Dear Supporters

PLEASE SHARE AND RESPOND TO THE CONSULTATION BY 23RD MARCH

The Council are still insisting that the Local Plan will include an unrealistically high housing need figure of 12000 new homes to be built across the Borough over the next 15 years.

They say they are being forced by the Government to following the "Standard Methodology" for calculating housing need.

This is despite a statement to parliament by the Minister for Housing saying "We are not dictating targets from on high...these 3 steps(in the standard method) will provide a "starting point" (for) an honest appraisal of how many homes an area needs. But it should not be mistaken for a hard and fast target. How to meet demand, where to develop, where not to develop, what to develop and so on, remains a decision for local authorites and local communities."

Furthermore, in a letter to Wirral Council (Jan 2019) the Minister for Housing stated "You refer to figures calculated as being housing targets. I must be clear that the Standard Method for assessing local housing need does not produce a target. Authorites 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 (e.g green belt) and whether the need is more appropriately met in neighbouring areas."

In the Council's Local Plan Consultation Questionnaire (questions 2.1, 2.2, 2.3) they ask if you agree with the Council's calculation of 12000 homes.

You are not required to answer all the questions, if you do not wish or do not have time, but please answer these questions. The Wirral Society / Wirral Green Space Alliance has produced a guide to help you log on to the Council's portal to answer the questionnaire.

https://wirralsociety.net/help-with-wirral-local-plan-consultation/

Or you can simply email your comments to localplan@wirral.gov.uk

(Remember to start your email with the heading "Response to Wirral's Local Plan Consultation Feb 2020" and include your name address and status (i.e resident. Remember, even if you have already commented you can send in as many comments as you wish)

Points to consider when responding to the questions about the 12000 figure / standard methodology.... 

1. There is no evidence to support this figure

2. The Council's own Consultants have produced figures which are significantly lower than 12000

3. The Council commissoned studies from the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester (which they initially refused to publish) which point to significantly lower figures.

4. Wirral Green Space Alliance Experts have repeatedly provided the Council with documentary evidence showing that the Council's figure is too high.

5. Compelling evidence is already in the possession of the Council from these sources (consultants, universities, WGSA experts) which shows that their housing need figure of 12000 is overinflated by a factor of between 2 and 4.

6. The Council's own compendium of statistics (Dec 2019) states that Wirral's population is expected to increase by only 5,300 by 2039.

7. In the recent Queen's Speech the Governments Housing Target (nationally) was cut by a third from 300,000 homes pa to 200,000 homes per annum.

8. Recent ONS (Office for National Statistics) population projections (based on the 2018 figures) have recently been released and show population projections to be lower than the 2016 projections and significantly lower than the 2014 population figures. The 2014 figures are used in the Standard Methodology Calculation and are now shown to be completely outdated. 

9. The Council should challenge the Standard Methodology and put forward a realistic target based on local knowledge and data and official historic, current and future trends.

10. The Council declared a Climate Change Emergency in July 2019

In addition to the above questions on the Standard Methodology please try to answer the questions which refer specifically to Green Belt release.

Answer questions 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15 and 4.16 by stating that you do not agree to any Green Belt release.

Answer question 4.18 by stating you agree to the preferred approach by meeting the demands through urban intensification

Answer question 4.19 by by stating that you do not prefer to see either a dispersed release of land, a single larger urban extension, nor a hybrid of the two options as there should be no release of green belt at all.

If however, you a struggling to respond to the Consultation questionnaire on line, you can simply email your comments to localplan@wirral.gov.uk.

There are template response letters on the Wirral Society website (link above). The Council have now confirmed, to the Wirral Green Space Alliance, that they are happy to accept multiple responses using the same template and they will still be counted as multiple responses (rather than being counted as one response). Therefore, you can just copy and paste the letters (or amend them if you wish) - just add your name, address and status (i.e resident)

It is important that as many people as possible respond to the Local Plan in which ever format suits you, you have until the 23rd March

Thank you for your support