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.

A Planet Full Of Plastic

Wirral Wildlife’s stall at Science Under The Stars. The dinosaur was only prevented from gobbling up a CWT recruiter by the size of the doorway.

We were pleased to be asked to attend two local events this month.

On Thursday 23rd January Heswall Primary School presented this year’s Science under the Stars with the theme ‘A Planet Full Of Plastic’.

Learning about plastic pollution on our beaches

Over 1,000 people attended the premiere of 'A Planet Full of Plastic (and how we can help)', a unique conservation film produced by local schools about reducing the use of single-use plastic, inspired by Neal Layton's book, which shares the same title.

View it at

https://vimeo.com/385848409?fbclid=IwAR2fvBf16XH6JwTXlcgud1qdaGf-iOdWKggq8_xp0uP6IUEzk43ueag9iLM

Our stall at Message In A Bottle.

On Saturday 25th January we were at Claremount Church, Wallasey as part of ‘Message in a Bottle’, an event to highlight the problems created by plastic. We took the message about plastic pollution on our beaches while others showcased actions such as recycling, litter picking and upcycling.

The Recycle Right stall at Message In A Bottle.

Science Under The Stars

Science Under The Stars

Thursday 23rd January

4 - 6 pm

Heswall Primary School, Whitfield Lane, Heswall, CH60 7SD

A special outdoor evening of scientific discovery for teachers, trainee teachers, school childre, families and UK scientific and conservation organisations.

Free entry.

Enjoy hands on scientific adventures, visit the inflatable planetarium, use telescopes, make bird feeders, cuddle a snake, make a torch to follow the ocean themed UV outdoor trail and watch an exciting 3D film.

Wirral Wildlife will be at the event with a stall highlighting the problems caused to wildlife by plastic waste. Other organisations will include Chester Zoo, Wirral Rangers, Trust for Conservation Volunteers, RSPB, Ness Gardens and Wirral Animal Sanctuary.

Parking on the site will be limited. Walking to the venue is highly recommended.

Prize Quiz Deadline Reminder

Beside the seaside. The view from Hilbre Island. Photo: Duca di Spinaci, Flickr

For anyone who wants to enter this year’s Prize Quiz, a reminder that we need to receive your entry by the closing date of 31st January.

You can download the quiz entry form here

All answers are all seaside themed. Good luck!

Message In A Bottle

Claremount Methodist Church in Wallasey are hosting an event to persuade Coca Cola to change their ways and reduce plastic pollution.

Saturday 25th January

12-3 pm

Claremount Methodist Church, Claremount Road, Wallasey, CH45 6UE

Everyone is invited to join in the lunch and listen to inspiring speakers.

Please bring a clean empty plastic bottle of Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Innocent, Oasis or Smart Water to put your message in.

Season’s Greetings

The Wirral Wildlife committee wish you a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a happy new year.

Growing To New Heights

Re-growth you can hang your hat on. Photo: David Casement

Wirral Countryside Volunteers (WCV) are growing in stature and confidence. The volunteers’ chair Steve Yandell was described as being a “supervolunteer” in Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Go Wild Magazine and Tim Gannicliffe, a longtime volunteer, was recognised by Cheshire Wildlife Trust for his broad range of volunteer roles over 27 years. Congratulations to them both.

One of the volunteers’ favourite projects is hedgerow restoration and the volunteers made up seven of the nine cutters at the local Cheshire hedge laying match at Shotlach near Malpas, winning both the open and novice classes.

Colin Chapman being presented first place in the Cheshire Open Class at the National Competition. Photo: Tim Russ

Three WCV cutters took part in the National Hedge Laying Competition, Pewsey in Wiltshire. New heights were reached by the WCV as Colin Chapman won the Cheshire Open Class. Arnold Plumley, the Cheshire judge, was delighted that everyone cut their 10m length in good time and said it was some of the most difficult judging he had done. Colin won by one point, achieving 77 points out of 100.

The extensive lengths of hedge laid recently have required an increased number of hedge stakes. Fortunately there are several local sources of stakes such as sycamore stakes from Job’s Ferry at Eastham Country Park, hazel stakes (our favourite material) from Kingsbrook Way, Lower Bebington and hazel from Hogs Head Coppice from the WCV base at New Ferry Butterfly Park.

Alex and James gained a paying hedge laying job from this photo, a great result.

Photo: Dave Edwards

At our recent hedge laying training day on Woodchurch Road, Landican, there were 25 participants, one person travelling from the Isle of Man for the day to join us. Arnold Pumley of the Cheshire Ploughing Hedgecutting Society was very pleased with all the trainees and spotted two that should be cutting in the Cheshire Ploughing and Hedgecutting Society competitions, surely the best thank you we can give Arnold for all his support and encouragement he gives us. Trainees and trainers had a great day hedge laying a suitable beginner’s hedge, in addition there were wheelbarrow loads of tea and cake supplied down the hedge line and leek and potato soup and roll served for lunch. Four under 26 year olds received a £25 payment from the National Hedge Laying Society.

Last year’s sections of the hedge demonstrated the best re-growth that has ever been in one season on a WCV hedge laying project, 5ft for hawthorn and 8ft for hazel from the base of the hedge. One other record broken on the hedge laying training day was the amount of litter collected from the hedgerow, 16 Biffa bags.

Bags of hedgerow litter. Photo: Paul Loughnane