A Conservative councillor said the Green Party’s zero growth policy is a “road to chaos and famine” at a council planning meeting last night.

When discussing Wirral Council’s emerging Local Plan, a new framework for planning in the borough, Green councillor Steve Hayes said he disagreed with the plan’s reference to “economic growth”.

He wanted the reference dropped, because “we can’t sustain economic growth” due to the impact it has on the climate.

But Cllr Hayes was shouted down by the other parties, most notably Conservative councillor Andrew Gardner.

Cllr Gardner said: “While I see the Green Party’s stance on growth, there are fundamental reasons why we need growth and if we try and aim for no growth, or shrinkage, then that is a road of chaos and famine.”

He admitted chaos and famine were not particular considerations in Wirral’s emerging local plan and appeared to be making a more general point about the Green Party’s zero growth policy.

Cllr Gardner added that there is a provision deeper in Wirral Council’s planning rules to ensure sustainable development and give the council a flexible way to move forward.

Though less strident in their criticism, Labour and the Lib Dems also disagreed with Cllr Hayes.

Labour councillor Steve Foulkes said there are ways of growing the economy which actually help the planet.

He suggested that if more jobs are created in Wirral, people will not have to travel elsewhere for work, saving fuel and the emissions that come with transport.

Liberal Democrat councillor Stuart Kelly also said some growth was desirable, giving the example of renewable energy.

He suggested inserting the word “sustainable” before “economic growth” in the Local Plan to emphasise Cllr Hayes’ point.

Cllr Hayes appeared to be satisfied with this.

The majority of the meeting was focused on environmental issues. One of which was green technology.

Labour’s Steve Foulkes said he wanted an ambition for Wirral to be a “world leader” in green technology to be attached to the Local Plan.

He added: “I’m not an expert in it, but there is definitely going to be a move away from industries that add to the climate emergency and a move towards industries which combat the climate emergency.”

Cllr Foulkes questioned whether the wording of the Local Plan was up to speed with current thinking around a “revolution in green technology”.

With this in mind, Cllr Foulkes called for a document associated with the council’s local plan to state: “We want to be the leader in green technology.”

Fellow Labour councillor Sam Frost suggested a reference to the “jobs of the future” should be included to emphasise which industries Wirral Council would give planning permission to.

However, Conservative councillor Geoffrey Watt pointed out the emerging Local Plan does make reference to solar energy and offshore wind power.