Wirral Globe Labour Advertisement – FACT CHECK
You may have seen the wrap around Labour Advert in this weeks Wirral Globe. It states “Wirral Labour have exposed Tory Plans to build 12,000 houses on the borough’s green belt”.
The “target” of 12,000 homes for the Borough includes houses on both Green Belt AND Brownfield sites – so it is completely misleading to state that there are plans to build 12000 houses on the borough’s green belt.
The Government is NOT demanding that the Council release Green Belt for development. It is demanding that the Council produce a Local Plan (something it has repeatedly failed to do) which sets out what land can be allocated for potential housing over the next 15 years.
The Council insist that there are not enough Brownfield sites available on the Wirral to meet the “Government’s Target” of 12000 homes. There is space for 18,000 houses on Brownfield sites on the Wirral ALREADY with planning permission, including 13000 at Wirral Waters. The so called “target” of 12000 homes comes from the “standard method for assessing local housing need”.
The Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Government, James Brokenshire MP, wrote to Council Leader Phil Davies in January 2019 stating “I must be clear that the standard method for assessing housing need does not produce a housing target. Authorities should make a realistic assessment of the number of homes their communities need as the starting point in the process. Once this has been established, planning to meet that need will require consideration of land availability, relevant constraints (i.e. Green Belt) and whether the need is more appropriately met in neighbouring areas”.
In a recent parliamentary debate Government Housing Minister Kit Malthouse said that the Governments “targets” were NOT “mandatory”. He said “Any (Local Plan) inspector will accept a properly evidenced and assessed variation from that target”. “If, for example, you have constraints like Green Belt then an inspector should accept that”.
Wirral Council are engaging the services of a Barrister specialising in planning matters to progress their Local Plan, at a reported cost of £135,000. It was hoped that the Barrister would be able to produce a “properly evidenced and assessed variation from the target”. Yet the Council are sticking to their original “target” of 12000 homes, apparently on the advice of this very expensive QC, so why is the Council paying all this money for this advice?
Recently Guildford Council produced a Local Plan with a housing target significantly lower than that determined by the “standard methodology” and it was accepted by the Local Plan Inspector. It is totally in the hands of Wirral Council to determine how many houses are required, which land is allocated for housing and whether there is a requirement to release Green Belt.
We would also challenge Councillor Phill Brightmore’s statement that “Labour has a “Brownfield First” policy when it comes to providing homes. How can Labour say they have a “Brownfield First” policy when their policy is to build a luxury housing estate on the Green Belt as part of their “vanity” Hoylake Golf Resort Project? The Golf Resort will also include up to £17million of public money to be spent on new road for the resort which will link the golf resort to Saughall Massie Road and will service all the new housing estates that Labour plans to allow to be built on Green Belt around Greasby and Saughall Massie. Councillors, including Councillor Brightmore have repeatedly voted to progress the Hoylake Golf Resort despite massive public opposition.
A recent report “leaked” to the Echo has revealed that Wirral’s Labour Cabinet have ACCEPTED 21 sites as their “preferred” sites for building over 6000 houses on the Green Belt in Pensby & Thingwall, Upton, West Kirby, Moreton & Saughall Massie, Heswall, Greasby, Frankby & Irby, Eastham, Clatterbridge and Bebington.
This leaked report makes a complete mockery of Labour’s claims to have a “Brownfield First” policy.