We asked, you said, we did

We Asked

Wirral Council asked for feedback on proposals to improve walking and cycling facilities on and around Price Street, Bidston and St. James Ward via Have Your Say (found here).

You Said

91 people responded to this consultation. 78.0% of respondents support the proposals and 22.0% object to the proposals.

We Did

This project was approved for delivery but is on hold as the funding is no longer available. Alternative funding options are currently being explored.

We Asked

Wirral Council has received £7.2 million from the Government's Future High Streets Fund, Active Travel Fund and private funding, to make improvements on Conway Street and Europa Boulevard. The funding cannot be used for any other purpose. The proposed improvements were designed to provide walking, cycling and public realm improvements, increasing connectivity and road safety within the town centre.

Phase 1 consultation (found here) sought reasons for supporting and objecting to the proposals, with feedback considered in the design process. Following this feedback, a second phase (found here) of consultation was designed to give notice and detail of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) required to make the proposals effective and collected feedback on these TRO's.

You Said

88 people responded to the phase 1 consultation. 71.6% of responses supported proposals on Conway Street, 70.5% supported proposals on Europa Boulevard and 62.1% supported the proposed changes to Europa car park.

24 people responded to the phase 2 consultation. 50% supported and 50% objected to the introduction of a one-way road system on Conway Street, 54.5% objected to the proposed introduction of on-street parking restrictions on Conway Street, 58.3% of respondents supported the proposed introduction of a bus lane on Conway Street, 50% supported and 50% objected to the introduction of cycle facilities on Conway Street, 52.2% supported the proposed introduction of on-street parking restrictions on Europa Boulevard and 62.5% supported the proposed introduction of cycle facilities on Europa Boulevard.

We Did

Conway Street and Europa Boulevard Active Travel Scheme was approved for delivery with completion scheduled for Summer 2025.

We Asked

Wirral Council has received a £2.969 million funding package from the UK Governments Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) to make improvements on Grange Road, within the Charing Cross junction and on Grange Road West. The funding cannot be used for any other purpose. The proposed improvements were designed to provide better access and connection to the services in the area and improve road safety within the town centre.

Phase 1 consultation (found here) sought reasons for supporting and objecting to the proposals, with feedback considered in the design process. Following this feedback, a second phase (found here) of consultation was designed to give notice and detail of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) required to make the proposals effective and collected feedback on these TRO's.

You Said

154 people responded to the phase 1 consultation. 81.0% of responses supported proposals on Grange Road, 81.2% supported proposals on Charing Cross and 73.9% supported the proposed changes to Grange Road West.

43 people responded to the phase 2 consultation. 54.8% supported the implementation of a one-way road system on Grange Road West, 54.8% supported on-street parking restrictions on Grange Road West and 58.1% supported prohibition of driving on Grange Road.

We Did

Charing Cross and Grange Road active travel scheme was approved for delivery with completion scheduled for Summer 2025.

We asked

To develop a new beach management plan for Hoylake Beach residents were consulted in Phase 2 consultation from 19 February to 21 March 2024.

For the consultation two options were developed and put forward for public consultation. Officers worked with Natural England and MEAS in developing the options as well as with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) as a key stakeholder and user of Hoylake Beach. The 2 options that were Option 1 Access for All which provides the “do minimum” option with regard to vegetation removal and Option 2 ‘Amenity Beach’ which provides a “do minimum” approach regarding vegetation removal between Red Rocks and Kings Gap.

You Said

The questionnaire was responded to by 1125 people. 1003 responses through the online portal and 122 paper copies. Most of the survey participants were Wirral residents (92.9%). 61.3% of participants were residents of Hoylake and Meols ward.

For all responses the most supported option was Option 2 – Amenity Beach with 67.2% of respondents preferring this option. 26.6% of respondents preferred Option 1 – Access for All and 6.2% did not know which they preferred. The project page and Consultation report can be viewed here.

Natural England is the Government’s statutory nature conservation adviser and regulator, the Council can only manage the beach in a way that is approved by Natural England. In their response to the consultation, they stated that they are unlikely to support Option 1 - Access for all in its current form but have offered options for modification for further discussion with the Council. They do not support Option 2 – Amenity Beach due to the extent of vegetation loss outlined. They would like to continue working with the Council to get a good outcome for nature and people at Hoylake Beach.

We Did

The Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee met on 15 April 2024. After discussion they authorised the Director of Neighbourhood Services to work with Natural England to develop a beach management plan that approximates as closely as possible the consultation preferred option – Option 2 – Amenity Beach. The Director was also instructed to put in place all requirements to progress the implementation of the beach management plan and to finalise and implement the beach management plan subject to assent being in place from Natural England.

We Asked

We asked for your comments on our proposed changes to the Council’s Local Validation Checklist.

You Said

We received comments from 5 individuals during the course of the 6 week consultation period. The issues raised can be summarised as follows:

• The importance of detailed assessment of Conservation matters.
• Enforcement of tree protection measures.
• Adequacy of information provided in relation to Biodiversity Net Gain.
• Clarification over the stipulation that plans submitted with planning applications should not include a statement saying ‘Do Not Scale’.
• Concerns over the requirement to submit information relating to trees on and adjacent to a site where development is being carried out.
• Requests for more detailed traffic tracking information.
• Query with regard Design and Access Statements.

We Did

A direct response was sent to each individual addressing the separate issues raised and seeking to provide further explanation as to the why certain information is required when submitting a planning application.

Each response was considered carefully to assess whether any further changes should be made to the checklist, however the team is satisfied that the requirements of the checklist are proportionate, reasonable, and necessary in the determination of planning applications. Therefore, no further amends have been made to the checklist.

The Checklist has been approved by the Director of Regeneration and Place and is published on the website here.

We Asked

Selective Licensing is a scheme to improve private rented homes within specific designated neighbourhoods by requiring landlords to obtain a licence and comply with certain agreed conditions. This scheme aims to improve homes in the Selective Licensing areas by ensuring private landlords meet satisfactory standards of tenancy and property management.

The proposed areas for 2024-2029 are:

• Birkenhead West
• Seacombe St Pauls
• Bidston & St James West
• Egremont North

We asked for your views on:

• Your level of agreement to the implementation of the scheme.
• Your level of agreement to the level of the selective licensing fee.
• Your level of agreement to the proposed reductions to the selective licensing fee.
• For landlords, the level of agreement to some of the selective licensing conditions.

You Said

498 people responded to the Residents and Businesses survey and 46 people responded to the Landlords survey. The feedback was analysed and presented to the Economy Regeneration & Housing Committee on 6 December 2023. The report can be viewed in the documents section here.

We Did

During the Economy Regeneration & Housing Committee Meeting (external link) on 6 December 2023, the proposals to implement Selective Licensing were approved.

We asked

In order to develop a biodiversity and net gain strategy, the consultation sought the views of Wirral residents' feedback on the following 4 key areas:

• How aware people are about biodiversity and how important they think it is. 
• What biodiversity themes they think are important in Wirral. 
• The greatest challenges and threats to biodiversity in Wirral. 
• Their thoughts on the six draft priorities for the biodiversity and net gain strategy. 

You said

The questionnaire yielded 116 responses, 6 placed a pin on the map and 9 put ideas on the ideas board. Responses conveyed a strong awareness of biodiversity and strong belief that biodiversity is important. Supporting natural ecosystems was thought to be the most important theme for Wirral. The greatest challenge or threat to biodiversity was thought to be development. All 6 draft priorities for the biodiversity and net gain strategy had a high level of agreement. For more information about the consultation and to view the consultation report click here.

We did

Following the consultation, a Biodiversity and Net Gain Strategy was developed. The purpose of this strategy:

• to provide Wirral Council's ‘first considerations’ of what actions to take for biodiversity and how we will champion the enhanced Biodiversity Duty (Environment Act 2021)
• to provide a framework for change and action towards the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in Wirral
• to inform decision making and establish a robust governance and monitoring framework for biodiversity actions

On 23 October 2023, the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport committee reviewed and approved the consultation and strategy. The strategy in full can be found here.

We asked

In order to achieve the target of becoming net carbon zero by 2041, we engaged Wirral residents to help us understand what they think about climate change and collect their thoughts on what needs to be done.

This survey was designed to give people an opportunity to tell us what they think of climate change, their views on it and to provide information about what we all need to do collectively to achieve the target.

You said

The questionnaire yielded 230 responses. Responses conveyed a strong awareness of the climate emergency and a high level of concern. People were most concerned about a reduction in biodiversity including the potential for extinction of certain species of wildlife. People thought that large scale industry would have the most influence on limiting changes to the climate in the UK. The majority of respondents had made changes to improve energy efficiency in their home and made changes to support and look after their local environment. Most respondents had not changed the way they travel or changed the way they eat and use food.

For more information about the consultation and to view the consultation report click here.

We did

One aim of the survey was to find out about the information residents need. We have set up a Climate Action Site to provide information about reducing your carbon footprint and supporting climate action as a Wirral resident. You can access the site here.

We also hope to use the survey to monitor how people’s attitudes and thoughts about the climate may change over time in the next few years by running the survey again in the future.

We Asked

Wirral Council is legally required to complete a review of all polling districts and polling places every five years. The review will not consider ward or parliamentary constituency boundaries.

We asked for your views and suggestions on:

• How convenient the location of your local polling place is in relation to where you live.
• How accessible your local polling place is, for example if you are blind or use a wheelchair.
• If you think that this is the best location for your polling place. Please suggest alternative premises that could be used if applicable.
• The (Acting) Returning Officer’s comments for future electoral arrangements.

You Said

39 people responded to the survey. The feedback was compiled and presented to the The Regulatory and General Purposes Committee on 23rd November 2023. The report can be viewed in the documents section here.

We Did

During the Regulatory and General Purposes Committee (external link) on 23 November 2023, it was agreed that, in light of the consultation, it was not necessary to change any of the current polling places as a result of the review.

We Asked

People across Merseyside were asked to help shape a new strategy with the aim of reducing serious violence across our region.

We asked about:

• What are your views on the problem of violence?
• What causes violence in our communities?
• How does violence affect you and your community?
• What can we do to reduce violence?

You Said

169 people responded to the Your Safety Matters survey. The report can be viewed in the documents section here.

We Did

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner are developing a Serious Violence Response Strategy (a document which sets out a plan of where efforts will be focused). This strategy will describe how serious violence in Merseyside will be reduced. Your views will help shape this strategy, which will be published on Council, Police, Fire Service, NHS and Probation Service websites across Merseyside in January 2024.