How was the planning application (APP/17/00306) for a fire station in Saughall Massie decided?

How was the planning application (APP/17/00306) for a fire station in Saughall Massie decided?

How was the planning application (APP/17/00306) for a fire station in Saughall Massie decided?

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)

Edited 21.7.17 by JB to include contact details of National Planning Casework Unit and video clip part 2

Edited 23.7.17 by JB to include video clips part 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Edited 24.7.17 by JB to include video clips 8, 9 and 10

Edited 26.7.17 by JB to include published video clips

Yesterday evening a large number of people waited in the Civic Hall for Wirral Council’s Planning Committee’s decision on planning application APP/17/00306 (for a fire station with a training tower, drill yard and car park on Wirral Council owned land in Saughall Massie in the greenbelt).

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Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 21st July 2017 Part 1 of 17

Continue reading “How was the planning application (APP/17/00306) for a fire station in Saughall Massie decided?”

Why did over a hundred residents go to a Planning Committee site visit on the Saughall Massie fire station proposal?

Why did over a hundred residents go to a Planning Committee site visit on the Saughall Massie fire station proposal?

                                         

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Planning Committee (Wirral Council) site visit (APP/17/00306) Saughall Massie fire station, land adjacent to Saughall Massie Road 18th July 2017

Planning Committee (Wirral Council) site visit Saughall Massie APP/17/00306 18th July 2017
Planning Committee (Wirral Council) site visit Saughall Massie APP/17/00306 18th July 2017

In a grassy field on a summer morning, Wirral Council’s Planning Committee met to visit the site for a proposed fire station in Saughall Massie on Wirral Council owned land just off Saughall Massie Road.

Many local residents and two of the three local councillors (Cllr Bruce Berry and Cllr Steve Williams) were there to observe what happened on the site visit.

There were many with placards opposing the planning application for greenbelt reasons.

Cllr Eddie Boult turned up much earlier for the site visit than the other councillors on the Planning Committee.

Cllr Anita Leech, Chair of the Planning Committee opened the site visit and explained the purpose of the site visit and the procedure that would be followed. She asked a planning officer (Matthew Parry-Davies) to introduce the planning application. Unfortunately Matthew’s voice wasn’t very loud.

Matthew Parry-Davies (who works in Wirral Council’s planning department) explained that the revised planning application was for “a single storey two bay community fire station”.

He explained that access to the fire station (if planning permission was granted) would be from Saughall Massie Road. Mr Parry-Davies described the distances to the nearest properties on two different sides of the site.

The footprint of the proposed building and site perimeter had already been pegged out (both the footprint and the building had been reduced compared to the original planning application). The orientation had also been changed. The generator and sprinkler had been relocated and the training tower had been moved too.

Cllr Anita Leech (Chair of the Planning Committee) asked if any of the Planning Committee had any questions.

Cllr Eddie Boult asked for the differences in distance to adjoining properties between the original planning application and revised planning application. Matthew Parry-Davies answered.

Cllr Steve Foulkes asked if there would still be access to the rest of the site for the general public.

Cllr Treena Johnson asked questions about the retractable tower and its height when down and up. Matthew Parry-Davies answered her questions.

Cllr Anita Leech asked how long it would take to put up and down.

Cllr David Elderton answered with how often it would be up.

Cllr Anita Leech (Chair of the Planning Committee) asked if any ward councillors for the area had any questions.

Cllr Steve Williams (a councillor for Moreton West and Saughall Massie ward) pointed out the distance between the perimeter and nearby houses.

Cllr Anita Leech (Chair of the Planning Committee) asked Colin Schofield of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to confirm which tape and posts marked the site boundary. He did.

Cllr Anita Leech (Chair of the Planning Committee) confirmed that the blue posts were the site boundary and the red posts were for the building.

Cllr Bruce Berry (a councillor for Moreton West and Saughall Massie ward) asked a question about car parking and asked how vehicles would go on and off the site.

Matthew Parry-Daives answered him.

The Chair of the Planning Committee asked if any ward councillors had any more questions to ask?

Cllr Steve Williams (a councillor for Moreton West and Saughall Massie ward) asked if there would be any controlled burning on the site.

The Chair of the Planning Committee referred to a planning condition in relation to this.

She then asked if anyone else wanted to point out anything “of significance”?

Various residents asked questions or made points about flooding, traffic issues, the site of the generator, vehicles leaving and entering the site, site levels, where fire engines were called out to, traffic, residential amenity and where the optimal position for a fire station to replace West Kirby and Upton was.

Cllrs Eddie Boult and Cllr Steve Foulkes (both on the Planning Committee) made further points.

The site visit ended with the Chair, Cllr Anita Leech thanking everyone for their attendance.

Pictures below this article are photos of the green belt site and people present for the site visit.

Wirral Council’s Planning Committee will meet to decide on planning application (APP/17/00306) for a fire station on land (owned by Wirral Council) adjacent to Saughall Massie Road in Saughall Massie at a public meeting starting at 6.00 pm on the 20th July 2017 in the Civic Hall, first floor, Wallasey Town Hall, Brighton Street, Seacombe, CH44 8ED.

Cllr Eddie Boult (foreground) at the site visit of Wirral Council’s Planning Committee to Saughall Massie 18th July 2017
Cllr Eddie Boult (foreground) at the site visit of Wirral Council’s Planning Committee to Saughall Massie 18th July 2017

Continue reading “Why did over a hundred residents go to a Planning Committee site visit on the Saughall Massie fire station proposal?”

Wirral’s Labour and Lib Dem councillors vote against Conservative motion that recommended restricting future development on Council owned land in the greenbelt

Wirral’s Labour and Lib Dem councillors vote against Conservative motion that recommended restricting future development on Council owned land in the greenbelt

Wirral’s Labour and Lib Dem councillors vote against Conservative motion that recommended restricting future development on Council owned land in the greenbelt

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Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 5th July 2017 starting at agenda item (Notice of Motion – Green Belt) 1:18

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5th July 2017 Left Colin Hughes solicitor Right Cllr Paul Stuart Chair
Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5th July 2017 Left Colin Hughes solicitor Right Cllr Paul Stuart Chair

ED: Edited to add quote from Wirral Society at end. 8.7.17 16:58

Yesterday evening, Wirral Council’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed Cllr Chris Blakeley’s motion about Wirral Council owned land in the greenbelt.

The Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee is made up of 9 Labour councillors, 5 Conservative councillors and 1 Lib Dem councillor. However 1 Labour councillor couldn’t make it which meant on the evening in question there were 8 Labour councillors, 5 Conservative councillors and 1 Lib Dem councillor.

Cllr Chris Blakeley wanted an “unconditional guarantee” that it wouldn’t be “developed under any circumstances”.

The Labour councillors disagreed with Cllr Chris Blakeley and Cllr Foulkes gave the example of Arrowe Park Hospital as a development that Cllr Foulkes approved of that was on Council-owned land in the greenbelt. The Conservative councillors agreed with Cllr Chris Blakeley.

However when it came to the vote, the Labour councillors (plus a Lib Dem councillor) voted down Cllr Chris Blakeley’s notice of motion, replacing it instead with a Labour proposed notice of motion.

The text of the replacement motion proposed by the Labour Chair Cllr Paul Stuart was as follows:

“We note the notice of motion.

The Council recognises the value of the greenbelt, which should only be developed in special circumstances.

We await the Emerging Core Strategy: Local Plan and the consultation around this with specific reference to the national guidelines.”

 

The Labour notice of motion was agreed by a 9 (for): 5 (against) vote. This recommendation has to be agreed by a future meeting of all Wirral Council’s councillors before it becomes policy.

The Wirral Society “applauds the commitment by Wirral Councillors to uphold the integrity of the Wirral Green Belt and especially of land within its ownership.

As the legislation makes provision for exceptions to be made for development in the Green Belt under Very Special Circumstances, we accept that it would be difficult to for the Council to say it would never allow any development on its Green Belt land. However, the Society was disappointed that the Motion passed made no mention of the need to pursue a policy of giving priority in all cases to developing ‘Brown-Field’ (ie previously developed) land as a priority.”

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Will Wirral Council receive £300,000 windfall for greenbelt Saughall Massie Fire Station site if planning application APP/17/00306 is approved?

Will Wirral Council receive £300,000 windfall for greenbelt Saughall Massie Fire Station site if planning application APP/17/00306 is approved?

Will Wirral Council receive £300,000 windfall for greenbelt Saughall Massie Fire Station site if planning application APP/17/00306 is approved?

                                            

Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer) (left) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie to discuss proposals for a new fire station
Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service) (left) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie in 2015 to discuss proposals for a new fire station

In a 20 page planning report on a revised planning application for a fire station in Saughall Massie, councillors on the Planning Committee have been recommended to approve the application.

The report fails to mention that Wirral Council owns the land, and following a First-tier Tribunal case between myself and the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, it was revealed that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority had set aside £300,000* to pay Wirral Council for the land as part of the project. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority also predict they will receive £200,000* from the sale of West Kirby Fire Station and £350,000* from the sale of Upton Fire Station.

*estimates of sale prices for Upton Fire Station, West Kirby Fire Station and the land at Saughall Massie owned by Wirral Council were made by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority based on prices in October 2014 (Upton Fire Station and West Kirby Fire Station), see Appendix H to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority report CFO/101/14) and January 2015 (Upton Fire Station, West Kirby Fire Station and land at Saughall Massie, see Appendix F to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority report CFO/003/15).

A previous application for a fire station was refused by Wirral Council’s Planning Committee on a 7:6 vote last year. An appeal of this planning application refusal to the Planning Inspectorate was considered but abandoned.

Wirral Council’s Planning Committee meets next week on Thursday 22nd June 2017, starting at 6.00 pm to consider the revised planning application in Committee Room 1 at Wallasey Town Hall, Brighton Street, Seacombe. It is expected that a site visit will be requested at this meeting which if agreed will delay a final decision on the planning application to a later meeting of the Planning Committee (expected to be on the 20th July 2017).

As the planning report states, the petition of objection to the planning application has grown to 4,034 signatures and there have been 324 objections to the new application at the time the report was written.

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Why have Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service submitted a 2nd planning application for a Saughall Massie fire station?

Why have Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service submitted a 2nd planning application for a Saughall Massie fire station?

Why have Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service submitted a 2nd planning application for a Saughall Massie fire station?

                                     

Cllr Dave Hanratty (on the right) and his posse 20th October 2015
Cllr Dave Hanratty (on the right) and his posse 20th October 2015

A stranger rides in to Wirral Town in a thrilling Wild West tale about gold, greed, horses, the law and a land grab was the tale of how the pony club were turfed out of Moreton by Phil Davies and his gang. It was described as “this is not an appropriate action for a Local Authority landlord to take”, “accusation of dishonesty”, “gnawed at his professional conscience” and “unfortunate sequence of events” in an independent report (which has since mysteriously vanished) as to how the landlord had behaved.

However, Dave Hanratty and his posse were not taking no for an answer from Phil Davies’ gang this time!

So Dave Hanratty’s men submitted another planning application for the fire station at Saughall Massie.

In case you didn’t know already, Dave Hanratty and his posse had been defeated the first time around by Chris Blakeley (who was in a rival gang).

Just in case, Wirral Council didn’t get the message, this was backed up with £300,000 for Wirral Council for the land if it was approved.

The £300,000 for the land had been approved by Wirral Council councillors on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority that were also on Wirral Council’s Planning Committee. The Planning Committee would decide which way the planning application was decided.

Of course, in the cosy world of politics, this was neither a conflict of interest that councillors had failed to make, nor a bribe, nor anything really that the public should know about as Dave Hanratty’s gang started going “Shhh!” whenever these matters were brought up.

In fact the public wouldn’t have known, except a brave and a squaw from the nearest reservation had made sure the public were told.

Had Dave Hanratty and his gang been foolish enough to not be diplomatic? Had lies been told to get the answers they wanted?

Dave Hanratty and his posse had had plenty of opportunity to turn back, but instead when the icebergs were spotted, he had given the order, “Full speed ahead!”.

Who will choose the lifeboats? Who will choose the violin? Keep watching over the next months to find out the thrilling end to this story!

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