Wirral Borough Council is considering a planning application (ref. APP/26/01085) for 136 homes on Green Belt land at the former Carlett Oil & Fuel Storage Depot, Ferry Road, Eastham.

We object to the proposed development of what is a greenbelt site, on the basis of the following points.

Several of the most serious problems with the allocation aren't stated plainly in the applicant's main planning case, they're buried in the small print.

The Green Belt case doesn't hold up

The applicant's own document quotes Wirral's official housing supply figures, well above the level that would justify building on Green Belt land, then switches to a different set of figures, commissioned by a consortium of developers with a financial interest in a shortfall being found, to argue the opposite.

Their own ecology report shows actual buildings and hardstanding cover under 3% of the site. The rest, over 95%, is grassland and scrub that has grown back over nearly 40 years. This is Green Belt land, and should be treated as such.

The Health and Safety Executive's own advice, obtained by the applicant, is to advise against this development.

This is a live safety risk the Council needs to resolve before this goes any further. The old fuel tanks still carry an active Hazardous Substances Consent.

There is a working oil pipeline crosses the site. A safety report buried in the technical appendices, which is not disclosed in the applicant's main planning statement, confirms this and recommends exclusion zones the application doesn't appear to have accounted for.

Traffic impact on Eastham Village hasn't been properly disclosed.

There are two routes out of the site, one through the village, one via Torr Drive to the A41, but the applicant hasn't published the actual Transport Assessment showing how much traffic, including construction HGVs, is expected to go each way. Residents deserve to see that evidence, not just the applicant's summary of it.

The applicant's own biodiversity report admits unauthorised habitat clearance on the site, with the wildlife-loss baseline set after that clearance took place rather than before it.

We are asking Wirral Borough Council to refuse this application, or at minimum not to determine it until these issues, set out in full in our formal objection, are independently resolved.

Every signature helps show councillors this matters to the whole community, not just people living nearest the site.