{"id":574529,"date":"2025-11-16T17:28:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/574529\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:28:18","slug":"merseyside-village-is-ready-to-fight-for-its-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/574529\/","title":{"rendered":"Merseyside village is ready to fight for its survival"},"content":{"rendered":"

A huge area of farmland is earmarked for development in one part of Merseyside, after plans for 450 new homes is submitted to the local authority\"KeithKeith and Leanne Jones, both in the early 70s(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

The Scotch Piper pub is located within the farthest reaches of the Merseyside border, but also enjoys the honour of being Lancashire\u2019s oldest inn. According to the signage beneath its genuine thatched roof, the site of the pub dates back to the 14th Century, and is within throwing distance of Lydiate Abbey \u2013 derelict but spookily beautiful.<\/p>\n

The pub serves as a focal point for the community of Lydiate Village, who come to socialise with friends and neighbours, all within the cosy environs of exposed wooden beams and traditional stone flooring. The Liverpool ECHO<\/a> has come to The Scotch Piper to meet some residents of the village who are concerned about a proposed new housing development on Lambshear Lane.<\/p>\n

The site is a huge area of farmland and green spaces which the villagers say is synonymous with country life, and forms a significant part of the area\u2019s natural beauty. Hundreds of people have lodged their concerns about the development, which has only ramped up since Mac Mic Group submitted a 450 home planning application to Sefton<\/a> Council in August.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Scotch Piper pub(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

A spokesperson on behalf of Mac Mic Strategic Land told the ECHO<\/a>: \u201cNationally we are facing a housing crisis, Sefton\u2019s housing target alone has increased by 136%. The Government has pledged to build 1.5m homes and is looking to sustainable sites like Lambshear Lane to contribute towards this target.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe potential of the site to help meet a local need was recognised by a government planning inspector and resulted in the site\u2019s removal from the Green Belt and safeguarded for development status.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaigners against the planning proposals say they support new house building, but are concerned that some developments are getting approved without due attention to the infrastructure needed to support the community, highlighting the importance of transport, medical services, and school places.<\/p>\n

Lydiate is considered an idyllic place to live by its residents, a lot of whom have migrated to the village as adults after growing up in parts of Liverpool during the 1950s and 60s. People like Keith and Leanne Jones, both in their early 70s, moved out to Lydiate 38 years ago to raise a family, and to give their children something they didn\u2019t have \u2013 lots of open spaces.<\/p>\n

They are retired now and spend a lot of their time looking after their grandkids, and say they fell in love with the village at first sight. Keith said they were unphased by the lack of transport links or services, because they felt the green spaces and close community all made up for it.<\/p>\n

\"LydiateLydiate Abbey(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

With the prospect of a huge housing development coming to the area, the couple are worried about its impact on village life and the people who live there, Keith said: \u201cWe\u2019re wary when we take our grandkids to St Thomas school because the roads are so busy and backed up already.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no reliable bus services, so everyone drives. At peak times it\u2019s so, so busy now and basically jammed. The thought of adding hundreds of more cars onto those roads is just ridiculous and can\u2019t possibly work.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother development on Poverty Lane will mean potentially another 1,700 cars so it will be chaos. It\u2019s the safety issues that worry us and we\u2019re honestly scared to cross the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helen Jones, 70, was born in Lydiate in 1955 and said it was a dream to grow up in the village and talks fondly about roaming the open fields, and how much the place means to her.<\/p>\n

Helen said Lydiate didn\u2019t have the services on offer in nearby Maghull<\/a> and other areas, she added: \u201cWe don\u2019t have a GP or a dentist or reliable buses. We\u2019ve always been a bit cut off but that was part of the charm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to describe her feelings about the proposed housing development and its impact on Lydiate, Helen said: \u201cI\u2019m worried about it changing the nature of Lydiate from a village to a big town, and not having the infrastructure for it. As other people have mentioned, once those green spaces are gone, they will be gone forever.<\/p>\n

\"HelenHelen Jones, 70, was born in Lydiate in 1955(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople do move here because of that reason, the lovely spaces, and because it\u2019s historically a lovely place, right on the edge of the countryside and provides a good quality of life. The plans will change all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonia Crompton, 58, and her husband Ian Crompton, 61, have lived in Lydiate for the last twenty years, although Sonia also spent parts of her childhood in Lydiate. Ian was raised in Anfield<\/a>, but used to visit Lydiate with his friends when they\u2019d travel out to do some fishing.<\/p>\n

Ian said: \u201cI was only a child when I first came here to fish, but I remember wanting to live here someday. It was just so peaceful and quiet, and all the nature was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, living in Lydiate comes with its own problems, and that was all too apparent when Ian was diagnosed with cancer, he said: \u201cWe struggled to get GP appointments because there\u2019s no GP here, so my GP is over in Maghull.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonia also serves as a Lydiate parish councillor and she\u2019s been raising concerns about possible over-development and the lack of services in the village. Sonia said: \u201cThe land was supposed to be safeguarded until 2030, but there\u2019s such a rush to \u2018build build build\u2019, other considerations are not being thought of.<\/p>\n

\"SoniaSonia Crompton, 58, and her husband Ian Crompton, 61, and have lived in Lydiate for the last twenty years(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no good building houses unless you\u2019re also building communities or strengthening and solidifying existing ones. It doesn\u2019t feel like either is being done here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson on behalf of Mac Mic Strategic Land added: \u201cOur proposals for Lambshear Lane include a local district centre. During our community consultation we asked residents what they would like to see in this space.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we are preparing an outline application there is flexibility for this part of the development, with the potential to provide units that could be used by a local GP or dentist, if there is interest either from the NHS Trust or a local dentist practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will also be making financial contributions towards the improvement of local infrastructure such as the roads and education, with the local authority determining how that money is spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to work collaboratively with local stakeholders to develop proposals for a vibrant, positive addition to the Lydiate community at Lambshear Lane.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sefton Council spokesperson said: \u201cWhile the Government\u2019s new national housing targets and the revised National Planning Policy Framework will mean Councils having to review their Local Plans, any proposals submitted will need to meet any infrastructure requirements linked to the scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A huge area of farmland is earmarked for development in one part of Merseyside, after plans for 450…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,728,4884,6333,179,28278,12460,1263,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-574529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-housing","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-lydiate","15":"tag-sefton-council","16":"tag-transport","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115560561722092705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}