Borough moves forward with Local Plan
Wirral is set to move even closer to seeing its brownfield only Local Plan ready for approval by councillors.
A final consultation will get underway from Wednesday September 25 on the remaining changes required by inspectors to ensure the Plan meets the needs of the borough and complies with planning regulations.
Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paul Stuart, said:
This Local Plan represents years of hard work, detailed analyses as well as extensive and thorough consultation with Wirral’s public on our available options.
We have carefully listened to everyone invested in our borough's future, utilising the valuable feedback, and balancing the many views in developing our draft Local Plan.
Once adopted, the Local Plan will help protect our precious greenbelt and will put us in a much stronger position to deliver the massive regeneration of those areas in Wirral which are in desperate need of investment. It is crucial for our communities that we make the best use of all our brownfield land and bring it back into beneficial use to provide much needed modern homes and skilled jobs.
The Inspectors appointed to examine the Local Plan had written to the council in March 2024 stating that the Plan was capable of being made sound with Main Modifications.
This was a major step forward and since then the council has been working extensively with the Inspectors to agree the required updates. The Inspectors have now confirmed that the council can commence the consultation on the modifications. This process will start on 25th September and run until 8th November.
The consultation is on those changes proposed and agreed by the council.
Many of the changes that form part of this consultation were already proposed and discussed during the hearings into the Local Plan in 2023. The other key changes address the points raised by the Inspectors in their letter of March 2024.
The changes do not propose any new sites for development and do not propose the release of any Green Belt land. The consultation seeks comments on the proposed modifications only and does not open up the debate into other matters that have already been fully examined during hearing sessions.
All material for the consultation is published on the Local Plan examination web page. The page also includes FAQs which have been developed to help explain the process.
Letters will be sent to all representors on the Local Plan database. Anyone can make representations on a proposed modification and the FAQs explain how the process works.
Once to consultation is concluded the Inspectors will consider the responses and produce their final report. When this is received then the council can move to adopt the Local Plan.
For more information, visit: https://www.wirral.gov.uk/new-local-plan
