Liverpool North: Angela Rayner hints at timeline for new town across Everton, Anfield, Kirkdale and Bootle

The LDRS exclusively revealed in December how Liverpool Council had bid for New Town status to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to expand the northern fringe of the city into Sefton.

The new development – which would be known as Liverpool North – could span 5km from just north of Liverpool city centre, across Everton, Anfield and Kirkdale and into Bootle. The proposal could lead to the development of a number of brownfield sites and encompass key locations along the route including the Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and the £20m Bootle New Strand development project.

The city council has worked in collaboration with Sefton Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Homes England, and key landowners in the area to set out a 10-year vision for the area. Speaking on a visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium after addressing the Local Government Association (LGA) conference at ACC Liverpool, Ms Rayner said a task force assessing new town bids is due to report back to her later this summer.

She said: “I mean, it’s incredible what the Liverpool leadership have come together to do, whether it’s the investment here, the thousands of new homes that are going to be built, the transport, the infrastructure, but also the aspiration. They are very strong that they want to deliver a new town here.”

There are hopes around 10,000 new homes could be built as part of the proposals, with a specialist task force set up to identify appropriate locations and learning the lessons from previous efforts to build new towns. The Deputy Prime Minister told the LDRS how the work of the body would give communities certainty when it reports back.

She said: “We’ve got some Sir Michael Lyons working with his task force, which will come to me very soon. We’ve had a lot of people wanting to get involved in the new towns and that just shows you the sense of appetite and the new government has to respond to that.

“The previous government, it felt like a managed decline. People have now got on board and said ‘actually Ange, this is great, we do need to do this, build these towns and communities’ and they want to be part of that.

“Hopefully, when Michael brings forward his plans later on in the year, then we’ll be able to give people certainty around that. I’m working with local authorities, 2,350 units just here and the £56m investment just from my department will deliver homes and the community that people want around this stadium, which is fantastic regeneration.”

Speaking at an LGA panel on Wednesday, Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council, set out his determination to see the project through. He said: “I know locally this is already really popular, there’s huge demand for it.

“One way or another this is going to happen.”