Supplementary Planning Documents

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) provide additional information on the detailed application of development plan policies to help landowners and developers prepare acceptable planning applications. They are material considerations for planning decisions.

The PDF files below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices. PDF maps are more suitable to view on a large screen over a wifi connection.

Current Adopted Supplementary Planning Documents

On the 29 June 2026 at the meeting of the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee, the following SPDs were adopted by the Council:

The following Supplementary Planning Documents adopted under the previous Unitary Development Plan have been retained with additional explanatory notes identifying the parts of the document that have been superseded and will no longer be applied, following the adoption of the Wirral Local Plan on the 31 March 2025.

The PDF files below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices. PDF maps are more suitable to view on a large screen over a wifi connection.

Revocation of SPD2 - Designing for Self Contained Flat Development and Conversions

SPD2 - Designing for Self-Contained Flat Development and Conversions was revoked on the 29 June 2026 following the adoption of the Designing for Residential Development SPD.

Following the revocation of the above document, Wirral Council will cease to make any physical or digital copies of the documents available on its website and will remove them from its offices and public libraries. A notice to that effect is available to view below:

Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes

The following Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes have been retained as interim guidance following the adoption of the Wirral Local Plan on the 31 March 2025. Where required, additional explanatory notes identify the parts of the document that have been superseded and will no longer be applied.

Preparation of New Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes

New Government Regulations came into force in March 2026 which brought into effect the new Local Plans system set out in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. One effect of the new Regulations is that no new SPDs can be adopted after 30 June 2026. As such the following documents (originally proposed to be SPDs) will now be taken forward as Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes (SPGs):

  • Recreation Management and Green Infrastructure;
  • Biodiversity and Nature Recovery; and
  • Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)

Drafts of these SPGs are currently in preparation and will be published for consultation in due course.

Withdrawal of Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes

Following the adoption of the Householder Development and Designing for Residential Development SPDs on the 29 June 2026, the following retained Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes have been withdrawn:

Following the withdrawal of the above documents, Wirral Council will cease to make any physical or digital copies of the documents available on its website and will remove them from its offices and public libraries. A notice to that effect is available to view below:

Further to the decision of the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee at its meeting of 17 June 2025 (minute 6 refers), the following Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes were withdrawn by the Council and will now no longer form part of the Council’s consideration of decisions on planning applications. The withdrawn Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes are listed below:

Withdrawn Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes
Number Title 
SPG1 Commercial Development
SPG2 Noctorum Ridge Guidelines
SPG3 Mountwood Guidelines
SPG4 Meols Drive Guidelines
SPG5 Stanley Road/Kings Gap Guidelines
SPG6 Gayton Guidelines
SPG7 Gleneagles Park Guidelines
SPG8 Caldy Village Guidelines
SPG9 Sheltered Housing and Residential Care Homes
SPG12 Pre School Child Day Care
SPG13 Self-Contained Flat Conversions
SPG14 Residential Roads and Footpaths
SPG15 Conversion of Agricultural Buildings in the Green Belt
SPG16 Landscaping
SPG17 Trees
SPG18 Bidston Village Conservation Area 
SPG20 Birkenhead Park Conservation Area 
SPG21 Oxton Village Conservation Area 
SPG22 Rock Park Conservation Area 
SPG24 Eastham Village Conservation Area 
SPG25 Caldy Conservation Area 
SPG26 Frankby Conservation Area 
SPG27 Gayton Conservation Area 
SPG28 Heswall Lower Village Conservation Area 
SPG29 Thornton Hough Conservation Area 
SPG30 West Kirby Old Village Conservation Area 
SPG31 Saughall Massie Conservation Area 
SPG32 Wellington Road Conservation Area 
SPG33 Thurstaston Conservation Area 
SPG34 Bromborough Village Conservation Area 
SPG35 Barnston Village Conservation Area 
SPG36 Bromborough Pool Conservation Area 
SPG37 Flaybrick Cemetery Conservation Area 
SPG38 Unscheduled Archaeological Remains
SPG39 Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation
SPG40 Sites of Local Importance for Earth Science Conservation
SPG41 Car Parking
SPG42 Providing for Cyclists
SPG44 Waste Disposal – Evaluation of Potential Landfill Sites
SPG45 Environmental Assessment
SPG46 Guidelines for Six-Sheet Adverts
SPG47 Planning Out Crime

The reasons for these decisions are set out in Appendix 2 of the report Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee - 17 June 2025 (item 6 refers).

Following the withdrawal of the above documents, Wirral Council has ceased to make any physical or digital copies of the documents available on its website and removed them from its offices and public libraries. A notice to the effect is available to view below: