We hope you have all had a very Happy Christmas
Unfortunately, Leverhulme Estates have chosen (some would say cynically) this time of year, when everyone is busy with other things, to submit “Screening and Scoping Requests” to the Council. The requests are for 140 acres of Green Belt land which they propose to develop into residential housing estates:
Leverhulme Estate has identified around 140 acres of green belt land for residential development in Wirral and has submitted early-stage proposals to Wirral Council in the form of Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinions, identifying the sites and outlining its intentions for each.
1. Land East of Dale View Close, North of Gills lane Pensby – upto 100 houses SCR/21/02385
2. Land East of Thorncroft Drive, North of Gills Lane, Pensby. – upto 15 houses –
SCR/21/02381
3. Land west of Barnston Road, North Of Gills Lane – upto 160 houses
4. Land at Milner Road and Barnston Rd, Heswall – upto 100 houses SCR/21/02377
5. Land East of Glenwood Drive, Irby – upto 310 houses SCR/21/02384
6. Land East of Raby hall, North of Raby Hall Rd, Raby Mere – 85 houses - SCR/21/02383
7. Land West of Raby Hall, North of Raby Hall Rd – 40 houses - SCR/21/02386
Leverhulmes documents also show that they are proposing a large development on the Land east of Rigby Drive in Greasby (reportedly 250 houses) but there appears to be no submission yet.
What is a screening opinion in planning?
A Screening Opinion is issued by the Council and advises whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required to be submitted with a planning application or not. ... A developer can apply to the Council to determine whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required prior to submitting a planning application.
What is a scoping opinion or request?
Developers can write to the Council requesting an opinion on what information should be included within an environmental statement. This is called a scoping opinion (or request). ... a brief description of the proposed development's nature, purpose and possible effects upon the environment. any information or representation from the developer.
It is really important that as many people as possible register their objections to these developments by clicking on the links above. Please also email you Local Councillors and MPs and tell them of your objections.
These are not some speculative submissions by Leverhulmes, they are absolutely focused on making these developments happen, they are throwing a lot of money at it and have lined up the following technical team:
Masterplanning – Alan Baxter Ltd
Planning – Strutt & Parker
Socio-economics – Strutt & Parker
Highways and Transportation – Curtins
Ecology – Environment Bank
Landscape and Visual Impact – Barnes Walker
Arboriculture – Tyler Grange
Heritage – SLR
Noise – SLR
Air quality – SLR
Flood Risk and Drainage – SLR
Ground Conditions – SLR
Agricultural Land Quality – Reading Agricultural Consultants
Leverhulmes’s will have also lined up a very expensive legal team who will argue to the Local Plan Inspector that Green Belt must be released. Ultimately, it is the Local Plan Inspector, not the Council, who will decide if Green belt should be released. The Wirral Green Space Alliance has set up a legal fighting fund so that we can have legal representation at the Local plan inspection to challenge the Developers. Legal fees are expensive so please donate what you can afford, no matter how small or large – every penny raised will help to save our precious Green Belt.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/savewirralsgreenbelt
Please share this information with your friends and neighbours and ask them to donate and submit their objections too.
At this time of a worsening climate crisis it is more important than ever to Save our Green Belt – once its gone its gone forever!
Thank you for your support