Wirral Council stands firm on its pledge to not build any new homes on green belt land putting it on a potential collision course with the Labour Government. Tony McDonough reports
Green belt land will remain off-limits to housebuilders under Wirral’s new Local Plan despite the new Labour Government’s ‘get building’ approach.
Both Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner are pushing on with reforms to the UK’s planning regime and are putting pressure on local authorities to release some green belt land for development.
Local authorities will be given targets to meet for the provision of new homes as the Government looks to address the country’s chronic housing shortage which has led to sky-high prices.
However, Wirral Council is determined to stick to its pledge, agreed by councillors, to only allow building on brownfield sites across the borough.
This week a final consultation on the authority’s new Local Plan will begin. A local plan acts as a guide for future development for up to 15 or 20 years in advance. Planning applications not compliant with the plan will likely be rejected.
Planning inspectors appointed to examine the Local Plan had written to Wirral Council in March 2024 stating that the plan was capable of being made sound with “main modifications”.
This was a major step forward and since then the council has been working with the inspectors to agree the required updates. The council can now start the consultation on the modifications. This process starts on September 25 and runs until November 8.
These changes do not propose any new sites for development and do not propose the release of any green belt land.
The consultation seeks comments on the proposed modifications only and does not open up the debate into other matters that have already been fully examined during hearing sessions.
Leader of Wirral Council, Paul Stuart, said: “This Local Plan represents years of hard work, detailed analyses as well as extensive and thorough consultation with Wirral’s public on our available options.
“We have carefully listened to everyone invested in our borough’s future, utilising the valuable feedback, and balancing the many views in developing our draft Local Plan.
“Once adopted, the Local Plan will help protect our precious greenbelt and will put us in a much stronger position to deliver the massive regeneration of those areas in Wirral which are in desperate need of investment.
“It is crucial for our communities that we make the best use of all our brownfield land and bring it back into beneficial use to provide much needed modern homes and skilled jobs.”
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Wirral is keen to focus its housebuilding efforts on areas in wider need to regenerate, such as Birkenhead, focusing on docklands and former industrial sites at locations including Wirral Waters and Birkenhead town centre.
Last week proposals for a new urban village adjacent to Birkenhead town centre were given a multi-million pound boost. The Hind Street Urban Village project will ultimately see the development of around 1,500 new homes plus commercial and green spaces over the next 10 to 15 years.
Also known as the Birkenhead Central Gateway, the Hind Street scheme is a key part of the wider regeneration plans being pursued by the council for Birkenhead and the wider east side of Wirral.
In January the High Court upheld a decision by the council to refuse plans put forward by Leverhulme Estates to build 788 new homes on green belt land at multiple sites across Wirral.