High Court Judge quashes greenbelt planning application for 3 marquees issued in “error” by Wirral Council in 2011

High Court Judge quashes greenbelt planning application for 3 marquees issued in “error” by Wirral Council in 2011

High Court Judge quashes greenbelt planning application for 3 marquees issued in “error” by Wirral Council in 2011

                                  

Cllr Phil Gilchrist (front) speaking at the Extraordinary meeting of Wirral Council on 4th April 2016 who chaired the Planning Committee referred to below in 2010
Cllr Phil Gilchrist (front) speaking at the Extraordinary meeting of Wirral Council on 4th April 2016 who chaired the Planning Committee referred to below in 2010
 

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Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 22nd March 2018 Part 4 of 4 Agenda Item 14 Judicial Review Update

Last Thursday councillors at a public meeting of Wirral Council’s Planning Committee were told that the long-awaited decision in the judicial review case would be handed down soon (which can be watched in the video clip above). An oral hearing of both the permission application and the substantive judicial review were both heard on the 31st of January 2018.
Continue reading “High Court Judge quashes greenbelt planning application for 3 marquees issued in “error” by Wirral Council in 2011”

Wirral Council rejects complaint about Saughall Massie Fire Station planning application but apologised for delay!

Wirral Council rejects complaint about Saughall Massie Fire Station planning application but apologised for delay!

Wirral Council rejects complaint about Saughall Massie Fire Station planning application but apologised for delay!

                                          

Wirral Council’s Planning Committee 20th July 2017 voting to approve planning application APP/17/00306 (Saughall Massie fire station)
Wirral Council’s Planning Committee 20th July 2017 voting to approve planning application APP/17/00306 (Saughall Massie fire station)

In what appears to be a topical issue, as it is today that a councillor is now complaining about the knock on effect of Saughall Massie on Wallasey Wirral Council have finally issued a stage 2 complaint response (with an apology) over the grant of planning permission for the Saughall Massie Fire Station.
Continue reading “Wirral Council rejects complaint about Saughall Massie Fire Station planning application but apologised for delay!”

Decision on controversial Saughall Massie Fire Station land transfer delayed

Decision on controversial Saughall Massie Fire Station land transfer delayed

Decision on controversial Saughall Massie Fire Station land transfer delayed

                                                           

In a response to an earlier story on this blog headlined Will two overlooked covenants for “enjoyment of light” prevent a fire station at Saughall Massie from happening? Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service stated,

“the “Retained Land” detailed in Land Registry title number MS503610 does not include the land upon which Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority have planning permission to build a new fire station.“
 

I then pointed out to them that the title stated the following (I’ve underlined the relevant section which expands the definition of Retained Land for emphasis):
Continue reading “Decision on controversial Saughall Massie Fire Station land transfer delayed”

Will Cllr Phil Davies weaken greenbelt planning policy to help planning permission for Hoylake Golf Resort?

Will Cllr Phil Davies weaken greenbelt planning policy to help planning permission for Hoylake Golf Resort?

Will Cllr Phil Davies weaken greenbelt planning policy to help planning permission for Hoylake Golf Resort?

                                                 

Cllr Phil Davies 6th March 2017 Budget Council speaking about Labour's Budget
Cllr Phil Davies speaking at a meeting of Wirral’s councillors earlier this year (6th March 2017)

Earlier this month I wrote about the Strategic Regeneration Framework consultation which includes the Hoylake Golf Resort project.

A week tomorrow (2nd October 2017) Wirral Council’s Cabinet meets in Committee Room 1 at Wallasey Town Hall starting at 10.00 am. On the agenda is a report in Cllr Phil Davies’ name to Cabinet that recommends not only is the new Strategic Regeneration Framework agreed as policy but also recommends to Council that the Strategic Regeneration Framework is adopted as a “material planning consideration” and that it’s used in the Core Strategy Local Plan.

So what does this mean? If the Strategic Regeneration Framework (which includes the Hoylake Golf Resort project) is adopted as a planning policy by Wirral Council, then this will be a material consideration in favour of approving any future planning application for the Hoylake Golf Resort that the Planning Committee will decide upon.

At the moment due to the greenbelt nature of the site proposed for the Hoylake Golf Resort, Wirral Council’s planning policies only allow development in “very special circumstances”.

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Why did a ferris wheel in New Brighton and a Wirral Globe article about it disappear?

Why did a ferris wheel in New Brighton and a Wirral Globe article about it disappear?

Why did a ferris wheel in New Brighton and a Wirral Globe article about it disappear?

                     

Fort Perch Rock car park (New Brighton) 29th June 2015 (before the Wheel)
Fort Perch Rock car park (New Brighton) 29th June 2015 (before the Wheel)

With spin machines in overdrive on the second of two election cycles this year, how about a story about the New Brighton Wheel?

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that the issue of Wirral Council charging for car parking on Fort Perch Rock car park has been a political issue in the recent past which led to a U-turn by Wirral Council on the issue of charging.

Relatively recently part of the Fort Perch Rock car park (owned by Wirral Council) was cordoned off for a ferris wheel and associated facilities run by a limited company.

The Chief Executive of Wilkie Leisure Group Limited, who manages a business close to the Fort Perch Rock car park had concerns about how Wirral Council had run the tendering process for the ferris wheel.

He instructed Kirwans Solicitors (David Kirwan is a former councillor at Wirral Council) to help Wilkie Leisure Group Limited with Wirral Council.

Stories now differ between the different parties to this matter as to why the wheel came down when it did.

The following two quotes are from a press release about the matter.

In a recent letter from Wirral Council to Wilkie Leisure Group Limited, Wirral Council’s Assistant Chief Executive and Director for Business Services (referred to as Mr Amstrong) is quoted as writing,

“Mr Armstrong recognises your client’s long standing contribution to the attractions of New Brighton.
Liverpool Fair Ltd have been granted an extension of their contractual licence to 11 pm on 6/5/17.

They must begin the safe removal of their equipment on 7/5/17. Any further use of the site for the Big Wheel is dependent on the grant of planning permission and a decision by the Council as landowner that it would be an appropriate use of the site.

The Council’s Contract Procedure Rules would apply to any procurement that might then follow.”

David Wilkie wrote, “While I am pleased that Wirral Council has acknowledged its failure to follow the correct tendering processes, I am sorry for the people of New Brighton and the surrounding areas that, thanks to that failure, they will now lose an attraction that all should have been able to enjoy.

It is crucial for local businesses such as ours, which has passed through three generations, that councils conduct fair and just procedural processes through which all businesses can bid. This is a reminder that they have a responsibility to do just that.”

Rather mysteriously, a story in the Wirral Globe about it was published, then “unpublished” and is still available to read in Google’s cache. In the interests of transparency I will point out that we receive money from Google for advertising on this website.

The related court matter has been discontinued due to the removal of the Wheel, but the corporate governance concerns raised by it related to both planning permission and whether Wirral Council had followed their own rules in how the licence was awarded.

Certainly since the removal of the wheel there has been an accusation that the Wirral Council spin machine has entered spin mode. Both the Wheel and the Wirral Globe article about it have both disappeared!

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