{"id":692462,"date":"2026-01-13T04:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/692462\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T04:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:26:15","slug":"urgent-update-on-marshland-homes-plan-as-thousands-speak-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/692462\/","title":{"rendered":"Urgent update on marshland homes plan as thousands speak out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The plans have been called in following major backlash\"Pasture<\/p>\n

Pasture Marsh, an area of land near Moreton and Leasowe(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n

The sale of Merseyside marshland for new homes could be put on hold after major backlash to the idea. Wirral<\/a> Council officers approved the sale of land near Moreton for a possible residential development but the decision has now been called in.<\/p>\n

An area of land off Ditton Lane in Moreton, Wirral was approved for sale by Wirral Council<\/a> in July 2023 as part of a mass sale of assets by the local authority<\/a>. During part of a Policy and Resources committee meeting not held in public, councillors agreed cross-party 12 to three \u201cto progress and conclude the sale on the best terms reasonably possible\u201d with the land labelled as \u201csuitable for residential development\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report before elected members at the time said it could be considered for affordable housing,<\/a> especially if combined with privately owned land next to it. Councillors of all parties were also updated in December 2024 on the sale.<\/p>\n

However listings for the site sparked anger in 2025 <\/a>and an online petition now has more than 5,700 signatures. In response to a question from campaigner Mike Gates, Labour councillor Mark Skillicorn said he wanted the council to look at options to satisfy both parties including improving biodiversity in the area.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Friends of Pasture Marsh protesting against the sale of the land for homes(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n

Concerns have been raised about the impact the site\u2019s development could have on flooding, trees, as well as wildlife habitats. A Facebook<\/a> group set up to campaign against the sale has highlighted birds and bats using it.<\/p>\n

Following the 2023 decision, officers approved the sale of the site to Persimmon Homes in January 2026.<\/a> This would see the council enter an initial exclusive agreement to carry out investigations on the site.<\/p>\n

A report said: \u201cThe site has not been used by the council for many years and is not actively maintained. The nature and location of this site has now generated some support to prevent the sale, although it should be noted that the council only owns a portion of the whole site and would not have any sway over the adjoining owner\u2019s land.\u201d<\/p>\n

However the sale looks set to no longer go ahead as both Labour and Conservative councillors on the local authority\u2019s Policy and Resources committee have come out against the idea. This suggests a majority are now opposing the sale.<\/p>\n

On January 9, Conservative leader Cllr Jeff Green said in the email he was willing to call the matter in and asked for support from other parties to do this.<\/p>\n

Later that day, Cllr Skillicorn alongside fellow Labour councillor Angela Davies called the decision in \u201cas a matter of urgency\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cllr Skillicorn told the ECHO <\/a>he wanted the local authority \u201cto say it\u2019s not for sale at this moment in time\u201d, adding: \u201cWhen the reports were presented to councillors, they were made two and a half years ago. They were dated. Things move on. Things change.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe can put this to bed now before we continue. This is a perfect opportunity to reverse something that shouldn\u2019t have been made in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative Moreton West Cllr Vida Wilson said the council\u2019s flood risk assessments advised \u201cthis land should not be built on\u201d and called too for a rethink. She has previously asked Wirral Council leader Cllr Paula Basnett to reconsider the sale.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cEven at this late stage, I would urge all councillors on the committee to agree to this being looked at again. This site is wholly unsuitable for building on \u2013 the effects on the local environment would be devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The plans have been called in following major backlash Pasture Marsh, an area of land near Moreton and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,285,16,15,8881,9313],"class_list":{"0":"post-692462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wirral","16":"tag-wirral-council"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115885898920480974","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}