Fire Station Proposal in Green Belt, Thrown Out by Wirral’s Planning Committee by One Vote!

Last night Wirral’s Planning Committee threw out the application made by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service for a new Fire Station on green belt land in Saughall Massie on a vote of 7 to 6.

This was the culmination of a campaign that lasted 2 years and 6 days and is a victory for common sense and people power.

While me and my ward colleagues, Cllr Bruce Berry and Cllr Steve Williams led this campaign of opposition, it would have not been successful without the huge support given by local residents, the Saughall Massie Village Conservation Society and the Campaign for Rural England.   Thank you to everyone who helped, this is your victory.

The meeting, attended by around 150 residents heard arguments from all political parties on the merits of approval and refusal and in the end the vote split mainly down party lines with Labour mainly supportive of the application.

The debate took around 90 minutes culminating in two separate recommendations being proposed by West Kirby and Thurstaston Conservative Councillor, David Elderton.    The first recommendation was defeated by 7 votes to 6 with all 7 Labour members voting against the Conservative recommendation.

However the second recommendation was supported by 7 votes to 6, with Labours Chair of the committee having the courage of her convictions to protect residents who lived nearby and voting with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat and Green Party members and the fire services application was refused

The reason for refusal is reproduced below along with the names of how Councillors voted.

“Having regards to location of the development proposed and the proximity to residential properties and the nature of the activities proposed, particularly with regards to the sudden and/or emergency nature of activities, together with the character of the local highway network, the Council considers that the proposal would result in harm to the visual amenities of the Green Belt, the character of the area and the amenities of neighbouring residents and the wider locality. Therefore, the development would be contrary to Policy GB2 of the Wirral Unitary Development Plan and the principles of the National Planning Policy Framework.”

Voting to REFUSE the fire Station:

David Elderton, Conservative, West Kirby and Thurstaston

Eddie Boult, Conservative, Hoylake and Meols

Kathy Hodson, Conservative, Heswall

Ian Lewis, Conservative, Wallasey

Stuart Kelly, Liberal Democrat, Oxton

Pat Cleary, Green, Birkenhead and Tranmere

Anita Leech, Labour (Chair) Leasowe and Moreton East.

 

Voting to ALLOW the fire station:

Steve Foulkes, Labour, Claughton

Treena Johnson, Labour, Leasowe and Moreton East

Joe Walsh, Labour, Bromborough

Irene Williams, Labour, Bromborough

Denise Realey, Labour, Prenton

Angela Davies, Labour, Prenton

 

Sign the Petition to Save OUR Green Belt

My colleague Cllr Bruce Berry has asked me to post this on his behalf.

Vyner Estates have submitted a planning application to build 16 new homes on the site of the farm buildings at Diamond Farm, Saughall Road, Saughall Massie village. This is a further attack on green belt in Saughall Massie, as well as being in a conservation area.

If this development is allowed it will change the very nature of Saughall Massie Village, and open the door to other developers wanting to build on our precious green and open spaces.

Please use the link to sign this petition of opposition and help save our green belt and our conservation areas: http://chn.ge/2dUbrXX

Thank you

Councillor Bruce Berry

Tesco’s at the Plough – APPROVED!

Earlier this evening, I attended the Planning Committee meeting that was considering the application by Tesco to build a new store on the site of the (now derelict) Plough pub at Moreton Cross.    Although the application is not in my ward, it is close enough to the border to have an affect on Moreton West.    I was their with my colleague Cllr Simon Mountney, and our colleague from Leasowe and Moreton East Ward, Cllr Ian Lewis  (The two Labour Councillors for Leasowe and Moreton East did not show up at all)

Around about 50 local residents and traders attended the committee, and It was by far the most contentious item on the agenda, and Me, Simon and Steve Williams have been contacted by many people on this issue.

Tonights meeting followed a site meeting yesterday which I requested, and despite the obvious traffic related concerns, a petition of almost 2,600 signatures, the opposition of ward Councillors and residents and traders the committee approved the application by a vote of 8 for and 4 against.

There are already two Tesco stores at either end of the Town and their massive purchasing and marketing power will dwarf anything local traders can offer.     I also discovered from my colleague Ian that I feature (in a small way) in a book called Tescopoly which he had bought at the weekend. Tescopoly has a website here.

Ian and I adressed the Committee and supported the concerns of the community.    Sadly, while Councillors Paul Hayes, Phil Gilchrist, Stuart Kelly and Denise Realey all voted against the application, they were outvoted by the rest of the Committee.    The report they were given can be found here.