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

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.

The current information and position regarding Hoylake Beach Management can be found on the Council website: https://www.wirral.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-events/beaches-and-countryside/hoylake-beach-management

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.

We Asked

Wirral Council is looking to develop a parking strategy to see what is working, what isn’t and what needs to be changed to provide better facilities now and for the future.

The first phase of engagement, which can be found here, was designed to discover opinions regarding parking. The first phase of engagement was responded to by 1,188 people and its findings discussed at Environment, Climate Change and Transport Committee in June 2023.

Following the first phase of consultation, a second phase was launched to discover residents and stakeholders opinions regarding proposed parking policies, which had been designed with the feedback from phase 1.

You Said

2,171 people responded to the phase 2 survey. Of the 22 proposals, 11 were generally supported and 11 generally opposed.

The following proposal received strong support, "The council should use enforcement powers to restrict parking outside schools during pick up and drop off times."

The following proposal was strongly opposed, "Parking should be booked and paid for by a smartphone app rather than by a pay and display machine."

The survey identified some concerns about the introduction of the scheme, which included:

• Impact on businesses.
• Public transport is currently not a viable alternative to private vehicle use.
• Not enough enforcement of current parking rules.

The full report from Phase 2 can be found in the documents section here.

We Did

During the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee(External link) on 5 December 2023, the parking strategy was approved.

We Asked

As part of the production of Wirral's Air Quality Strategy we asked for resident's views on air quality and which priorities are most important. They were asked to comment on which of the five priorities in the strategy were of most importance, as well as the importance of the benefits of good air quality.

You Said

150 people responded to the online survey.

• 82% of participants felt that having good air quality in Wirral was important.
• Of the five priorities within the strategy, the priority ranked as being most important was to “Reduce domestic, commercial, and industrial emissions” with an average ranking on 3.42 out of 5.
• Improving the health of children and young people was identified as being the most important benefit of improving air quality.
• Improving public transport was thought to be the most important action in improving air quality.

For more information about the consultation and to view the Wirral Air Quality Strategy, click here.

We Did

The feedback and comments from the survey were used to inform the development of the strategy. The strategy was presented and approved at the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee on 5 December 2023.