Residents are being asked for their opinions on plans to build 240 homes on green belt land in Wirral.
The application covers land surrounding Appleby's Farm east of Rigby Drive in Greasby. This is the eighth residential application by the Leverhulme Estate and ninth overall as part of its plans to build up to 1,038 homes and a new green space.
The plans have been highly controversial with one petition getting more than 4,500 signatures. Some residents see the scheme as unnecessary, claiming it will cause damage to the Wirral countryside.
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The consultation began on September 21 and will run to October 5. The proposal covers 10.2 hectares of land with Leverhulme adding that 25% would be open to the public and 30% of the 240 homes would be affordable housing.
Nigel McGurk, Head of Land and Planning for Leverhulme, said: “High quality housebuilding has a crucial role to play in the local economy and there is a need to deliver new homes of all shapes, sizes and tenures in Wirral. All new homes should be energy efficient and help to support economically and environmentally resilient Communities.
“The Leverhulme Vision provides a deliverable plan that will help to meet these needs, providing local people in Wirral with opportunities to live in beautiful and sustainable communities.
“Leverhulme is unique in that the scale of the Estate’s landholding – over 5,000 acres – enables us to deliver the homes that people need on small areas of land while delivering multiple other benefits - opening up our countryside, creating new cycleways and footpaths and enhancing biodiversity and habitats.”
A decision on the first seven applications sent to Wirral Council earlier this year is expected at the end of October.
Documents linked to an application by Leverhulme for a new green space previously revealed that more homes could be built in Wirral linked to an application in Greasby.
Gail Jenkinson has campaigned on this issue for the local Labour Party. She said about the new green space : “I’m not in favour if they are doing it just to mitigate houses built that aren’t needed anyway.
“Of course more wildlife habitat is needed but farms already create a lot of habitat.”
A link to the consultation on Greasby can be found here.
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