Peel hopes to get Wirral Waters go-ahead within weeks

PEEL Group is hoping to get the green light for its Wirral Waters scheme before Christmas.

The 18m sq ft regeneration scheme, the largest planning application ever to be submitted in the UK, was approved by Wirral Council in August but then referred to the Government.

Peel’s development director Lindsay Ashworth is now waiting to hear if he will be permitted to push on with the project or if it will be called in for a Government enquiry. He told TheBusinessDesk that he could get a positive response before the end of the year.

Asked when he thought the Government would respond, Mr Ashworth said: “I’ve no idea. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week or it could be a month. They’ve asked for an extension of time which they’ve had, and I would expect, and hope, that before Christmas we get a good result. If we’re not going to get a good result I’d like it to be after Christmas.”

The £4.5bn scheme would transform derelict brownfield land at Birkenhead docks and potentially create up to 20,000 jobs. Work would start early next year if it is not called in.

Peel, which is also working on plans for a major development at Liverpool docks, called Liverpool Waters, has just submitted an application to demolish several sheds at Bramley Moore Dock, “to enable the comprehensive mixed use redevelopment of land at Liverpool Central and Northern Docks”.

Mr Ashworth said: “Wirral at the moment is with the secretary of state and Liverpool will determine the scheme in the summer. So the two schemes aren’t quite alongside, but I think we’ve impressed people in China [at the Shanghai Expo] that Liverpool and the Wirral are places of prosperity that will continue to move forwards.

“I don’t worry about timescales. Things have to go at their own pace, but you have to lead things as well. When you look back at Salford Quays 20 years ago it was a mess. That’s a dock system not too dissimilar to here. When you look back there people said ‘Where’s the demand coming from?’ We create demand at Peel. It’s all about bringing something onto a worldwide platform.

“I think with the airport here and the docks… all of this hangs together to make a big story for international development. And it’s the total picture that Peel is pushing forwards, not the individual projects. It is the end of the beginning. Getting the planning permission is vitally important. Without that it’s just a nice story.”

 * Peel is also on the verge of signing a joint venture agreement with Wirral Council to become the lead developer of the 30-acre Woodside site which is close to the ferry terminal and overlooks the Liverpool waterfront.

In a statement Cllr Andrew Hodson, cabinet member for economic and planning strategy said: “We believe that by agreeing to enter into detailed discussions with Peel and other landowners around Woodside, we will be able to work coherently and more effectively to ensure that the opportunities offered by the site are maximized. As these discussions progress we hope to enter into a formal joint venture agreement with Peel in 2011 that will enable the development of Woodside to move forward with the ‘buy in’ of an interested partner.”