Hoylake Beach Management Consultation

Wirral Council is undertaking a Have Your Say consultation on Hoylake Beach. The purpose of the consultation is to seek views from residents and the wider community on their preferred management option for Hoylake Beach. The management options for consultation have been developed based on the initial consultation undertaken from June to August 2022.

The consultation is open until 25th March 2024 and can be found here:
https://haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/hoylake-beach-management-plan

The outputs from the consultation will be used to identify a preferred management option for Hoylake Beach and will be taken forward for political approval via Wirral Council’s Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee in spring 2024. A preferred option will then be submitted to Natural England for their consideration, as the beach is internationally important, being a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area for birds and a Ramsar site.

Option 1: Access for All

Option 2: Amenity Beach

There are details of both options on the Hoylake Beach Management Plan website.

Wirral Wildlife committee feel that the best option for wildlife of the beach would be not to have any clearance at all of the naturally developing vegetation as it will remove important habitat. However, if clearance is needed for the RNLI operations, this should be the minimum area possible. Option 1 would be better than Option 2 as that involves least clearance but we would still have concerns about the damage this would cause to this rare habitat. The cost of yearly operations to achieve this outcome is another consideration. These are the points we will make in our submission.

We would encourage you to submit any comments you may have regarding this phase of consultation to hoylakebeach@wirral.gov.uk by 25th March 2024. More information regarding Hoylake Beach and the consultation process can be found here:
https://haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/hoylake-beach-management-plan

Wirral Council and Climate Action Scorecards

Climate Emergency UK assessed all UK councils on the actions they've taken towards net zero. The Council Climate Action Scorecard assessment consists of 91 questions or fewer, depending on council type, across 7 different sections, created in consultation with over 90 organisations and individuals. Each council was marked against these criteria and given a right to reply before the scores underwent a final audit. This work was completed between January and August 2023.

The good news is that Wirral Council is slightly above the average for single-tier councils - though at a Total Score of 42% well below the top scorers, who are London boroughs at 55-60%.

See the full Climate Action Scorecard results for Wirral Council here:
https://councilclimatescorecards.uk/councils/wirral-council/

A summary of Wirral Council's Climate Action Scorecard results

Wirral Council scored particularly well on Biodiversity and Planning and Land Use. They have a score of 69% for Biodiversity (compared to an average of 27%) and 55% for Planning and Land Use (compared to an average of 35%). The lobbying that Wirral Wildlife and other voluntary groups have done over the last 50 years is having an effect.

A Waste Reduction and Food score of 34% and a Transport score of 20% are low results. However everyone can play a part by thinking about everyday actions.

To reduce waste remember the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We must try and use fewer resources, mend whatever we can, share our good but unwanted items and recycle anything that has got to the end of its life.

For tips on how to mend, recycle, reuse and upcycle see https://www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/actions/recycle-and-reuse

Wirral Repair Café can help with repairing items such as clothing and electrical appliances. On the first Sunday of each month they can be found at Wirral Deen Centre, 371-375 Borough Road, Birkenhead, CH42 0HA. Email: wirralrepaircafe@gmail.com

Wirral Repair Café is one of an international network of repair cafes where volunteers try to fix items, brought in by members of the public, that would otherwise be thrown away because they’ve stopped working or (in the case of clothing, can no longer be worn). The goal is to reduce landfill waste, encourage people to carry out their own repairs and save them money in the process.

They do not take business away from professional repairers and will refer the visitor to a professional if it’s appropriate. However, people are often aware that the cost of repair could be more than that of replacement, or that the value of the item is too little to justify the repair cost. Their motto is ‘Bin it? No way’

• Get advice and learn repair skills
• Examples of types of repair: electrical appliances, computer software, bicycles, clothing and textiles, upholstery, toys, costume jewellery, wooden items, musical instruments
• Soldering and sharpening services available
• Free repairs, but donations are welcome

To influence the Food score we can be careful what we eat, reduce food waste and shop and eat to reduce the climate impact of food. Planning meals in advance and using all of the food we buy will reduce waste. We can eat less meat, choose local and seasonal produce or even grow our own vegetables and fruit. If there is anything left over then home composting could be another thing to try – don’t send your waste to landfill.

For composting advice see
https://www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/actions/how-compost-your-waste

What about the transport score? If we travel less, walk when we can, cycle or use public transport we can cut our carbon footprint. Of course, the public transport and active travel infrastructure needs to be there and that is something you could lobby about.

Wirral Council has a Climate Action Hub

Wirral has a target to be carbon neutral by 2041. This means that the amount of carbon that we produce compared to what we take out of the atmosphere is balanced. Learn more at the Climate Action Hub:
https://haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/hub-page/climate-action-wirral

Public and personal action together will help us reach these targets for a more sustainable future on Wirral.

Take part in the Cool Wirral Climate Action Challenge

Verges In Bloom

Earlier in May we asked readers of our Facebook page and Blog if their daily exercise took them past any grass verges. Many verges had not been cut due to Council restrictions imposed by Covid19. Most had sprouted lots of dandelions and daisies but we wanted to know whether people had seen other flowers.

Wirral Borough Council wanted to know where flower-rich verges already exist, with a view to getting more flower-friendly mowing regimes in place, at least for next year. We collated all reports and passed them on to the Council.

Many reports and photographs were received and we show some below.

New Brighton from Jan Peddie...

Meols by Kathryn Fegan...

Arrowe Park Road/ Upton Bypass by Lily Clough...

Lily has been in touch to say the Council have mowed the verges since she took the photos above.


Hoylake and Meols by Susan Kemp...

Have Your Say On Wirral's Local Plan For 2020 – 2035

Wirral Council has submitted a Local Plan Action Plan to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The new Local Plan for Wirral is an important document which will help to shape the future of the Borough. The new Plan will set the long-term vision, objectives and policies for the Borough over a 15 year period between 2020 and 2035. The Plan will set the context for and help drive the regeneration of Birkenhead, it will support appropriate housing growth, encourage new employment and help protect our natural and heritage assets.

Following approval at a special meeting of Cabinet and an extraordinary meeting of full Council, Wirral's Issues and Options Local Plan 2020 - 2035 was approved for public consultation.

It can be accessed via the Council website

https://www.wirral.gov.uk/planning-and-building/local-plans-and-planning-policy/wirrals-new-local-plan/local-plan

Use the website to have your say on Wirral Council’s proposed plans for development and regeneration in the borough.

Please have a look at it. There is much paperwork, but the important part is the Issues and Options report, especially for us as a Wildlife Trust, sections 4, 7 and 8.

Consultation will commence on Monday 27 January and run for 8 weeks until Monday 23 March.

All documents relating to the Local Plan will be available on the website for comment when the consultation commences.

Getting the right policies in place now will help to defend wildlife in the future.

Please read and respond, either directly via the Council consultation, or by sending comments to info@wirralwilldife.org.uk.

Please send anything to us by end of February, as our volunteer team and the Planning Officer at Cheshire Wildlife Trust need time to put our response together before the consultation ends.

Volunteer Bird Surveyors Wanted

Natural England, Wirral Council and Cheshire Wildlife Trust would like to hear from anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer bird surveyor at Dibbinsdale SSSI.

The team briefing takes place on Thursday 7th March, from 12 – 2 p.m. at Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale LNR Visitor Centre.

For more information please email

cheshire2lancashire@naturalengland.org.uk

Cheshire Wildlife Trust say Wirral’s wildlife has not been considered in Local Plan

Bluebells in Dibbinsdale SSSI:
housing adjacent would threaten them with loss through trampling.
Photo: Hilary Ash

Cheshire Wildlife Trust have issued a stark warning to Wirral Council on the impact of their proposed development options on Wirral’s wildlife put forward in their local plan.

Rachel Giles, Evidence and Planning Manager at Cheshire Wildlife Trust has put forward her concerns as part of a public consultation on the council’s local plan.

The Trust is concerned that the clear guidance relating to sustainable development has been overlooked by not giving the natural and historic environment equal consideration to economic and social issues and that the plan proposes a significant threat to green belt land.

“We believe that at least 14 of the proposed options would result in significant harm to either SSSIs or Local Wildlife Sites. We are disturbed to see that these have been put forward when the government’s National Planning Framework specifically states that sites of biodiversity should be ‘protected and enhanced’,” said Rachel Giles.

Wirral Wildlife, the local volunteer group of Cheshire Wildlife Trust, has considered every parcel of land proposed. Hilary Ash from the group said, “We are particularly concerned about the possibility of building on large areas of land around Dibbinsdale SSSI, and around Local Wildlife Sites at Irby, Greasby, Prenton, Barnston and Storeton. Other areas under threat include those used by birds from the Dee estuary as roost grounds, and land supporting bats, great crested newts, hares and badgers. The cumulative effects of building on a large proportion of the proposed sites would be very damaging to Wirral’s wildlife, and to the opportunities for local people and visitors to enjoy that wildlife.”

The Trust also believes that the proposed development options have failed to take into account the priority that should be given to supporting a network of habitats for wildlife. “Even the top priority areas of habitat, seem to have been ignored,” said Rachel Giles. “Failure to take the network into account undermines the objectives of ecological network mapping to ensure that wildlife has connected habitat in which to feed, live and breed. The point of network mapping is to inform the planning process so that changes in land use retain and improve wildlife corridors and core sites. This helps reconnect fragmented populations of flora and fauna and over time should help with their recovery. The National Planning Framework states that planning policies must take a ‘strategic approach to maintaining and enhancing networks of habitats’, something that seems to be lost in these proposed plans.” A particular concern is the open land corridor east of the M53.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust have recommended that the ecological network is incorporated into Local Plan policies. “This is essential to inform decisions relating to the various development options and it is unacceptable it hasn’t yet been included,” said Rachel Giles.

Embedding an ‘environmental net gain principle for development, including housing and infrastructure’ is the overarching aim of the government’s 25 Year Plan for the Environment which was released this year. But the Trust believe that this hasn’t been considered in these proposals. “Many of the sites put forward are areas of high wildlife value such as those important for ground nesting birds, which would make net gain very difficult to achieve unless tracts of land were set aside for the purpose of biodiversity offsetting.

The proposals can be viewed on the Wirral Council’s website and comments can be submitted by email to localplan@wirral.gov.uk

by post to The Forward Planning Manager, Wirral Council Economic and Housing Growth, PO Box 290, Brighton Street, Wallasey, CH27 9FQ

or by completing the online form. The public consultation closes on 26th October 2018.