Plans have been submitted for 66 new homes on the site of a former school in Wirral.
The former Foxfield School site in Moreton was cleared in 2015 after the school relocated to Woodchurch. It was approved for sale by Wirral Council’s former cabinet in 2015 and was finally sold for £2.6m to Lovell Partnerships in 2023.
A planning application has now been submitted for the site on Douglas Drive in the town to build the homes which will create “a unique sense of place” and “provide attractive mixed tenure addition to the local housing market, providing open market sale and affordable new housing to meet the specifics of local demand.”
A number of trees as well as green open space have been included in the housing plans and the homes will be a mix of two, three, and four bedrooms over two storeys. Most will be three or four bedrooms.
Twenty-three offers were made to the council to buy the land with 52 expressions of interest and the final sale is expected to be completed today, 31 October. The £2.6m earned from selling the land will generate a capital receipt which can then go towards other projects.
Moreton West and Saughall Massie councillor Gary Bennett said the development would tie into a nearby development that includes a new Lidl, adding, “I think it’s a cracking place to put it because it’s in an ideal position and it’s a wasted site.
“Lovell Partnerships, they tie in with what we want for the Wirral which is brownfield development and this is a prime example of it.”
He also said the new homes could bring in more children to local schools, adding, “I have been looking into the schools around here and there is one school that is oversubscribed in Moreton. The rest of the schools have good availability.”
The council hopes the school site will deliver 35 homes by 2025 and the remaining 30 the following year. 65 homes, not 66, are included in the Local Plan and it will be one of six areas designated for housing development in Moreton and Woodchurch under the local authority’s draft Local Plan.
The Local Plan is a major housing policy outlining different developments over the next two decades in Wirral and will lead to the building of at least 14,000 new homes. It doesn’t include any greenbelt land for development and is currently under government inspection.
The scheme was challenged by legal representatives at a Local Plan hearing on 31 October about whether it was deliverable. Brian O’Connor on behalf of a group of developers said given time scales of getting planning permission and getting the project started, it was more likely the scheme would be delayed.
At the hearing, council representatives said concerns about the loss of pitches had been resolved. This was because the old pitches had been replaced at the school’s current location in Woodchurch.
Images: Artist’s impression of the plans for 66 homes in Moreton. Credit: Lovell Partnerships
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