Moss Nook

Overview & Vision

Moss Nook is a large, complex brownfield site located less than 2km from the centre of St. Helens and has remained derelict for several decades. Historically, the site has been used for mining as well as a number of industrial processes. Harworth’s expertise in addressing the legacy of these uses will be key to unlocking the site for development.

Harworth purchased the majority of the site from Banks Group in 2018 after their own development plans had stalled. Assembly of the site was then completed through the acquisition of two further land parcels that enabled a comprehensive approach to delivering the site to be taken.

Alongside up to 900 new homes, the development will include a major spine road through the site that will provide a more safe and direct route to and from the town centre from the south west of St. Helens, addressing local congestion issues. Specific provision for public transport and segregated pedestrian and cycle routes also form part of the proposals. The spine road will have a ‘boulevard’ feel, lined with grass verges and mature trees.

A key feature of all Harworth projects is a focus on place-making. At Moss Nook, sculptural Core-ten entrance features will be located at the main gateways into the site. There will also be a network of public open spaces with high quality landscaping and play areas. In addition, the proposals will provide a new home for Penlake Juniors FC that will see the creation of four new pitches to Sport England standards (including drainage systems), along with modern changing facilities.

It is likely that the scheme with take between eight and ten years to fully complete and will ultimately revitalise a relatively deprived area of St Helens in to an area where people want to live.

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Development Progress

Since completing the acquisition in 2018, Harworth’s team of regeneration specialists has completed ground investigations, created a revised masterplan and delivery strategy, and updated the planning consent for the scheme. This has further enabled the agreement of a detailed remediation strategy with the Environmental agency and other partners including the specialist treatment of large deposits of Galligua – a by-product of Victorian industrial processes – in addition to extensive foundation and drainage solutions.

Remediation of the former mine-workings has also been a major piece of work on-site, which included the capping of 7 former mine shafts and factoring these locations in to the scheme’s design.

Construction of the site’s spine road, landscaping and associated infrastructure started in late 2019, which was made possible with a £2.05m grant funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. These works are expected to complete in the Summer 2021 and will unlock the first phase of around 250 residential plots over 16 acres.

Following these works, the remediation programme will continue to progress across the wider site with future residential phases likely to be ready for development in 2023 and 2025.