, with the aim for approval by summer 2029.