BXB Cowley Hill Ltd

BXB Cowley Hill Ltd first began promoting plans for the regeneration of Cowley Hill Works in 2019. The team had ambitions to deliver a new neighbourhood including 1,100 homes, retail space and a hotel on land previously occupied by local employer, Pilkingtons UK. The site’s redevelopment will be a catalyst for the comprehensive regeneration of a significant part of the urban area of St Helens, whilst delivering much needed housing in a sustainable location. The GVA generated by the development is expected to reach £75m whilst the estimated capital expenditure is £200m.

Despite an allocation in the emerging St Helens Borough Council Local Plan, the site came with potential community and political challenges due to the size of the development and the scale of remediation required. Our role was to deliver an intelligent communication strategy to build support for the development amongst key stakeholders and the local community.

Lexington assisted BXB Cowley Hill Ltd with website branding and narrative building, followed by a fully integrated digital consultation. Throughout the consultation window, Lexington engaged over 30,000 local people digitally, complementing the public exhibitions held close to the site. The consultation results were overwhelming, with the majority of respondents agreeing with the delivery of new homes in this location. 

The consultation activity was complemented by a programme of political and stakeholder engagement, including relationship building with the local Chamber of Commerce in respect of the opportunities for local people that would arise from the development. Throughout the programme, the public support for the plans and significant benefits were communicated to decision makers. 

The application was approved unanimously by members of St Helens Council’s Planning Committee in March 2021.