Peel waits for Wirral Waters decision

 

 

Peel Holdings’ £4.5bn Wirral Waters regeneration scheme in Birkenhead, Merseyside, is expected to get the green light today.

 

Wirral Planning Committee will make a decision on the planning application today, which proposes the regeneration of 15m sq ft at the East Float area of the derelict docks in Birkenhead.

 

The scheme will include 13,500 new homes, an “education hub”, leisure uses, shops and cultural attractions.

 

The plans have been in the pipeline for four years, and form the largest urban regeneration project in the UK. An outline planning application was submitted in December 2009.

 

Peel is hoping to transform the Merseyside docklands into a “waterside destination” to rival New York, Sydney and Shanghai, and has is also planning a £5.5bn Liverpool Waters development on the opposite banks of the Mersey.

 

The leader of Liverpool City Council, Joe Anderson, gave the scheme his backing last week.

 

Lindsey Ashworth, Peel director, said: “Today is the culmination of three years of hard work and collaboration. It’s an important day not just for the future of Wirral but for the entire Liverpool City Region”.

 

If Wirral Council give the plans the go ahead, Peel says work could begin on the site in 2012. Construction will take about 30 years.

 

helen.roxburgh@estatesgazette.com

 

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