Wirral Council Call for Sites: SHELAA Site Submissions Now Open

Wirral Local Plan Call for Sites: Key Dates

Wirral Council is inviting potential development sites to be submitted through its current Call for Sites process. The deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on Friday 24 July 2026. This evidence-gathering stage gives landowners and promoters an opportunity to put forward land for consideration through the Council’s updated Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA).

The Call for Sites is intended to identify land that may have potential for housing or economic development uses, including retail, leisure, cultural, office, warehousing and related employment uses.

Sites submitted now will be considered through the Council’s SHELAA process. Submission does not guarantee allocation or planning permission, but it can be an important first step in having land properly assessed.

Wirral Council’s published guidance confirms that the Council may contact site promoters to clarify details or request further information. It also makes clear that submitted site details may be included in the updated SHELAA, while personal details will be protected.

Value My Land can assist at this early stage by reviewing the planning context, checking whether your site is likely to be a realistic candidate for promotion, preparing the submission material and explaining how your land could contribute to Wirral’s future development strategy. This can be particularly valuable where land is affected by access issues, landscape sensitivity, Wirral’s Green Belt, coastal areas and sensitive landscapes, ecology, heritage, flood risk, highways or infrastructure considerations.

How Value My Land Can Assist With a Wirral Call for Sites Submission

A Call for Sites submission is often the first opportunity for a landowner to place their land before the Council for future development consideration. However, the strength of the submission can influence how clearly the site is understood. Value My Land can help landowners move beyond a basic form submission by preparing a more complete, structured and persuasive planning case.

We begin by reviewing the site location, surrounding settlement pattern, planning designations, access opportunities, physical constraints and likely development options. We then consider whether the land is best promoted for housing, employment, mixed-use development, specialist accommodation, community uses or a longer-term strategic allocation.

Where a site has potential, we can prepare submission material explaining why the land is suitable, available and achievable. This may include a written planning statement, site description, constraints and opportunities summary, indicative capacity assumptions, ownership and availability details, and a clear explanation of how the land could contribute to Wirral’s future development needs.

We can also help identify issues that may need to be addressed before submission, such as access visibility, landscape impact, landscape sensitivity, flood risk, ecological features, heritage assets, trees, public rights of way, utilities, abnormal costs and adjoining land relationships. Early identification of these matters allows the submission to be realistic rather than speculative.

For many landowners, the Call for Sites is only the first step. Value My Land can continue to monitor the Local Plan review, respond to future consultations, engage with emerging evidence, review site assessment findings and promote the land through later stages where it has realistic prospects.

Our aim is to help landowners present their land professionally, avoid missed opportunities and maximise the chance that suitable land is properly considered through the Wirral Local Plan process.

Why a Professional Site Submission Can Make a Difference

Submitting land to a Call for Sites is not simply a box-ticking exercise. Councils usually assess sites against planning criteria such as location, accessibility, sustainability, constraints, deliverability and whether the land is available within the plan period.

A brief or unsupported submission may fail to explain why a site is suitable. By contrast, a properly prepared submission can set out the planning case, identify constraints, explain how those constraints could be addressed and demonstrate why the land should be considered through the Local Plan process.

Early technical review is particularly important in Wirral because matters such as landscape sensitivity, Wirral’s Green Belt, coastal areas and sensitive landscapes, ecology, heritage, highways, flood risk, infrastructure and settlement relationships can all influence whether a site is shortlisted or rejected.

Value My Land can prepare submissions that focus on the points councils usually need to understand: where the land is, what use is being promoted, whether the landowner supports development, how access may be achieved, whether the site can be delivered within the plan period and why the land represents a logical option when compared with other potential growth locations.

We can also help landowners avoid common mistakes, such as submitting an unclear boundary, failing to explain ownership, ignoring obvious constraints, overstating development capacity or missing the wider Local Plan strategy. A balanced submission is often stronger because it acknowledges constraints while explaining how they could be mitigated.

If your land is well located, available and capable of being delivered, the current Call for Sites could be an important opportunity to put it forward before the 24 July 2026 deadline.

We Assess Land Across Wirral

We review land across Wirral, including edge-of-settlement sites, rural land, paddocks, agricultural land, brownfield land, employment land, infrastructure opportunities and larger strategic landholdings.

Whether your site is a small paddock adjoining a village, a larger farm holding, land near a strategic road corridor, brownfield land close to an existing settlement or a longer-term strategic growth opportunity, Value My Land can assess how it fits within the emerging Local Plan process and prepare a submission that reflects its specific circumstances.

Here Are Just Some of the Areas We Cover in Wirral

• Birkenhead
• Wallasey
• Bebington
• Heswall
• Hoylake
• West Kirby
• Moreton
• Upton
• Greasby
• Pensby
• Bromborough
• Eastham
• New Ferry
• Rock Ferry
• Prenton
• Oxton
• New Brighton
• Meols
• Port Sunlight
• Irby
• Thingwall
• Woodchurch

We also assess land close to the M53 corridor, the River Mersey, the Dee Estuary, Wirral’s coastal settlements, existing urban areas and settlement-edge locations where sites may relate to Wirral’s future housing or economic development needs.

Our Call for Sites Submission Process

Step 1 – Free Initial Assessment

We review the site location, settlement relationship, planning policy position and broad development potential. This helps establish whether the land should be submitted and what form of development may be most appropriate.

Step 2 – Constraints Review

We consider relevant matters such as access, landscape, ecology, flood risk, heritage, trees, utilities and infrastructure. Where constraints exist, we consider whether they are likely to prevent development or whether they could be addressed through design, mitigation or a reduced developable area.

Step 3 – Planning Strategy

We identify whether the site should be promoted for housing, employment, mixed-use development or another appropriate use. We also consider whether the site should be promoted as a standalone opportunity, part of a wider land assembly or a longer-term strategic growth option.

Step 4 – Site Submission

Where appropriate, we prepare and submit a robust representation that explains the site’s merits and why it should be considered through the Local Plan. This can include a written submission, site details, planning justification, constraints commentary and clear availability information.

Step 5 – Ongoing Promotion

Following submission, we monitor the Local Plan timetable and continue to promote suitable sites through later consultation stages. If the Council publishes site assessment results, draft allocations or evidence documents, we can review them and prepare further representations where required.