£90m Wirral Waters scheme granted planning permission

Wirral Council has granted planning permission for the first phase of Wirral Waters One on the former East Float dock and will include 500 one and two-bedroom apartments, with 100 being affordable.

The affordable homes will be part-funded by Legacy, a company set up to help local authorities deliver affordable and revenue generating housing.

It’s hoped that Wirral Waters One will be the ‘frontrunner’ for a number of other residential-led schemes along the north bank of Wirral, including the development of 347 modular homes by Peel and Urban Splash.

Through the Legacy deal, a further £100,000 will be granted to the Legacy Sports and Education Foundation, Legacy’s charitable arm, which will go towards supporting local sporting, youth and education programmes in the Wirral.

Other projects proposed within Wirral Waters include a £20m Maritime Knowledge Hub, a proposed £3.5m amenity and arts hub, known as Egerton Village, and a new £6m offices on Tower Road, all close to the residential developments emerging along Northbank.

Richard Mawdsley, director of development at Peel Land and Property, said: ‘The first residential quarter at Wirral Waters is becoming a reality. Wirral Waters One will incorporate state of the art residential design and innovation which will lead the way in making Wirral Waters an incredible place to live.’

Glenn Howells, Director at Glenn Howells Architects, added: ‘It is important that we create a living, thriving residential project with a real sense of place. We want to create a new mixed-use community that will set the standard for developing successful new waterside homes at Wirral Waters, focused around a sense of community and individual warehouse living.’

In July, Wirral South MP Alison McGovern criticised Peel Land and Property for slow progress on the project, which was first mooted over eight years ago.

In a letter to the property company, she wrote: ‘You own the land, whilst there are many families on the social housing waiting list. For eight years, you haven’t developed it, and residents in Wirral are waiting for the new homes their council agreed.

‘Many of them are angry that the Wirral Waters development has seen such little progress towards building new homes.

‘I simply ask that you do the decent thing. Help us put a roof over people’s heads or get out of the way and let someone else do it.’