Wirral Waters strides into 2020

Construction work has begun on the first three major housing projects at Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters; developments which are set to breathe new life into 500 acres of former dockland and transform it into an internationally recognisable waterfront where innovation, sustainability and industry thrive.

Located on the banks of the river Mersey, facing the famous Liverpool skyline, Wirral Waters will be a place where over 20,000 permanent new jobs will be created and 13,000 new homes are built.

At the start of 2020, planners at Wirral Council gave the green light to Peel L&P and House by Urban Splash, to begin building the very first homes at Wirral Waters – the first phase of a £55m deal to build 347 modular homes, which will be customisable by purchasers before being manufactured offsite in the House by Urban Splash modular factory and delivered to site.

Following this will be a distinctive, high-quality residential development of 500 one and two-bedroom apartments, known as Wirral Waters One. The £90m development will also include 100 affordable homes and will be surrounded by dock edge walkways, gardens and terraces for residents as well as a better pedestrian walkways and cycleway connections.

Finally, Belong Village will build an industry-recognised specialist dementia care village and residential care hub offering a vibrant, dynamic and versatile setting for residents to enjoy, whatever their needs or abilities.

Public realm improvements

Peel L&P received £6m funding from Homes England towards the end of 2019 to assist with the necessary site remediation work across these first three residential projects. This grant has enabled work to commence on site, including essential remediation, infrastructure, public realm improvements and streetscape work, such as the creation of dockside walkways and new public squares; improvements to connectivity between local bus and ferry services, cycles ways and pedestrian routes; and improvements to local amenities and car parking.

Streetscape

Tower Road connects these major residential schemes with the rest of the Wirral Waters site, as well as to wider public transport routes within the Liverpool City Region, and major improvements along this important connecting route are about to begin.

This streetscape project will create a high quality, safe and attractive street to attract new businesses, workers, students and visitors and ensure that existing businesses are provided for.

Tower Road, and nearby Four Bridges, is a major focus for investment, job creation and training as part of the Wirral Waters masterplan. With new buildings, such as Wirral Met College, already in place and several new developments, including the Maritime Knowledge Hub, No 1 Tower Road South and Egerton Village, expected to be built over the next five years, these improvements to the street infrastructure and aesthetics are crucial.

Waterside village to provide local amenities

Residents and local businesses will benefit from the £4m waterside village, which was given the green light by Wirral Council last year, with construction expected to get underway in 2020.

Egerton Village, located at Four Bridges, will contain retail and arts space as well as local amenities and facilities for the business and residential communities, such as a waterside events space. It will be a creative and community hub with a dockside restaurant and bistro, small independent retail units, artists’ studios, managed workspace and even a large public events space. It will also be modularly constructed, providing fantastic work experience opportunities for construction students at Wirral Metropolitan College.

High quality office space

An essential part of the entire Peel L&P Wirral Waters masterplan is to provide attractive, sustainable and flexible workspaces which support businesses, both now and in the future. A £3m SIF (Strategic Investment Fund) grant, awarded in August 2019 by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, was a significant step forward. This funding will help to build a 30,000 sq ft high quality office development at No 1 Tower Road South. This BREEAM Excellent, Grade A office accommodation will be located on a key waterside site at Wirral Waters, continuing the regeneration of the Four Bridges area and creating new jobs.

An exciting year ahead

The transformation of Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters has reached a truly exciting point as we enter 2020 and we are going to see a significant period of change in the year ahead.

Projects to support job creation and skills will be high on the agenda in 2020 with developments set to include the proposed Maritime Knowledge Hub, an internationally recognised facility for marine engineering research, entrepreneurship and offshore survival training. Also, MEA Park, a 60-acre waterside manufacturing and logistics campus for the marine, energy and automotive industry, which will also incorporate a Skills Factory, creating high level apprenticeship opportunities in modular construction and digital design.