welcome, You aNSWERED OUR CALL!

Birkenhead School have now appealed to the Secretary of State in respect of their second refused outline planning application to build 33 houses on Noctorum Field.

Hundreds of local residents objected to this plan and the council planning officers refused the second of the school's planning applications in June 2023.   Over 1700 people have signed a petition to save Noctorum Field from development.  Our community do not want to see this 113 year old playing field replaced with housing, yet the school continue with their mission to seek planning permission so they can profit from the sale of the field.

Noctorum Ridge Residents' Association continue to campaign to save the field from development and retain it as a playing field for children to enjoy, to keep Noctorum Ridge green and maintain the special character of this area.

You may have seen our campaign posters and come to the website for more information on what you can do to help.  Please support our campaign by joining our association.  For find out more just email us at info@nrra.co.uk

As a person living in the vicinity of the appeal site or as an otherwise interested party, you may want to attend the hearing which is scheduled for 12 March 2024.  You can register to attend by emailing ts-appeals@wirral.gov.uk before the deadline, 29 November 2023, including the appeal reference 3329105, your name and attendance status (i.e. interested party).  You also have the option to submit comments on the above appeal by emailing ve.rt@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Please keep checking in with the website as we will post more information here as we get it.

Noctorum Field is the visual green centrepiece and heart of this area of Noctorum Ridge and has been designated a Local Green Space under the Draft WBC Local Plan 2021-2037.  Great numbers of the local community take their daily exercise around the field, enjoying nature and tranquillity. There is a sense of community and place and although we cannot access the field, walkers, wheelchair-users, runners and cyclists all enjoy the wider landscape views and green space from its perimeter.
 

Noctorum Road and Lane link to public footpaths across Wirral Golf Club and Bidston Woods; the field is a wildlife corridor connecting these areas and the established trees surrounding the field are part of the distinctive character of Noctorum Ridge.

You may spot bats swooping across the field at dusk feeding on insects, or a mistle thrush high at the top of a tree, singing its fluty song. The field is an integrated habitat together with the surrounding green spaces; mammals, wild birds and bats use the field for nesting, foraging, and feeding. Our members have sent in beautiful photos of the field and the wildlife therein, of the buzzards perched on top of the rugby posts, swifts, tawny owls and bats. Please email us your photos to add to the gallery.
 

Noctorum Field is a sports field and children have benefitted from its use as a rugby pitch, cricket pitch and for cross country running since its purchase in 1910. We want to protect Noctorum Field for future generations!