EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council planning officer decides greenbelt site for Saughall Massie Fire Station is not “environmentally sensitive”

EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council planning officer decides greenbelt site for Saughall Massie Fire Station is not “environmentally sensitive”

EXCLUSIVE: Wirral Council planning officer decides greenbelt site for Saughall Massie Fire Station is not “environmentally sensitive”

                                            

Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie to discuss proposals for a new fire station
Dan Stephens (Chief Fire Officer) answers questions at a public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie to discuss proposals for a new fire station

The author of this piece is the Appellant in a First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) case where Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is the Second Respondent.

The first decision on the Saughall Massie Fire Station planning application has been made by Wirral Council in relation to the screening opinion.

In a decision letter dated 17th August 2016, a Wirral Council planning officer has decided that despite the site bordering a conservation area and also (although it’s not mentioned in the decision letter) the fact the plans include fuel storage, that an Environmental Impact Assessment is not required as the site is not considered “environmentally sensitive”.

This is despite Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 listing the following as one the factors that should make a site "environmentally sensitive" and therefore require an environmental impact assessment,

“6 Chemical industry (unless included in Schedule 1)

(c) Storage facilities for petroleum, petrochemical and chemical products.

(i) The area of any new building or structure exceeds 0.05 hectare; or
(ii) more than 200 tonnes of petroleum, petrochemical or chemical products is to be stored at any one time.”

The site plan clearly shows a fuel store (presumably for storing petrol and/or diesel for refuelling the fire engines.

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people.

Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby

Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby

Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby

 

Chief Fire Officer explains to councillors at a meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority why he thinks Saughall Massie is the best place for a new fire station
Chief Fire Officer explains to councillors at a meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority why he thinks Saughall Massie is the best place for a new fire station

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 29th January 2014 Part 1 of 2 starting at agenda item 5 (West Wirral Operational Response Considerations (Post Consultation))

This transcript continues from Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states “there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way”. The reports for this agenda item can be read here on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority website.

CLLR DAVE HANRATTY (Chair, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority representing Liverpool City Council): OK then, item five now, this is consideration of the next stage which is before us.
Continue reading “Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby”

Decision expected soon over whether to consult on plans to build new fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie

Decision expected soon over whether to consult on plans to build new fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie

Decision expected soon over whether to consult on plans to build new fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie

Dan Stephens Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at Greasby Methodist Church Hall, Greasby Road, Greasby on 10th November 2014 at a consultation meeting on closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations and merger at Greasby
Dan Stephens Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at Greasby Methodist Church Hall, Greasby Road, Greasby on 10th November 2014 at a consultation meeting on closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations and merger at Greasby

Last year, one of the more high-profile stories was the consultation on plans to close Upton and West Kirby fire stations and replace them with a new fire station in Greasby village. In a dramatic U-turn last year Wirral Council decided to withdraw their offer of the land in Greasby part way through the consultation.

Next week a public meeting of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (which comprises 18 councillors representing the various districts in Merseyside including four from Wirral Council) will decide what happens next. The outcome of the consultation is agenda item 4 (Wirral Fire Cover consultation outcomes and what’s suggested to do next is agenda item 5 (West Wirral Operational Response Considerations (Post Consultation).

Councillors will choose from one of three options which are:

1) deferring a decision on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station and holding a further 12-week consultation starting on 2nd March. This consultation would be very similar to the last one with the main difference between this and the last consultation being that the new fire station would be built on a piece of land on Saughall Massie Road, Saughall Massie not Frankby Road, Greasby.

2) have a six-week consultation on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station and keep Upton Fire Station. Councillors would then make a further decision in April 2015.

3) have a six-week consultation on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station, reporting back to make a further decision in April 2015 whilst at the same time looking for an alternative site for Upton Fire Station before a further 12 week consultation.

Although no decision on which option to go for has yet been made, the proposed site for the new fire station can be found here thanks to a map given to the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority by Wirral Council and published as part of the reports for the meeting.

According to Wirral Council’s asset register this piece of land is down as “Saughall Massie Road Open Space” and is described as “public open space (amenity)”. It’s also in Wirral’s green belt.

What is also revealed in one of the reports for the meeting was that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service spent £6,244.20 with a firm of architects on the aborted plan for a fire station in Greasby (these were the plans on display that were on display at the second Greasby consultation meeting).

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks: