Wirral Local Plan Approved 

Wirral Council has been told by Planning Inspectors it can move ahead to formally adopt what is believed to be the country’s first Brownfield-Only Local Plan. 

Following the independent examination of the Wirral Local Plan by the Planning Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State, the report of the Planning Inspectors’ recommendations has now been received.

A copy of the Inspectors’ report can be viewed at https://www.wirral.gov.uk/new-local-plan and will be placed for public inspection at public libraries within the Borough, 

in the week commencing 17.03.2025, during their normal opening hours. 

Details of your nearest public library, including opening times, can be viewed at: https://www.wirral.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/find-library 

Further information and copies of the report can be obtained on request from the Council’s Forward Planning Team by e-mail at localplan@wirral.gov.uk, by telephone on 0151 691 8235 or by post at Wirral Council, PO Box 290, Wallasey, CH27 9FQ, subject to a charge for printing and postage. 

Vital report for Wirral's Green Belt Future

This vital document sets out how the borough should be developed over the next 18 years.

Focused on brownfield sites the Plan allocates land for housing, including supported living for the ageing population. It also identifies potential sites for creating new jobs and indicates how infrastructure to support this could be delivered, including schools, open space and helping people move around the borough. 

The Local Plan is the result of years of hard work from councillors, officers and the community, including extensive consultations which has seen the draft plan shaped by our residents and businesses. 

It will replace Wirral’s current Unitary Development Plan that dates back to 2000, and it provides an 

up-to-date policy framework to help us shape the future of our borough. 

Many thanks to WGSA, ITPAS members and volunteers who supported, protested and wrote to the council officers and MPs in order to protect the Green and Pleasant land which is the WIRRAL Peninsula.

Congratulations to all of you and allow yourself a period of celebration.

 The Local Plan is the foundation of the regeneration programme, one of the largest in the country. 

It supports new homes (in the right places), employment opportunities now and for the next generation,

and helps make this borough more prosperous for everyone.

The Local Plan was subject to public examination led by the Planning Inspectors who subsequently 

told the council the Plan required some changes, known as Main Modifications. 

These have now been made and agreed with the Inspectors who say that the Plan is sound 

and that the council can move to adopt the document. 

Wirral’s Local Plan has the capacity to deliver a real and lasting transformation for this borough. 

The Inspectors' recognise and support the council’s brownfield-only strategy.

The Plan focuses on developing previously used land, mainly in the east of the borough. 

By doing this, the aim will be to protect our rich natural heritage i.e. Wirral Green Belt.

The letter from the planning inspectors regarding the Local Plan is published here.