The new targets could see 35,100 new homes built on the Wirral over 20 years unless the new Labour government changes its mind
Wirral Council’s Labour leader said his party “fully supports” government housebuilding plans despite raising concerns over controversial proposals to force the local authority to build 1,755 homes a year. The new target was announced as part of a manifesto pledge to build 1.5m new homes across the country.
Draft proposals put forward by the government have seen housing targets for the borough increase by more than 1,000. Unless this target is reviewed down, it could see Wirral Council’s draft Local Plan, a major development policy, rejected and the local authority has to go back to the drawing board.
A motion has been put forward for debate at an emergency meeting of all councillors on August 19 by Wirral’s Labour leader Cllr Paul Stuart which “notes with concern” the new policy proposals and “the potential implications this could pose to Wirral’s greenbelt areas of the proposed increased house building targets for Wirral.” The motion will need the support of at least one other party to pass as Labour only hold 29 seats out of 66 on the council.
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In its current form, the number of homes projected to be built in the draft Local Plan won’t meet the government’s new proposed housing target. Inside the council, this is raising cross-party concerns about whether this will require areas of the green belt to be open for development in the future.
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The emergency meeting has been called by the local authority’s Conservative group over the issue with a debate to be held on August 19 just weeks after a pledge by councillors to stick to current plans. Several motions have been put forward raising issues with the new policy though Labour said it “fully supports new Labour Government’s plans.”
The Labour motion added: “Council recognises the pressing need for new homes and understands the challenges of the UK’s housing crisis for all local authorities, including Wirral. However, the Council believes that protecting our Greenbelt and its regeneration plans should be a priority, ensuring that any new developments are sustainable and do not harm Wirral’s Greenbelt.”
When the government made its announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government’s reforms would “correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis.” The government said the first port of call for development should be on brownfield land with greater density in towns but “councils will have to review their green belt land if needed to meet their own target.”
There are currently 5,691 people on the waiting list for new housing in Wirral and house building on the Wirral has slowed since the pandemic according to government data. House prices for first-time buyers have increased by a third in the borough since 2019.
The motion by the council’s Labour group says Cllr Stuart will write to Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government Angela Rayner and the Minister of State for Housing, Planning, and Building Safety Matthew Pennycook “explaining that Wirral Council remains steadfast in its commitment to the unanimous cross-party support for its emerging brownfield-only local plan.” This will argue the Local Plan “encompasses the Government’s national house-building ambitions.”
When asked for clarification about what concerns his party had locally, Cllr Stuart, leader of Wirral Labour said: “Wirral Labour fully supports the new Labour Government’s plans to address the UK’s housing crisis. This motion puts on record Wirral Council’s alignment with the Labour Government to pursue a brownfield first housebuilding policy that seeks maximum protection of our greenbelt areas.”
Other motions have been put forward by the three other political parties represented in the local authority. The Conservatives who called the meeting said they were “extremely concerned” about the new targets arguing this would require Wirral to build 35,100 homes over 20 years, 14,560 more than agreed by the council in 2022.
They said: “Such levels of development cannot be delivered on brownfield land alone and [are] concerned that substantial areas of the Borough’s Green Belt would be required to be released for development if such a massive target were to be delivered.”
The Greens said the numbers posed “a fundamental threat to Wirral’s green belt and the special character of many communities across Wirral” and pointed to calls by the Local Government Association for changes to be “suitable flexible to allow authorities to make judgement decisions on managing competing demands for uses in their local areas.”
Liberal Democrat Cllr Stuart Kelly, who chairs the local authority’s planning committee, is also calling for “a well-researched and authoritative response” to the government’s plans and recognise “the trailblazing significance of the brownfield proposals set out in the draft submission of the Local Plan.” He argued the inquiry held over the plan found “there was no need to make inroads into the green belt, urban green spaces, and agricultural land.”
Wirral’s draft Local Plan has been in development for years and was submitted for government inspection in 2022 followed by lengthy hearings in 2023. After this, several changes were recommended but inspectors said there was no requirement for green belt release at that time.
If the council does have to review green belt boundaries in the future due to new housebuilding targets, this could see several developers come forward to build new homes at different sites across the borough. These could include an old oil depot currently located in the green belt, a former tea factory previously in operation, and farmland close to towns in West Wirral that was previously considered for development.