Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee update
Wirral Council’s Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee met at Wallasey Town Hall on Monday 27th January 2025.
The full agenda for this committee meeting is available on the council website. The meeting is also webcast and can be viewed online.
Items on the agenda included:-
Public feedback on ambitious plans to improve walking, cycling and wheeling infrastructure in Wirral has helped shape revised proposals were considered by members at the meeting. Among the most significant changes to the draft strategy is the shifting of the priority of some of the proposals to reflect concerns raised by residents. These changes will mean, in some cases, further assessment, gathering of data and community engagement will need to be carried out before proposals can be considered for implementation.
Committee voted 8 to 3 in favour of approving the revised Core Active Travel Network as set out in Appendix 6 of the reports.
With the current contract with Biffa ending in August 2027 – and no scope to extend further – the council has been developing a Full Business Case (FBC) on the preferred model for providing this service in the future. The recommendation of the report was that the council’s waste collection and street cleansing service should continue to be provided by an external specialist.
Having completed the work on the Full Business Case, which included both financial and qualitative assessments of each of the three options, the recommended option in terms of cost and risk was the fully outsourced option. The committee resolves to approve the FBC for outsourcing waste collection and street cleansing services under a new contract, as well as authorising the Director of Neighbourhood Services to begin a competitive tendering exercise for the new contract and report back to the committee after the tender process has concluded.
With the current contract ending in March 2025 – and no scope to extend – committee resolved that a procurement exercise to appoint a contractor to deliver the B2 contract for roadlines, traffic studs and minor works by undertaken, with the Director of Neighbourhood Services authorised to make an appointment following the tendering process.
Committee resolved that a procurement exercise be undertaken to appoint a contractor to deliver the B4 Public Rights of Way and Miscellaneous Works Contract and for the authority be delegated to the director to make an appointment following tendering process.
This report described to members the process will enable the Council to implement a Public Path Creation Order, thereby giving the North Wirral Coast Sea Defence Access Road Public Bridleway status. This would formalise the use of the Access Road by cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. This would provide an important link between Wallasey to Meols on the North coast of Wirral. It would also enhance the routes to and from the foreshore so that horses can be ridden along the beach.
The committee resolved to recommended to authorise the Director of Law and Corporate Services (in consultation with the Director of Neighbourhood Services) to:
- finalise the Regulatory Assessment for revoking the 1935 Byelaws made by Wallasey County Borough Council with regard to the promenades within the said Borough (as amended) (“the 1935 Byelaws”) substantially in accordance with the draft appended as Appendix 4;
- proceed with the formal process of seeking to the revocation of the 1935 Byelaws and for the results to be presented to Full Council (preceded by a report to this Committee) for a final decision to be made; and
- make a Public Path Creation Order to formalise the entire route from the end of Bennets Lane, Meols, to King’s Parade, Wallasey as a Public Bridleway (as described in paragraphs 3.8 of this report) in the event of the revocation of the 1935 Byelaws (as amended) proceeding.
This report described a proposal to deliver a Natural Flood Management (NFM) scheme on Council owned land known as Hoylake Carrs. The scheme is principally designed to provide flood mitigation benefits to the ‘Meols Community at Risk’ as defined by the Environment Agency. Funding objectives also provide additional co-benefits including ecological enhancements and ecosystem service outputs.
Members noted the acceptance by the Director of Finance of £430,000 in funding from the Environment Agency for the Natural Flood Management scheme at Hoylake Carrs and authorised the Director of Neighbourhood Services to negotiate and progress with all necessary legal agreements, permits and permissions to implement the scheme.
The purpose of this report was to provide an update on the budgets within the remit of the Committee in respect of forthcoming pressures and proposed savings that are being considered within the Medium-Term Financial Plan. This item and the appendices to the report were exempt from publication under paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
