The Property
Land at Travers Farm, Travers Entry, Bold, St Helens WA9 4TF
circa 68 acres / 27.5 hectares
Location
The property is located on the fringes of St Helens in the suburb of Bold. St Helens town centre is located approximately 3 miles to the north west, whilst junctions 7 and 8 of the M62 are 4.5 miles and 3.3 miles away respectively.
St Helens Town Centre has a variety of retail and leisure facilities, a wider range of commercial facilities can be found in the cities of Liverpool and Manchester which are located 18.5 and 23 miles respectively from the site.
The property is located approximately 0.7 miles from St Helens Junction railway station which serves the main Liverpool to Manchester line, with access to the West Coast Mainline and national destinations beyond.
Location plan (click to enlarge)
Description
The property is currently used for arable farming and sits to the south of Travers Entry, which comprise the most northerly section of the Bold Forest Garden Village proposal, a wider allocation for between 2,500–3,200 dwellings.
The property is bounded to the north by Travers Entry and by Neills Road to the east. A former equestrian centre is situated to the south of the land, and the western boundary is flanked by agricultural land in the ownership of St Helens Council, both the ownerships form part of the proposed Bold Forest Garden Village.
The site has the benefit of the two potential principal points of access from Travers Entry and Neill’s Road.
High voltage overhead power lines cross the northern part of the land, in an east to west direction.
Illustrative site layout (click to enlarge)
Services
A commentary in respect of the availability of services is set out in the Technical Note, however interested parties should make their own enquiries as to the availability/capacity of services.
Planning
The property is allocated for residential development in the St Helens Local Plan, the wider Bold Forest Garden Village aims to deliver between 2,500 to 3,200 new homes, comprising 30% affordable housing alongside community infrastructure including a new primary school, on site health care provision and strategic open space.
The Bold Forest Garden Village Framework which has been prepared for St Helens Council is currently the subject of a public consultation exercise with a view to becoming an adopted policy document in December 2025. The consultation draft indicates some broad densities for the allocation and the site has the potential to accommodate a total of between 545 to 680 dwellings according to the masterplan.
The landowners have undertaken pre-application engagement with the council based upon a scheme that shows 662 units, the pre-application response from St Helens MBC will be made available once it has been received.
Bold Forest Garden Village Masterplan (click to enlarge)
Highways and Drainage
The draft masterplan shows how the wider allocation might be delivered, the property benefits from two principal points of access off Travers Entry and Neills Road, which would allow the land to be developed in two separate phases as per Lot 1 and Lot 2.
The main spine road for the Garden Village allocation is situated to the west of the property and links Travers Entry with the remaining ownerships in the allocation through land in the ownership of St Helens Council.
The masterplan envisages that the northern part of the property will accommodate swales to deliver the wider surface water drainage strategy, further details are available in the detailed Technical Note which is available in the data room.
The lots (click to enlarge)
Tenure
The property is held freehold but is subject to an agricultural tenancy agreement. The sellers will undertake to provide vacant possession upon legal completion.
Method of Sale
The land is offered for sale by private treaty, available as two separate lots or as a whole.
Offers may be made on a wholly unconditional basis, subject to contract only or alternatively subject to a future planning approval. In the case of the latter, prospective purchasers should provide a copy of their development proposals in order that their suitability can be assessed.
The closing date for offers is 12 noon on Wednesday 4th March 2026. Offers submitted via email are acceptable.
VAT
The seller has not elected to waive the VAT exemption and therefore VAT will not be payable by the purchaser.