Wirral could see at least 13,000 new homes built by 2037 as the council said its plans to revive Birkenhead will "match the successful regeneration of Liverpool.”
Wirral Council's draft Local Plan, approved by all councillors in March 2022, will guide the council’s housing policy over the next 15 years and outlines various regeneration projects in places Birkenhead, Bromborough, and New Brighton.
Council leader Janette Williamson spoke on behalf of the local authority as a major inspection of Wirral Council’s policy to regenerate urban areas on the Wirral gets underway.
READ MORE: Loose Women announce first live tour with a date in Liverpool
It is currently being inspected by the government after it was submitted in October 2022. Inspectors will decide whether to accept the policy as it is, make some changes or reject it completely.
The draft Local Plan’s key commitment is to avoid building on Wirral countryside and prioritise regeneration of poorer areas like Birkenhead, New Brighton, Seacombe, and Bromborough. This includes major developments like Wirral Waters.
The draft version of the policy submitted to the Government said sites earmarked for development could deliver 16,322 homes with a target of at least 13,360 homes over the next 15 years.
Public hearings for the policy began on April 18 and will continue until May 11. They will then be paused until September to allow for appeals by the Leverhulme Estates to take place.
Cllr Williamson said: “The Local Plan has at its heart the transformation of the eastern part of the Borough. The Plan makes the best use of the extraordinary opportunity presented by the vast amount of brownfield land, while protecting the green belt. We see the Local Plan as doing the right things for the right reasons.”
She added: “With the Birkenhead 2040 Regeneration Framework, we believe we have the biggest opportunity in the country to utilise brownfield land to create a new town within an old town in Birkenhead.
“Over the life of this Local Plan and beyond, this Framework will help create a new vibrant, attractive, green and sustainable low carbon town. It will match the successful regeneration of Liverpool city centre.”
Cllr Williamson said the plan would focus on providing homes for families and “contains proposals that will involve the biggest changes to Birkenhead since the Second World War.”
The local plan is opposed by the Leverhulme Estates as well as a number of other developers who argue that greenbelt land should be built on to meet Wirral’s housing needs. Wirral Council however argues developable land on brownfield sites will provide enough houses.
Leverhulme Estates in particular want to build more than 1,000 homes and argue their plans would help deliver affordable housing on the Wirral. Christopher Boyle KC, representing Leverhulme, said its nine planning applications were just phase one of their plans with phase two proposing around 3,500 homes.
The Local Plan was criticised by developers at the hearing who argued the policy focused too much on the eastern side of the borough and would “starve” places like Heswall and West Kirby of new housing. They also said figures in the Local Plan showed Wirral wouldn’t meet its affordable housing need.
Mr Boyle said Leverhulme was not against regeneration projects in Birkenhead and Bromborough but “it is the scale and concentration and all the problems which that causes, and the drying up of supply to the rest of the borough.”
At one point, Mr Boyle argued that Wirral Council hadn’t properly engaged with the "sub region” to the south and west of the borough. When asked for clarity on what he meant by this by inspectors, Mr Boyle said he didn’t have a list but it included Cheshire West and Cheshire Council.
Wirral Council in response said it had consulted with nearby councils including Cheshire and had published information on this publicly.
READ NEXT:
Gang behind secret £1million amphetamine lab used Costco car park for dodgy dealings
Drug dealer's luxury life of Louis Vuitton bags and holidays exposed by 'pure chance'
Dad punched after his Aintree stag do now fighting for life in coma
Gang behind secret £1million amphetamine lab used Costco car park for dodgy dealings
