Council mulls CPO for butterfly park
OFFICERS at Wirral Borough Council intend to use compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers to buy a butterfly park.
New Ferry Butterfly Park is an urban nature reserve that was developed on the former site of a railway goods yard, coal yard and water softening plant at Bebington and New Ferry Station.
It has been leased by Cheshire Wildlife Trust since 1993.
The 4.94 acre site is recognised to be of ‘biological importance’ and over 25 species of butterflies have been recorded – including Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood.
The site is now owned by a company named Frithmere which is registered to an address in Birkenhead. Company records also show that since August 5 this year the firm’s director has been Denis Morgan who is understood to be chairman of Ellesmere Port-based civil engineering company D Morgan Plc which also operates as Brock Plc.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Wirral Council’s head of housing and regeneration, David Ball, said: “The only reason why we are taking this action is because we believe that this site is an important habitat that needs to be maintained for future generations.”
The council’s cabinet is now being asked to issue a CPO for the land when it meets this Thursday.
The report states: “Negotiations with the site owner are continuing but there is a difference of view about the basis of the valuation of the site.
“The site owner is seeking a residential value and the council is seeking a valuation on the basis of existing use. Negotiations will continue and every possible option will be exhausted prior to the use of a compulsory purchase order.
“The site owner is continuing to take legal action to remove the Cheshire Wildlife Trust from the site and taking this into account along with the current negotiations then if an agreement cannot be reached by the end of September 2010 a compulsory purchase order may be the action of last resort to seek the desired outcome for the future of this site.”
Dr Hilary Ash of Cheshire Wildlife Trust said: “We are not – in any way anti-business. But the site has always been a nature reserve ever since it was bought in 1997. It is a site of biological interest and is totally unsuitable for development of any kind.”
No-one was available for comment when TheBusinssDesk.com contacted D Morgan Plc at its offices in Ellesmere Port yesterday.
