Peel appoints Starship to lead on £4m waterside village development

Wirral Waters developer and master planner, Peel Waters, has announced that partners, Starship Group, will lead on the development and construction of the £4m waterside Egerton Village, which will bring much-needed local amenities and facilities to the growing community at Wirral Waters.

In 2022, Starship relocated its head office to Hythe, the new Grade A office building at Wirral Waters. The low carbon developer and modular housing manufacturer also moved its entire manufacturing arm to the Mea Park neighbourhood of Wirral Waters.

The retail and leisure village will be constructed using low carbon Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and will involve students from the nearby Wirral Met College, through work experience opportunities and apprenticeships, throughout its 16-month build.

Egerton Village will be the heart of the Four Bridges neighbourhood.

With waterside views across to Liverpool, and adjacent to Wirral Metropolitan College, Hythe, the proposed Maritime Knowledge Hub, and the growing residential community along Northbank, Egerton Village will be a creative and community hub for visitors, students, businesses and residents.

It will comprise of a dockside restaurant and bistro, small independent retail units, artists’ studios, managed workspace and even a central public events space.

Egerton Village has been granted full planning permission by Wirral Council and was designed by OMI Architects following an architectural competition. Its design was based around the Wirral being a series of villages, along with its quayside location on the docks, and its views across to the River Mersey and Liverpool.

The village will also benefit from funding from the Wirral Waters Investment Fund, which is overseen by Wirral Council. The fund was created to enable the reinvestment of business rates into the local area to support new projects that will enable economic growth and, in turn, generate further business rates income.

Wirral Waters is part of Peel Waters, a UK-wide portfolio of vibrant and innovative, waterfront developments, delivering large-scale, sustainable regeneration projects, creating jobs, economic growth, new homes and new public realm across the country.

Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Wirral Waters, said: “Egerton Village is a really important development for Wirral Waters.

“It is another jigsaw piece in the Four Bridges neighbourhood that will bring in much needed amenities to the area, including ancillary retailers, a café, restaurants, and workspace, with a south west facing quayside and courtyard, where people can come together to enjoy the stunning waterside location and use the community, arts and events spaces, which are all important elements of its design.”

He added: “We are very aligned with the Starship Group on our vision for Egerton Village, with its low carbon, modular design, and I am thrilled, once again, to be able to offer construction students at Wirral Met College with yet another fantastic opportunity to learn about modern, low carbon construction right here on their doorstep.”

Simon Humphreys, director of Starship Regeneration, said: “Egerton Village will be an amazing new quayside destination and gateway into Wirral Waters and only by committing to partnership working can we deliver these ambitious and exciting projects.

“Egerton Village will be a focal point at the heart of Wirral Waters providing valuable local amenities for this emerging neighbourhood.

“We are really excited about the future at Wirral Waters, which is why we are committed to investing in this project and working with our partners Peel Waters to accelerate projects like this and help create real change across the Left Bank of the Mersey.”

Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paul Stuart, said: “Egerton Village is another vital step in the continuing push to bring regeneration which will make a real difference to people’s lives.

“It is gratifying to see this development moving forward, and shows how Wirral’s approach to bringing forward regeneration right across the Left Bank from Bromborough, through Birkenhead and Wirral Waters, Seacombe and Liscard and all the way to New Brighton, is paying dividends.”