David Casement represented the Society at the recent History and Heritage Fair at Birkenhead Town Hall. WWIRRALWIRIRRARLA LM MATTERSMATATETRESRS NewsNNeewwss anda anndd ViewsV Vieiewwss fromf frorroomm TheTThhee WirralWWiirrrral SSocietySoocciieetyty - ffoundedfoouunnddeedd 11928199228 8 The Wirral Society invite you to lend us your support, at TThehhee WWirralirral Ccommitteeoommmmiitttteeee ofo off thet thehhee CampaignCam Camppaaigignn tot too ProtectPr Prootteecctt Rural Rural EEngland Ennggllandand - ( CPRECPRE) £10pa, £15 for groups, to add to our lobbying strength. Find details on www.wirralsociety.net or contact our membership PPresidentPrPrreessiiddeentnt :- PPrProfessorrooffeessssoorr JJohnJoohhnn TTarnTarn OOBEBBEE DDLDLL FFRIBAFRRIIBBAA FFRSARRSSA FFRHistSRRHHisisttSS FFSAFSSA A secretary. wwww.wirralsociety.netww.wirrraallssoocciety..nneett FACEBOOKFACEBOOKOOK -– ThTheTh ee WirralWWiirrrraall SocietySSooccietyiety A number of illustrated talks on environmental matters relating INSTAGRAMIINSNSTAGGRRAAMM -- @the_wirral_society@@tthhe_wiree_wir_wirrraal_sl_soocciietyety T TWITTERTWIWITTTETTTEERR - -@ @@wirralsocietywwirirrraalslsooccieietyty to the Peninsula can be provided on request. ! " ProposedProposedS ‘Golf’‘UGMolfM’ ResortREeRs o2r0t 1atat9 HoylakeHoylake Developers plough ahead, without planning permission, on historic site A secondsecond CCouncilouncil mmeetingeeting wwasas ccalledalled rerrecently,ecently, iinn aann aattemptttempt ttoo hhaveave tthehe pprojectroject aabandoned.bandoned. TThehe What happens when a developer is apparently unaware of the rules and starts work on a sensitive site without mmeetingeeting wwasas aattendedttended byby a llargeaPrgreo nnumberpuombmsbeedr ‘oofGf oWWirrallfir’ra Rl erresidents,essoidrte nats H, aanxiousonyxixliaokuse ttoo sshowhow ttheirheir oobjectionbjection ttoo tthehe seeking permission or proper advice? The results can be seen at the Riverview Road development on the wooded wwayay iinn wwhichhich tthehe CCouncilouncil ccontinuesontinues ttoo stssteamrollerteamroller tthishis pprojectroject fforward,orwrward, wwithith nnoo eevidencevidence ooff ppopularopular fringe of the Mersey at Bromborough. OS ref: SJ3608 8272 and SJ 3608 8270. Some three years ago nearly A secossupportnudp pCoorut noorcr iffinancialli nmaenectiianlg vviability. wiaabsil itcya. lWWhilstledh irlsetc ttheehnet lMMotiony, ointi oann ttoaot tddiscontinueeimscoptn ttoin huaev wwase aths evvery eprryo jnnarrowlyeacrt roabwalyn dddefeated,oenfeeadt.e dT,h ae meeting was sscrutinycrutiny ccommitteeommimmittee hashas beenbeen ppromisedromised ttoo llookook aatt aallll aaspectsspects ooff tthehe sscheme’scheme’s vviability,iability, bbeforeefore iitt iiss 100 mature trees were felled, controversially. The developers were made aware that planning permission was attended by a large number of Wirral residents, anxious to show their objection to the way in which the Council required before work could begin. ssubmittedubmitted ttoo Cabinet.Cabinet. AsAs wewe havehave rreservationseseservations aaboutbout tthehe ppoliticaloliticacal iindependencendependence ooff tthehe CCouncil’souncil’s continuSScrutinyecrus ttoin syt eCCommitteesaommmimrmiollettre tehsis ini np rgeneral,goejencetr afol,r wweaer aaredrer, ew nnotitoht nooptimisticop teimvidisetincc tthateh aotf ttheirphoepiru ddeliberationslaerl isbuepraptoiortn osr wwill fiinlla cchangenhcaianlg veia aanything.bnilyittyh.i nWgh. ilst the By autumn 2018 the site had been fenced with garish red railings and a considerable amount of tipping had MotionWe to dhhopeiospcoen tthatthinaut ethisth wisa willws ivlle atarty leastlnearsrto delaydwelyla dye tthefheea tCCouncileodu, nac silc lleaderreuatidneyr c ssubmittingoumbmitteineg h aa s‘‘FundingF buenednin pgr oaandmndis PPhasing’edh atosi nlogo’ kpplan alatn a ll aspects occurred, to level the site which sloped sharply down towards the river. Still no planning permission had been of thethrought hsrcohuegmh eCabinet.C’sa bviniaebt.il i tAAsys, bweweef ouunderstandrned eitr stisa nsdu biit,tm, ssuchitutecdh aanton aagreementCgarbeienmete. n t Accouldso uwlde ccommit homavmie tr ttheehsee rCCouncilvoautinocnisl ttooa biincurringnoccuuutr rithneg political sought nor granted. independence of the Council’s Scrufinancialftiinnayn Ccoiaml ppenaltiesmeinttaeletise sin iif fg iitet nddecidedercaidl,e wde llater aatreer noonont ttoop ppulltiumll isoouttuict oofthf attheht eth ddeal.eeira dl.e TThislibheisr ations will This is the particularly sensitive site of the ancient ‘lost’ Wirral hamlet of Shodwell/Slack Wood, which still has its change anything. We hope that this wwouldwillo autl dle ahavehsatv dee ttoloa ybbe eth ppaidea Cido uffromrnocmil lccouncileoaudnecicri ls ttax.uabx.m i t t i nPhotosPgh ao t‘oFsu n- dNickNiincgk aLauroLnadu Ph asing’ plan well and is listed on the Historic Environment Record. Here too is a former cliff top public footpath between through Cabinet. As we understand it, such an agreement could commit the Council to incurring financial Eastham and Bromborough which the Council’s footpath’s officer is considering for reinstatement. penalties if it decided later on to pull out of the deal. This would have to be Local councillors brought the situation to the attention of the Enforcement officers who paid a visit and work was paid from council tax. stopped. An application was then submitted and rejected as inadequate. Photos - Nick Lauro Retrospective permission is now being sought, but much damage has been done. An archaeological survey is required and both the Shodwell site and the footpath need protection. We simply cannot allow for any more of Wirral’s historical sites to be destroyed by unthinking and uncaring developers. By David Allan SUMMER OUTING - Thursday 18 July 2.15pm - BIDSTON OBSERVATORY led by Ed Clive, ‘A Tour and Tea’. Access via Wilding Way CH43 7RA TThehe SSocietyociciety hhasas wwrittenritten ttoo tthehe CChiefhief EExecutivexecutive ooff tthehe RRedrowedrorow ccompany,ompany, wwhichhich iiss nnowow wwantinganting ttoo bbuilduild tthehe hhousesouses aass ppartart ooff tthehe pproject.roject. We hhaveave aaskedsked wwhetherhether ttheyhey hhaveave ccarriedarried ooutut aanyny ddueue ddiligenceiligencece oonn tthehe CCompanyompany lleadingeading oonn tthehe sschemecheme aandnd aalsolso iiff ttheyhey aareTrhee aaware wSaorceie ofotyf tthehhaes topographyt owproitgteranp thoy t hoofef tthehCeh illandeafn dE xttheyheecyu taareivre iinterestedonft ethrees Rteedd iinrno w company, bbuildinguilding oon.n. To ddate,ate, nnoo rreplyeply hhasas bbeeneen rreceived.eceived. which is now wanting to build the houses as part of the project. We have asked whether they have carried out any due diligence on the Company WirralWirral Council’sCouncil’s LocalLocal PlanPlanle ading on the scheme and also if they are aware of the topography of the TheThe mainmain ddevelopmentevevelopment iinn NNorthorthl aWWirralndir rathle hhasya asr ebbeen einetner ae sffurthertuerdth ienr b llettereutiltdeirn ttogo o WWirraln.i r raTol dCCouncilaoteu,n ncoil ffromrreopmly tthehhaes HHousing boeuesni nregc eived. Minister,Minister, sayingsaying thatthat ssinceince 2004,2004, tthehe CCouncilouncil hhasas ffailedailed ttoo mmeeteet 6 llocalocal pplanlan ‘‘milestones’milestones’ iinn a numbernumber ooff llocalocacal ddevelopmentevelopment sschemeschemes aand....nd.... ‘‘’has’has ffailedailed ttoo pplanlan fforor aandnd ddelivereliver tthehe hhomesomes ttheirheir Wirraareaal rCeao unneeds,neecdils’s, byb Lyo producingpcroadl uPclianng aann uup-to-datep-to-date llocalocal pplan’’.lan’’. The mAlthoughAalitnh oduegvhe lttheohpem MinisterMiMeintis itne rN aacknowledgesocrknth oWwilrerdagl ehsa sttheh bee BBorougheonr oau fguhrt hddoesn’teore slent’tte hhaver atvoe W hhighigrrha lhhousing Couosuincgi lppressures, frreosmsu trhees ,H hheoeu sstilltiinllg Minister, sayingconsidersc tohnasti dsienrcse iti t2 wwould0o0u4l,d t hbbeee Caappropriateopupnrocpil rhiaatse fttoaoi liinterveneendte trove mneee aast 6s tthelohcea CCouncil’sl poluannc ‘iml’si lepperformancesetrofonremas’ innc ae niinnu mrrespectebsepre ocft loofofc ttheahle d ootheretvheelor pment schemcriteriacerist earniad .iiss.. .““lamentable”. l‘a’hmemase nfatailbelde ”.to plan for and deliver the homes their area needs, by producing an up-to-date local plan’’. ProducingProducing a rerrealisticealistic aassessmentssessment ooff tthehe nnumberumber ooff hhomesomes WWirralirral aactuallyctually nneedseeds iiss tthehe pproperroper Althou"starting"gstha trhtein gM point".pinoisintet"r. a cInsteadInknstoewalde dofogf eexpendingesx ptheen Bdionrgo ueeffortgho rdt ottooe smaximisemna’t xhimavisee h non-Green-Beltnigohn h-Gourereseinng- Beprelts llandsaunrde saavailability,v haeil asbtiillli tcyo ffornosri diitstes r55-s -it would Editor, production, Instagram - Judith Railton, 22 Bracken Lane, CH63 2LZ Yearar ProvisionProvision aandnd fforor tthehe ffollowingollowing 1100 Years,ars, wwee aagreegree wwithith oourur ccolleaguesolleagues aatt IITPAS,T tthathat tthehe Hon, Secretary - David Casement, 5 Cornwall Drive, Prenton, CH43 0RW, 0151-608-3039 be appropriate to intervene as the Council’s performance in respect of the other criteria is “lamentable”. ProducCouncilCinogu nac irl eaappearsaplpisetiacr sa sttoos ebbeses meengagednegnat goef dt hiinne mminimisingnuinmimimbiwesri nogf ssuchhuochme availability,asv Wailiarrbailli tay,c twwhichuhailclyh niisse elleadingedasd ins gt httooe iincreasedpnrcorepearsse e"sdt a((andartnindg point". Membership - Avril Wilmshurst,