MORE than 3,500 new homes may have to be built on Green Belt and green spaces to cope with demand from Merseyside families.

Sefton Council believes green land will have to be built on to address the borough’s pressing housing needs.

Not doing so would risk the future viability and vitality of the area, council chiefs warned.

The Daily Post can today reveal some of the potential sites being investigated by planning bosses.

More than 8,500 new houses must be built across Sefton in the next 16 years, experts believe, if the borough is to meet growing demands and avert a devastating property shortage.

But, as only 4,850 properties can be built within existing settlements, previously sacrosanct Green Belt and green spaces – such as disused schools and playing fields – may be released to develop the 3,670 shortfall.

It includes a swathe of protected land near Waterloo Rugby Club, where 518 homes could be built, and land north of Holy Family Catholic High, in Thornton (room for 235).

An extension to Hightown is also being looked at despite mass local opposition.

While admitting developing the Green Belt would be seen as controversial by many, council planning director Andy Wallis said the alternative – to restrict home-building to already identified urban areas – would force people to leave the borough at an “alarming rate”.

He said: “We’ve only got enough housing within the urban area to meet half of our needs over the planning period.

“The question is where the remaining amount can be found – and we are going to have to look to build in places which have hitherto been safeguarded.

“We understand how important green spaces are to urban character and urban amenity, and how much-loved some areas are. We’ve approached this with a degree of trepidation, but we felt we had no option but to identify where there may be scope to develop.”