Transcript of Councillor Pat Cleary at Council Meeting
13.01.20
Wirral Local Plan 2020-2035
First of all can I thank all the officers for their hard
work on preparing this documentation, our thanks as we know how much work was
involved in its creation.
I would like to start by expressing my opposition to the
government’s proposed target of building 12,000 homes over the next 15 years. If people in Wirral find property expensive
and unaffordable, then I think that has less to do with the number of new homes
we are building and far more to do with
a decade of near zero interest rates and money printing which has enabled
the cash rich to buy up property at the expense of the cash poor. That is why
home ownership in this country is now at a 30 year low.
So, while the council must respect the legal advice it
receives, there is, I believe scope to also include in the Local Plan, locally
prepared, evidence based proposals for a lower housing target and I hope that
the officers will consider that going forward
If there is in fact a shortage of housing in Wirral, why is
the number of empty properties higher today than it was in 2014? Now, I applaud
the work of the empty properties team, I liaise with them regularly on issues
in my ward. They do a great job, but if we are going to meet the targets that
we set out around empty properties in this document then I think that we are
going to have to up our game significantly, and really start to look more
intensively at compulsory purchase, in my own ward compulsory purchase has
played a very positive role, we have seen regeneration and new retail on Oxton
Road, we have seen the replacement of the derelict shops by Birkenhead Library with
new green space, But, nearby we have seen the Victoria Lodge hotel, which has sat
derelict for over a decade, and really blighted the local community. The owner there
bring forward any regeneration plans, doesn’t submit any planning applications,
shows absolute disdain for the local community and we need to stand up to that
kind of land banking and address it.
Given the housing target we face, we have a lot of hefty
burdens that have to be met. We have to find the available brownfield land, we
have to in many cases reclaim and improve it, we have to achieve the density of
housing required if we are going to preserve the greenbelt. We then have to
create sustainable communities that are fit for the 21st Century and
the climate emergency.
I just want to conclude really by expressing my
disappointment really with the transport content in this document because
transport is absolutely key to achieving all of those goals going forward. If
we look at what we have got in the document, we are still, despite decades of
evidence, spending millions of pounds trying to ease congestion that just generates
more traffic, and all the problems that goes with it. It’s very disappointing
to see that same thinking in this document. New road building is completely
incompatible with sustainable development, but yet again we see this kind of
outdated thinking here in this document.
We need to seriously look at public transport options for the new
brownfield sites and in particular, I will say it again, the streetcar option
for Wirral Waters. I don’t know what new year resolutions the council leader
has made, but I would encourage him to add a new one - to give his support and this council’s
support to streetcar, it is really negligent I think that we have not supported
that option, or not put forward something better if we think that option is not
good enough. Otherwise, we will simply not meet the density and amenity/green
space requirements for new brownfield developments.
