Ground breaking marked at 500-home Wirral Waters site
Construction has begun at a Wirral site lauded as the largest regeneration project in the UK, creating up to 20,000 jobs.
Peel L&P and Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) have marked the ground breaking at Miller’s Quay, the cornerstone investment at Wirral Waters comprising 500 one- and two-bedroom residential units.
Wirral Waters is a 500-acre brownfield site and former dockland regeneration programme supported by central government as a key part of its levelling up strategy.
The £130m Miller’s Quay development has been made possible through a special partnership between Peel L&P, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) and long-term investor, PIC, Peel L&P’s funding partner. Construction company Graham is the contractor for the scheme.
The start of construction was marked by a ground-breaking ceremony with Rob Groves, PIC’s chief investment officer and Hayley Rees, managing director of PIC Capital, James Whittaker, Peel L&P’s executive director for development, Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, and Cllr Jeff Green, The Mayor of Wirral.
Hayley Rees said: “The development of Miller’s Quay is a model for how long term investors can play a key role in the levelling up agenda and create considerable social value.
“The site will provide much needed housing for the Wirral and offers secure long term cashflows to back the pensions of our 300,000 policyholders, some of whom live in the region.
“We hope that the regeneration lease structure used to finance Miller’s Quay can be adapted across a range of sectors and projects for other local authorities, as well as housing associations, universities, NHS trusts and other organisations looking to unlock funding for regeneration schemes around the country.”
James Whittaker said: “This is a truly landmark moment for Wirral Waters with construction on this much anticipated residential scheme now starting.”
Sue Higginson, CEO of Wirral Met College, said: “We are excited about the opportunities that this development offers and look forward to working with Peel and Graham to equip our students with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they will need to succeed through on-site experience, learning seminars, and apprenticeships.”
Jonathan Hall, regional managing director (building South) at Graham, said: “We are very excited to get started on this significant and much anticipated development that will deliver top quality new homes locally.”
Cllr Jeff Green said: “This is another key milestone in the story of Wirral’s regeneration. These new homes, on a brownfield site, show that our ambitions for the Left Bank area from Bromborough to New Brighton through Birkenhead, Seacombe and Wirral Waters, are coming to fruition and delivering the developments people want and need.”
Miller’s Quay is a 500 apartment build-to-rent development and the cornerstone scheme for the broader Wirral Waters development.
The project has been designed to deliver social good to the area with a core focus on sustainability, utilising a range of energy efficient and low carbon technologies to reduce carbon emissions:
All buildings across the Wirral Waters regeneration project are targeting BREEAM Excellent, including Miller’s Quay, as well as significant bio-diversity improvements with the planting of more than 1,600 trees so far.
