Wirral regeneration update October 2023

What is happening?

Major transformation is coming to Wirral’s Left Bank – from Bromborough through Birkenhead, Wirral Waters, Seacombe and Liscard through to New Brighton. This is a crucial moment for the borough and everyone with an interest in this area’s future is being urged to have their say on how this change will be brought about.

So far more than £100 million of Government funding has been secured by Wirral Council to support the regeneration projects and this funding will help attract even more private sector investment to make the change we need to see happen.

It is a massive endeavour and there are currently a number of proposals being put forward for Birkenhead, with additional proposals for the rest of the Left Bank area. Projects and consultations affecting Seacombe and New Brighton, as well as parts of Birkenhead are still either underway or just starting.

The aim is to see the creation of family-friendly neighbourhoods with beautiful, green public spaces and parks, and making places people want to live in, work in and visit.

Why should you get involved?

This is a unique opportunity to influence how these redevelopment proposals go ahead. It is a chance to help shape the future of these areas and ensure the ideas being put forward meet the needs of residents, businesses and visitors now and in the future.

It is vital that as many people as possible share their individual local knowledge to help the council base the plan on the views of people who care about and have a real stake in the future of the Left Bank areas. This will help ensure that the proposals brought forward have the support and confidence of residents and businesses and through this have greater chance to succeed in delivering homes, jobs and bring more local prosperity.

Why so many consultations?

Currently there are a number of individually complex proposals being put forward not just for Birkenhead, but other parts of the Left Bank area which ranges from New Brighton and Seacombe, through Wirral Waters, and across Birkenhead to New Ferry and Bromborough.

To make the ideas for development easier to understand and deal with they have been broken down into manageable pieces of work, each covering separate neighbourhood areas. Each provides ideas and proposals to get people talking and thinking about the options. the aim is to allow people to be better and more easily able to give their views on the suggestions for the future development of all of these locations.

How can I get involved?

This update outlines the consultations which are currently open, including: New Brighton Marine Promenade, Wallasey Town Hall Quarter in Seacombe as well as the Dock Branch Neighbourhood, St Werburgh’s and Cleveland Street in Birkenhead. Further details on each of these are available on the council’s specially developed consultation website haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk where you can find out more about each consultation and complete the survey to tell us your views.

The projects currently being consulted on include:

New Brighton Marine Promenade

People are being asked to give their views on a detailed series of suggestions being put forward in a masterplan for the Marine Promenade area, which stretches from Rowson Street to the Floral Pavilion.

The aim is to provide a framework to help guide future development and reignite the momentum of the resort’s resurgence following the £80 million of private investment in the Marine Point leisure and retail facility in 2011. This led to a renewed enthusiasm from visitors over the last decade.

The masterplan proposals seek to improve the overall connections between Marine Point, Marine Promenade and the Victoria Road high street area, as well as create more homes in the area.

To take part in the consultation online go to the council’s HaveYourSay website haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/ where there are more details of the proposals and ideas being put forward for this area including a detailed proposed Masterplan.

Wallasey Town Hall Quarter in Seacombe

Ambitious proposals are being put forward to transform and revitalise the Seacombe area starting around the Grade II* listed Wallasey Town Hall. The proposals are contained within the new Wallasey Town Hall Quarter Masterplan and aim to bring social and economic regeneration along the Seacombe River Corridor and attract new investment into the area.

The Masterplan being put forward for public consultation outlines possible options including a remodelled area around Wallasey Town Hall with a centralised plaza in front of the historic building.

It follows a recent successful funding application to develop brownfield land, approved in July 2023, which will enable works to begin on the demolition of the north and south annex buildings either side of the town hall, allowing development of this area to be kick-started.

People can take part in the consultation online via the council’s HaveYourSay website haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/ where there are more details of the proposals and ideas being put forward including the full Masterplan.

Dock Branch Neighbourhood

A transformational masterplan outlines how the heart of Birkenhead can be revitalised through the creation of a new neighbourhood focused on the area around the town’s historic Dock Branch railway line.

The plans are based on feedback from the public following initial consultations on the broad objectives to give this part of Birkenhead town centre a new lease of life.

Surrounding what is proposed to be the Dock Branch linear park on the site of the former railway tracks the new Dock Branch Neighbourhood will aim to provide a welcoming and attractive place to visit, work and most importantly live and bring up families.

Using what people have told the council through the initial stages of engagement a draft set of proposals for how it could be developed have been produced, outlining ideas such as how existing buildings can be kept and better used, improved landscaping put in place and the creation of more affordable and safe places to live.

The consultation outlines how more housing in the town centre can be provided using a variety of methods to deliver homes which are affordable and including local, and small and medium sized developers, co-housing and community land trusts to make this happen, while new business and inward investment can be fostered while also building on the attraction of the existing independent traders and shops.

The Dock Branch Neighbourhood consultation will be running until December 1. To find out more about the current consultations and to take part go to the HaveYourSay website.

Cleveland Street

This is the second phase of engagement and seeks opinions on the masterplan which has been developed for the area based on initial feedback from the public.

The neighbourhood is south of the Wirral Waters development and north of Birkenhead Park, around the Cleveland Street area.

The proposals include making a new neighbourhood with more than a thousand new homes, up to 60% of which will be family sized with three or more bedrooms.

The masterplan being proposed aims to keep some of the existing employment sites as well as creating business spaces on the ground floors of new residential buildings.

There is also a focus on improving options for walking, cycling and public transport and improving the links between the neighbourhood, the dockland area, Birkenhead Park, and Birkenhead town centre.

To meet the expected demand the plans propose building a new primary school while also transforming Duke Street into west Birkenhead’s high street.

The designs aim to see a highly sustainable neighbourhood and ready to make it easier for people to reduce their energy use.

This consultation is available on the Have Your Say website until 24 October.

St Werbugh’s

The St Werburgh’s Masterplan covers the location around the St Werburgh’s and St Laurence Catholic Church and the adjacent square in Birkenhead town centre. It also includes the former House of Fraser site and Princes Pavement plus parts of Argyle Street extending as far as Clifton Crescent.

The masterplan is based on feedback from the public from an earlier consultation and now those ideas have been used to develop proposals for the area, with a key element putting the new Birkenhead Market building at the heart of the town centre.

Supporting this is the nearby development of the high-quality offices which, as well as providing a centralised home for council staff, will also create modern office space to attract businesses and organisations and bring significant numbers of potential new customers into the town centre.

The masterplan also shows how removal of the flyovers on Borough Road leading into the Queensway Tunnel will help reconnect the centre of the town to the proposed urban village development at Hind Street where hundreds of new homes are proposed. Have your say on this consultation online.

More details will be made available soon on further consultations on proposals for:

• Birkenhead Town Centre
• Birkenhead Waterfront (and surrounding areas)
• West Kirby