PRESS RELEASE
Issued by:
Councillor Phil Gilchrist
Date of Issue: July 9th 2008
Contact number: 0151 334 1923

‘Greening Communities'

Bleak new housing estates and commercial developments could be a thing of the past if a radical proposal is agreed at next week's meeting of Wirral Council.

Phil Gilchrist, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Eastham ward, is calling for ‘greener' planning, with trees, shrubs, green spaces, and gardens ‘built into' plans for new developments.

A keen gardener himself, Phil says,

“We have the powers to make developers put landscaping in their schemes.

“We need to use those powers to make sure that the landscaping is delivered.

“In this way new schemes can actually enhance our environment visually, and at the same time help combat climate change.

“And with native and low-maintenance trees and shrubs, the costs of looking after these spaces will be modest.

“Many primary schools now have gardening projects, giving young people their first taste of gardening.

“There is currently a great demand for allotments. Garden centres burst at the seams at weekends.
The interest and spirit is there throughout the community.”

The full text of the ‘Greening Communities' motion follows:

Liberal Democrat Group - Full Council July 14 2008

Notice of Motion - ‘Greening Communities'

Council notes current Policy GR5, ‘Landscaping and New Development' contained in Wirral's UDP, which states that ‘ i n order to secure the protection and enhancement of visual amenity the Local Planning Authority requires applicants to submit full landscaping proposals before full planning permission is granted'. Council also notes the Secretary of State's Proposed Changes to Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West at Policy DP7 ‘Promote Environmental Quality', which states that ‘Environmental quality (including air and water), should be protected and enhanced'. Council also notes RSS Proposed Changes Policy EM3 ‘Green Infrastructure', which states that Plans, strategies, proposals and schemes should aim to deliver wider spatial outcomes that incorporate environmental and socio-economic benefits.'

Council also welcomes the model motion from the Horticultural Trades Association, as reported in ‘First' magazine 21 June, which states:

• green and brown spaces - whether commercial developments or public owned, well-planted local streets and roads, and blooming private gardens are all integral components of a modern sustainable community;
• trees and shrubs contribute to the control of climate change effects (e.g. absorbing rainfall, anchoring riverbanks), to a better environment (visual, air, and sound) and to reducing violence and to improving quality of life;
• national statistics suggest landscaped areas have been reduced by 50% in new development plans compared with 10 years ago and that only 50% of the landscapes specified in planning applications are being delivered;
• developers are failing to deliver local enhancements of the environment through their failure to deliver adequate landscaping projects.

Council notes that the model motion also suggests that: -

• improving the environment should include providing greener commercial and domestic building and infrastructure projects i.e. with a higher level of planting;
• local planning authorities should place a greater emphasis on enforcing the delivery of green spaces and gardens included in submitted planning documentation;
• local planning authorities should seek to influence and increase the scale of specification of green spaces/garden space within planning policy across the range of plans from Regional Spatial Strategies to Local Development Frameworks.

Council therefore: -

a) resolves to increase the amount of tree and shrub planting, particularly using native
and low maintenance species, required within planning approvals wherever
practicable;

b) supports exemplar schemes which reflect the importance of green space and green
planting on both public and private land, including the use of native and low maintenance planting to improve the council-owned Streetscene;

c) will seek to ensure, using enforcement powers, that the planting required by planning approvals is actually installed and maintained;

d) calls upon its local MPs to support the principle of more, properly
maintained planting of trees and shrubs, particularly native and low
maintenance planting, and raise the issue within Parliament;

e) asks the Regional Planning Body and the Regional Development
Agency to support these proposals both politically and financially where
appropriate.

Moved by: Councillor Phil Gilchrist
Seconded by: Councillor Gill Gardiner