ST. MODWEN RELEASES LATEST PHASE OF £100 MILLION URBAN VILLAGE

St. Modwen has completed the latest phase of infrastructure work at its £100 million urban village development in Newton-le-Willows.

The UK’s leading regeneration specialist has delivered 40 acres of new ‘oven ready’ plots at the 50-acre former Vulcan Works industrial site in St. Helens. The site has planning consent for 650 homes, a local centre and community leisure facilities.

St. Modwen also revealed that Jones Homes, part of the Emerson Group, has exercised an option to acquire a further five acre land parcel at the site. The house builder acquired 5.4 acres from St. Modwen in 2010 on which it is building Newlands Grange, which features two, three and four-bedroom homes. The decision to take more land follows strong interest in the show homes at the site.

St. Modwen is advancing plans to transform the former locomotive works into a new residential community with facilities including a heritage trail, a fishing lake and children’s play areas.

Michael Hosie, development manager at St. Modwen, said: “Our vision is to transform a site that has seen nearly 170 years of industrial use into one of the North West’s major new residential communities. Since acquiring Vulcan Works we’ve invested more than £6 million in infrastructure improvements and are delighted to bring forward the latest phase.

“Jones Homes’ decision to acquire more land at the site is a vote of confidence in a scheme that will bring about transformational change while retaining the heritage of the area.”

Rob Gray, land Manager at Jones Homes, said: “Since we opening our show home at the site in April, we’ve received strong interest in Newlands Grange and feedback from potential buyers has been excellent. In-line with the company’s on-going acquisition programme in the North West, we have taken an option to acquire more land from St. Modwen and are delighted to be playing a part in this exciting new vision for the area.”

The site is owned by KPI, which is a joint venture company between St Modwen Properties PLC and Salhia Real Estate Co.