People to get say on plan to build at least 14,000 homes
A plan promising to deliver 14,000 new homes on the Wirral is moving forward as people are being asked for their thoughts on changes needed for it to be approved. Wirral Council's draft Local Plan was submitted for government approval in 2022.
The council’s draft Local Plan is currently under scrutiny by the Planning Inspectorate, a government body. The policy will outline developments across the Wirral up until 2040, placing a focus on regeneration with planned developments taking place in urban areas and not developing parts of the green belt.
Following a lengthy inquiry that took place in 2023 during which Wirral Council was challenged by a number of developers including Leverhulme Estate, planning inspectors Tom Bristow and Mike Worden issued their initial findings in March that the plan was "unsound" with a number of changes needed for it to be approved. However no changes were said to be required in a letter about opening up the green belt for development.
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The plan was praised by inspectors for having “a positively prepared and justified approach to setting the Plan’s minimum housing requirement” and based on estimates at the time, the council expected to deliver at least 800 new homes a year with a minimum of 14,400 delivered between 2022 and 2040.
However it was recommended delivery of new housing was gradually increased over the course of the plan with 500 homes delivered every year for the first five years, 840 homes for years six to 10, and 1,000 delivered every year for the remainder of the period covered by the policy. The council also needed to develop a viability policy given some proposed developments are in areas that are “highly challenging.”
Planning inspectors have also said there needs to be a minimum of 1,149 homes built for older people by 2040 and estimates of homes supplied from bringing empty homes into use shouldn’t be included in its figures at all as well as windfall and conversion figures for the next three years.
On affordable housing, inspectors said the plan didn’t address existing need but they acknowledged “the majority of affordable housing in Wirral has, and likely will, come forward by virtue of public sector funding.” Predictions suggest 1,637 affordable homes will be delivered over 16 years or 102 a year, far below the 705 a year inspectors said are needed.
Therefore for the plan to be justified alongside its regeneration aims, the inspectors said policy will need to be changed to encourage more affordable housing above current requirements.
Wirral Council’s Labour leader Cllr Paul Stuart told the ECHO the plan is now moving to the next stage and Wirral Council will be asking people for their thoughts on the changes. This will run from September 25 to November 8.
After this, the Planning Inspectorate will consider all the responses put forward and produce a final report on whether the plan can be approved. Once this is published, the council can look to approve the plan.
He said the new development "underpins Wirral Labour’s ambitious regeneration programme that will enable us to deliver the thousands of new homes we need in a sustainable way whilst enhancing opportunities and prosperity for all residents.
"We mark a significant milestone as we progress into the final stage of adopting the Local Plan for Wirral. This Local Plan is essential to guide what can be built and where across our borough for the next 15 years. It also outlines the necessary infrastructure to support this development.
"Wirral's draft local plan fully supports the new Labour Government's plans to address the UK's housing crisis and Wirral Council's alignment with the Labour Government to pursue a brownfield first housebuilding policy that seeks maximum protection of our greenbelt areas. This Local Plan represents the culmination of many years of rigorous effort.
"Following this final consultation on the changes requested by the planning inspectors, the inspectors will review the public's feedback and issue their final report. This will be the final step before it returns to Wirral Council for adoption. We are fully committed to seeing this process through and ensuring Wirral's positive and sustainable future."
However concerns have been raised in recent months regarding the current government's plans to tackle housing shortages by changing housing targets, reviewing green belt boundaries, and building 1.5m homes across the UK. For the Wirral, this has seen the proposed housing target increase by more than 1,000 homes a year with fears this could lead to large areas of the green belt opened for development.
The increase and the draft changes put forward by the government suggest the council may need to review things in the future. However as the new policy has not yet gone through Parliament, inspectors will have to base their decisions on what laws and guidance is currently in place.
The previous Conservative government removed mandatory housing targets for councils.