Parliament has been dissolved until after the general election and I am no longer an MP.On 8 June, Margaret Greenwood MP spoke at the public inquiry
into seven planning appeals by Leverhulme Estates relating to their proposals to build nearly 800 homes on Wirral’s green
belt.
All seven of Leverhulme Estates’ initial planning
applications were refused by Wirral Council.
The Wirral West MP was joined by other local
politicians, including leader and deputy leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paul
Stuart and Cllr Jean Robinson respectively, as well as planning experts,
representatives from stakeholder groups and members of the public, in speaking
out against the proposals.
Proceedings were delayed as hundreds of Wirral West residents
packed in to Wallasey Town Hall, with some having to be accommodated in an
overspill room.
Days earlier, Margaret Greenwood MP and Cllr Paul
Stuart wrote to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing
and Communities, to ask him to step in and ‘recover’ the planning appeals for
determination by himself.
The public inquiry into the appeals is scheduled to
last until 4 July. Sessions, including the one from last night, can be viewed
here:
https://wirral.public-i.tv/core/portal/home
You can read Margaret Greenwood MP’s statement in full
below.
***
Dear Inspector
McDonald,
Planning
Inspectorate appeal references:
APP/W4325/W/22/3313729 – Land east of
Glenwood Drive, Irby, Wirral, CH61 3XA
APP/W4325/W/22/3313734 – Land east of Dale
View Close, north of Gills Lane, Pensby, Wirral, CH61 1AD
APP/W4325/W/22/3313737 – Land east of
Thorncroft Drive, north of Gills Lane, Pensby, Wirral, CH61 1AQ
APP/W4325/W/22/3313741 – Land west of
Barnston Road, north of Gills Lane, Barnston, Wirral, CH61 1AE
APP/W4325/W/22/3313743 – Land at Milner
Road, Heswall, Wirral, CH60 2SJ
APP/W4325/W/22/3313775 – Land west of Raby
Hall, Raby Hall Road, Raby Mere, Wirral, CH63 0NN
APP/W4325/W/22/3313777 – Land east of Raby
Hall, Raby Hall Road, Raby Mere, Wirral, CH63 0NA
As the Member of
Parliament for Wirral West, I wish to make a statement about the appeals by
Leverhulme Estates against Wirral Council’s decision to refuse the series of planning applications
for housing on green belt land in Wirral that are the subject of this inquiry.
I do
this in support of my constituents, many of whom have made very clear to me
that they are strongly opposed to these plans.
People
have expressed their opposition to Leverhulme Estates’ proposals through the
hundreds of emails that I have received in which constituents have set out
their concerns, the numerous conversations that I have had with local
residents, the very well attended public meetings, and the tens of thousands of
signatories to local petitions to protect the green belt. There has also been
widespread opposition to these plans in the local press and on social media.
I have
spoken out in the House of Commons on several occasions against Leverhulme
Estates’ proposals.
Four
of Leverhulme Estates’ appeals concern applications for development on green
belt land in my constituency of Wirral West. The areas affected are:
- Land West Of Barnston Road, North of Gills Lane
- Land East Of Thorncroft Drive, North Of Gills Lane
- Land East Of Dale View Close, North Of Gills Lane
- Land East Of Glenwood Drive
In
addition, the land at Milner Road impacts my constituents, many of whom live in
the vicinity of the site.
Wirral
West has a semi-rural character, with 62% of the land being green belt. It is a
very beautiful part of the world.
My
constituents value the green belt very highly for the quality of life that it
affords, the benefits to health and well-being that it brings and for the
opportunities that it provides for access to nature. People value it too for
the part that it can play in mitigating the impacts of climate change and
supporting wildlife habitats to flourish.
These
factors are of particular importance given the global climate and ecological
emergency that we face. The UK Parliament declared an environment and climate
emergency in 2019; Wirral Council also declared such an emergency in July of
2019.
My
constituents speak not only of their own desire to protect the green belt, but
also of the responsibility to do so for future generations.
As the
National Planning Policy Framework sets out, ‘The fundamental aim of green belt
policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; the essential
characteristics of green belts are their openness and their permanence.’
Of the
five purposes of the green belt that are set out in the National Planning
Policy Framework, all of the green belt land under threat of development by
Leverhulme Estates’ seven proposals currently serve purpose (c) ‘to assist in
safeguarding the countryside from encroachment’.
It may also be argued that the three sites off
Gills Lane between Pensby and Barnston and the site at Milner Road also serve
purpose (a) ‘to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas’.
It is
clear too that all seven sites to which these appeals apply serve purpose (e)
‘to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and
other urban land’.
Wirral
Council’s draft Local Plan sets out how the borough’s housing needs can be met
on brownfield sites and land in urban areas. It therefore follows that the
development of the seven sites would not only encroach on the countryside that
is so important to local people, but that it would run contrary to Wirral
Council’s regeneration plans for the urban areas of Wirral. The exceptional
circumstances required to justify amending the boundaries of the green belt do
not exist.
The
scale of Leverhulme Estates’ proposals would substantially and permanently
alter the semi-rural character of west Wirral. Once the green belt is gone, it
is gone forever.
I ask the Planning Inspectorate to reject these
appeals.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Greenwood MP