Two years after Leverhulme Estates saw its bid to build almost 800 homes on Wirral green belt land rejected by the High Court the business returns with a plan for 140 new homes on what it claims is now ‘Grey Belt’ land. Tony McDonough reports

God loves a trier, as the saying goes, and Leverhulme Estates may well find favour with the Almighty with its latest bid to build 140 new homes in Wirral.

In early 2023 Leverhulme saw its bid to build almost 800 new homes on Green Belt land in Pensby, Irby, Greasby, Barnston, and Heswall rejected by Wirral Council. A planning inspector and the High Court all sided with the local authority.

And that should have been that. However, in 2024 the Labour Government introduced the concept of the ‘Grey Belt’, land that is technically Green Belt but is deemed to be of poor quality.

It is on that basis Leverhulme has returned with a fresh proposal to build 140 homes on one of the original sites – 20 acres north of Milner Road on the edge of Heswall. This would include 49 affordable homes (no more than 80% of local market rate) as well as a new park and orchard.

It has now submitted a planning application to Wirral Council for the latest scheme, which would total 20 more homes than the original plan.

A submission from planning consultancy Pegasus, acting for Leverhulme, says of the Grey Belt element: “The importance of the change in policy context should not be understated.

“The previous application was determined at a time when the only route to permission on Green Belt land was to demonstrate very special circumstances.”

It added: “The site should be considered Grey Belt… the proposals would utilise grey belt and would not fundamentally undermine the purposes (taken together) of the remaining Green Belt across the area of the plan.”

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This site comprises 8.34 hectares of agricultural land between Milner Road to the south, Whitfield Lane to the south west and Barnston Road to the east. It is bordered to the west, south and east by the urban area of Heswall and by agricultural fields to the north.

Also strengthening Leverhulme’s case is that Wirral Council is under increasing pressure to oversee the building of more homes across the borough to meet growing need and demand.