Dear Supporters

URGENT PLEASE TAKE JUST 10 MINUTES OR SO THIS WEEKEND TO RESPOND  – CLOSING DATE THURS 1st OCTOBER – 

Please help – we need you to respond to the Governments latest consultation “Changes to the Current Planning System” – the deadline is Thursday 1st October.

The Changes to the Planning system will affect Wirral’s Local Plan and could affect our Green Belt for years to come.

There are 2 ways to respond to the consultation. Either by responding via the governments website (link below), which asks you a series of technical questions, OR you can respond MUCH QUICKER AND MORE EASILY by emailing your comments directly to:

TechnicalPlanningConsultation@communities.gov.uk

We suggest that you can use some of the following bullet points when making your comments:

Positive comments:

·        Agree with a “Brownfield First Approach” and that the use of Brownfield land should be maximized, therefore lessening the risk to Green Belt and green spaces.

·        Agree that further support should be given to SMEs i.e. small and medium sized builders who can contribute to the sustainable supply of housing on smaller sites which many of the larger builders often ignore

·        Involves the public earlier and wider in Local Plan-making and choosing where development may occur

Negative comments:

·        The existing Planning System needs improvement but these Proposals are ill-thought-out, ignore available best science, data and advice and targets the wrong culprits

·        Replaces the Standard Method for Calculating Housing Need (and the discredited 2014 ONS (Office for National Statistics) Data with an even worse Algorithm which is completely unworkable and distorted by unscientific factors. Lessons should have been learnt from the A-levels Fiasco that such algorithms give results which are opposite to those which are desired.

·        Increases the already arbitrary national total of 300,000 homes by a further 12% which makes no sense following Brexit, Covid 19 and a shrinking Economy.

·        The algorithm will mean that most of the new homes will be concentrated in the suburbs and shires rather than in town centres. This will do nothing for the areas that require investment or “levelling up” such as in the cities and towns of the “Northern Powerhouse”. It will do nothing for the Wirral where the real ‘Housing Need’ is of Regeneration, Replacement and Upgrading of substandard housing and the provision of truly “affordable” housing and “social” housing.

·        Does not address extensive ‘land-banking’ by near-monopoly developer/land owners.  Does not address the over one million approved homes capacity currently unbuilt before releasing more Green Belt and Agricultural land, (vital for Food Security, Health and Wellbeing, Wildlife and Habitat Recovery, and mandated Climate Change mitigation). Wildlife is not considered at all, nor the protection and potential of Heritage assets.

·        Extends ‘Permission in Principle’ from sites of less than 10 houses up to those of 150 houses in one leap, with no intermediate step/review. This, coupled with a low requirement for up-front information from Applicants (not even initial surveys) and insufficient time and opportunity for scrutiny and public
involvement, risks ecological destruction, inappropriate development, project delays and public dismay.

Remember to state that you are a resident of the Wirral and you are responding as an individual to the Consultation on “Changes to the Current Planning System”

The full consultation documents and the online response portal (if you wish to use it  - rather than emailing directly) can be found via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-current-planning-system

Further information and guidance on responding has been produced by the Irby Thingwall and Pensby Amenity Society (ITPAS) which can be found via the following link and then clicking on the pdf symbol:

https://www.itpas.org.uk/our-programs

Whatever form of Response you choose, please also copy in your Local Councillors, Local MPs, and even the Housing Minister and Secretary of State - contact details are:

Local Councillors:  https://www.wirral.gov.uk/councillors-and-committees/councillors      

Local MPs:  angela.eagle.mp@parliament.uk,  alison.mcgovern.mp@parliament.uk,    margaret.greenwood.mp@parliament.uk,    mick.whitley.mp@parliament.uk      

Housing Minister:         Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA                                   Email:  christopher.pincher.mp@parliament.uk

Secretary of State:        Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA                                   Email:  robert.jenrick.mp@parliament.uk

Thank you for your help and support