Initial plans have been submitted to Wirral Council to build hundreds of new homes across areas of green belt.
The Leverhulme Estate owns thousand of acres of land, including farms such as Brimstage Hall Farm, residential and commercial properties across Wirral and it's founders were behind the development of Port Sunlight.
After a document published earlier this year about their "vision" of using green belt land for "sustainable development", they have now made early-stage proposals in the form of Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinions - application to a local authority for its opinion on what information needs to be included in a formal Environmental Impact Assessment.
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In the scoping application, it lays out where and how many homes are planned by the estate for possible future developments.
They are;
- Land west of Barnston Road, north of Gills Lane - SCR/21/02379 Includes proposals for up to 160 homes
- Land east of Thorncroft Drive, Gills Lane, Pensby - SCR/21/02379 Includes proposals for up to 15 homes
- Land east of Dale View Close, north of Gills Lane, Pensby - SCR/21/02385 Includes proposals for up to 100 homes
- Land east of Glenwood Drive, Irby - SCR/21/02384 Includes proposals for up to 310 homes
- Land at Milner Road and Barnston Road, Heswall - SCR/21/02377 Includes proposals for up to 120 homes
- Land east of Raby Hall, Raby Hall Road, Raby Mere - SCR/21/02383 Includes proposals for up to 85 homes
- Land west of Raby Hall, Raby Hall Road, Raby Mere - SCR/21/02386 Includes proposals for up to 40 homes
The scoping plans were submitted on Thursday, December 16 and residents have until January 15, 2022 to comment on each proposal.
Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood has been urging people to get involved and submit their comments before the deadline to "save" the green belt land.
In a Facebook past she said: "Leverhulme Estate has identified around 140 acres of green belt land for residential development in Wirral and has submitted early-stage proposals to Wirral Council in the form of Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinions, identifying the sites and outlining its intentions for each.
"Wirral West sites are at Barnston, Irby, Pensby, Heswall and Greasby.
"Consultation closes on 15 January, so make sure you get your comments in. Links to the pages on the Wirral Council website where you can view the proposals and submit your comments are set out below. Get involved and help save our green belt."
She also previously told the ECHO when the plans from the Leverhulme Estate were first floated in the summer: "As we face a climate and ecological emergency, it is more important than ever that we protect the green belt.
“Green belt land offers many benefits: providing a habitat for wildlife, improving the health and wellbeing of local people and mitigating the effects of climate change.
"I know from the correspondence that I receive that people in Wirral West value the green belt highly and that they want to see it protected. I agree with them whole-heartedly.
"It is important that the homes that people need are built, but they need to be built on brown field sites and to a high standard, both in terms of design and energy efficiency. They also need to be truly affordable."
In their vision document, Leverhulme Estate said that while they "wholeheartedly support" the council's commitment to the regeneration of brownfield sites, they believe the council should also consider green belt development.
The estate, which holds over 5,000 acres in the borough also says it is the "only partner capable of creating beautiful new neighbourhoods in Wirral, closely linked to their rural setting but offering enhanced accessibility and where health and wellbeing are prioritised."
Leverhulme's head of land and planning, Nigel McGurk, said in June this year: "Wirral has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve truly transformational new communities.
"A Local Plan is not about pitching brownfield against greenfield or for promoting things that can’t be delivered or that people don’t want.
"It is about how we deliver the kind of beautiful, sustainable communities that genuinely meet people’s wide-ranging needs today and into the future. The events of the last year have highlighted the importance of this approach more than ever.
"This means having a proper, holistic debate that considers all of the big issues including the climate emergency, health and wellbeing, connected infrastructure, leisure and tourism, a modern rural economy and the need to ensure that plans will be delivered."
In April, Wirral council said they were committed to focusing on brownfield sites as part of the Local Plan for 12,000 new homes across Wirral, which would involve mostly large scale redevelopment within the Birkenhead area.
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