TWO important planning applications decisions were made earlier this month in very different areas of the borough.

One was in Farr Hall Drive in leafy Heswall, the other in Brighton Street, Seacombe, a stone's throw from the town hall.

The decisions to approve have upset local residents and councillors - but they also had far wider implications for all of us.

Here, Tory group leader Cllr Ian Lewis explains his increasing concerns for the future of planning and development across the peninsula...

MANY readers will be aware of the risks to Wirral’s precious Green Belt, as the consequence of not having a legally-required "Local Plan" for the last 15 years.

Wirral is one of just have a handful of councils that failed to follow the law. This failure was described as "lamentable" by the Ministry of Housing.

But as we saw at the October meeting of the planning committee, the powers that a Local Plan provide are not just about protecting the Green Belt.

A half-decent Local Plan would also have enabled some developments to be avoided altogether.

Unusually for a meeting of the planning committee, there were just two applications before councillors – both were miles apart in both location - Seacombe and Heswall - and in what was proposed.

On Brighton Street, on the town hall’s doorstep, an application was made to turn a former shop and flat above into a 12-bed "house in multiple occupation" or HMO as they are known.

Anyone who knows this part of Wirral will be hard pressed to find reasons how an HMO could enhance the area.

One of the local Labour councillors pleaded with the committee not to approve it, describing such developments as "slums of the future."

Instead, while some of us agreed with the concerns and voted against the application, the lack of a suitable Local Plan meant that the majority of the committee felt they had no choice but to approve it.

The second application at that meeting was to build a very large, five-bedroom house in Farr Hall Drive in Heswall, on a "plot" of almost 2,000 square meters.

The problem for many of the 120 or so neighbours and residents who objected was that the new building would be much bigger than the current house on the site and would adversely affect the character of the area.

One of the local Conservative councillors, like his Labour counterpart earlier in the meeting, outlined valid and sensible reasons in the opinion of some of us, why the application should be refused.

Many of the objectors and neighbours also attended the committee meeting and, like the application in Seacombe, saw how a majority of the committee approved the application citing concerns about potentially losing an appeal if it was refused.

Again, a suitably robust Local Plan could have avoided this – making it clear in black and white to developers, property investors and speculators what would, and would not, be acceptable to Wirral.

This is not just my opinion...

A review commissioned by the new council chief executive and conducted by the Local Government Association concluded Wirral needs to "ensure that place shaping and making is supported - not frustrated - by silo working and that vitally important partnership working is more coherent and better supported."

And crucially warning that "without this deeper and on-going commitment, existing and future generations of residents of Wirral will not enjoy the quality of life improvements required and corporate pledges and commitments will not be met." 

So as well as the need for a Local Plan, the review states Wirral must acquire the right urban design and conservation skills and at the same time modernise the planning function in order to support it.

Until we do, residents from Seacombe to Heswall and everywhere in between will be left frustrated, disappointed and angry at what is being to done to their communities in the name of "development."