Campaigners are preparing to fight against a controversial planning application for 240 homes on a farm in Wirral.
The application is part of the Leverhulme Estate’s controversial plans to build houses on Wirral’s green belt. It is the last of eight housing applications with the previous seven rejected by Wirral Council recently.
The 240 homes are proposed on the land of the Appleby’s or Greenhouse dairy farm in Greasby and is the second largest of the applications put forward by Leverhulme.
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Leverhulme argued their eight applications for more than 1,000 homes will provide “neighbourhoods which are distinctively Wirral with a beautiful and bespoke character” but thousands have opposed the plans, signing petitions and even travelling up from France to protest.
Leverhulme have been criticised by councillors for not addressing people’s concerns and didn’t attend a meeting to make the case for 290 homes that were later rejected.
The Greasby application says the 240 homes will become “an attractive extension to Greasby providing beautiful homes, set on leafy streets, reflecting the design ethos of Leverhulme” with “new green spaces including a community orchard, wetland features and play areas.”
At a community meeting in Newton, people raised issues with the new application from flooding, traffic pollution, and pressures the new homes may put on schools and nurseries in the area. They also said the size and scope of a potential Neolithic settlement was still unknown.
Phil Simpson, who heads the community group Natural Wirral, criticised Leverhulme for attaching more than 160 documents to the application saying there was not enough time for people to go through them.
He believes the applications put the green belt land in Wirral at risk of “urban sprawl." Councillors Tracy Elzeiny and David Burgess-Joyce were also at the meeting.
Cllr Burgess-Joyce said he was told Leverhulme would prioritise one application, adding: “I believe this is the one they want. If we fought hard before, we need to fight doubly hard for this one.”
A decision on the application has to be made at a committee meeting by February 15, 2023 but the consultation will end on November 25. Mr Simpson said councillors had been assured that representations could still be made after this date.
If the committee decides to vote through the application, Mr Simpson said he plans to turn it into an election issue next year. He said: “If anyone votes for this application to go through, we will challenge them at the ballot box. In May we will make sure that they will not get through.”
Natural Wirral is also planning a protest opposite the farm with a date still to be decided. Councillors have been invited as well as Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood who has spoken out against Leverhulme.
Flooding is a key issue for people with this application. The proposed houses are near to the Arrowe Brook which runs through Greasby, Upton and down to Moreton with run-off from the site feeding into it.
Jane Chesters recalled once having to climb out of her car’s sunroof in floodwaters on Lloyd Drive near the application with the water level up to the car door.
Those opposed to the application are concerned that the houses will increase the flow of water into the brook, particularly with new developments like the Bellway at Arrowe Brook Park.
Gail Jenkinson, who started a petition against the Leverhulme applications, said it could put homes at risk, particularly on streets like Brookway which are close to the brook.
She told the ECHO: “It is a long brook. Any building close to that brook will have the effect of increasing the flow of water in the brook and anyone who walks around Arrowe Brooke Park know it is often very soggy with often flooding on Arrowe Road itself.
“I am very worried for the safety of people’s properties and public health reasons because there will be more and more water in the sewage system. That brook is already a sewage outlet and with any excess water drained into the sewage system, it will make overflows more frequent.
“There is going to be sewage as well in any floodwater, not just soil.”
The application states the site has a “less than 1 in 1,000 annual probability of river flooding” with surface and groundwater flooding risks also considered to be low. While it states that these homes are “more vulnerable” to flooding, Leverhulme say they are still acceptable and the measures proposed “should be sustainable and safe in flood risk terms.”
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