Leafy Cambridge lures new residents

According to government predictions, Cambridgeshire will see numbers rise by nearly a quarter by 2021. But Merseyside is expected to lose a tenth of its population, with major falls in the districts of St Helens, Knowsley and Wirral.

The report by the Office for National Statistics said: "The trend is for movement to shire or non-metropolitan counties and unitary authorities which are located in former shire counties."

Numbers of those living in Liverpool, it says, will fall by 8.5%, Newcastle by 0.5% and Manchester by 3.6%.

Liverpool's population has almost halved since 1937 from 867,000 to around 470,000 this year. But its council says the population has stabilised with efforts to make the centre more attractive.

"More people are coming to live in new developments in the city centre," said Flo CLucas, deputy leader of Liverpool city council.

In Yorkshire, Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield are also likely to see their populations decline.

But it seems it is not all grim up north. Warrington can expect a rise in residents of 10%. And Cheshire could see a rise of 6.5% as people leave the urban jungle for a more rural lifestyle.

While Manchester's population will fall by 2.6%, Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield will rise by 2021. Overall, the number living in the north is expected to stand still.

Booming south

Cambridgeshire will see the biggest influx of people, lured by hi-tech industries, leafy towns, low crime rates and promixity to London.

The capital itself is predicted to see a rise of 9% in 2021.

The counties of Dorset and Oxfordshire are also likely to grow by around 10%, according to the ONS. South coast holiday resorts will also see a population growth over the next 25 years with a rise in Poole of 22.5%, Bournemouth 19.4% and Brighton and Hove 18.2%.

The new town of Milton Keynes could see a dramatic increase in residents of 29%.

The predictions, based on birth and death rates and trends in migration between regions, said the population of England will grow from 49.1 million in 1996 to 52.5 million in 2021.

Threat to green belt

The forecast will put further pressure on environmentalists who are campaigning against Whitehall's attempts to build 4.5 million houses and flats over the next 20 years - up to half of them on green-belt land.

Following government predictions of a drastic housing shortage in the near future, planners want to see 22,400 new homes in County Durham, where the population is expected to fall by more than 2%.

They want 69,000 homes in Nottinghamshire - where population is set to grow by well under 1% - and nearly 52,000 in Staffordshire, predicted for a rise of 1.1%.

The Department of the Environment said new accommodation will be needed to cater for a rise in the number of young people setting up home, increases in the divorce rate, the number of people choosing to remain single, and the fact that many people are living longer.

Organisations like Friends of the Earth and The Council for the Protection of Rural England fear building on greenfield will put unbearable pressure on the countryside.