Wirral Council Planning Committee has reached a positive decision to grant Planning Permission for Wirral Waters, the largest urban regeneration project in the UK. This will represent an investment in Wirral of over £4.5 Billion and the promise of over 20,000 new jobs over 30 years.
Members of the Peel design team were in the audience of the public meeting which started at 6pm in the Committee Room at Wallasey Town Hall. All Planning Committee Councillors were present, along with Wirral Council Planning and Development Control Team, and the room rapidly filled up with members of the public and media representatives.
Joanne Storey – the case officer – and colleagues gave a thorough presentation of the scheme, showing how it has evolved over the past 4 years and been shaped through true ‘partnership working’. She explained the mixed use nature of the project, its regenerative benefits, Peel’s approach to sustainability plus how the different ‘quarter’ areas – education, culture, residential etc - function and work as a composite whole.
The Committee were also specifically briefed on some of the most important issues connected with the scheme, namely affordable housing, planning mechanisms, S106 agreements, traffic and transport, land uses and jobs, by Richard Lewis, John Entwistle and Keith Rogers.
An image of Vittoria Dock which is part of the Wirral Waters scheme.
Three stunning new images of the Wirral Waters scheme created by Rust Design were displayed during the Committee. These beautiful artists’ impressions serve to give an idea of how the scheme may take shape and how it is to be centred around water creating a unique place and lifestyle.
Councillors raised lots of questions following publication of the 250 page Committee Report. These included Cllr Denise Realey’s queries on how the scheme would guarantee jobs for local people, whilst other members of the Committee including Councillor George Davies – who drew parallels with Peel’s ‘transformational’ Salford Quays project, Cllr Gilchrist and Cllr Hodgson, raised wide ranging issues included ‘referral’, housing delivery, CABE, water-supply and building heights. Cllr Roberts spoke wholeheartedly on the positives this scheme will bring to the local community. Phrases including “we cannot live in the past”, and “we have one chance, and should grasp it with both hands” were expressly voiced. Referring to Sir Kenneth Clark’s ‘Civilisation’ series, the scheme and approach positively resonated with one Cllr for its ‘heroic materialism’.
All four local MPs – Frank Field, Esther McVey, Angela Eagle and Alison McGovern - wrote letters of support for Wirral Waters, which were read out during the Committee Meeting.
The Committee meeting lasted around two hours, and culminated in a unanimous showing of hands giving Wirral Waters the green light. The whole room erupted into a spontaneous round of applause and there was a general feeling of relief mixed with joy and hope.
Lindsey Ashworth, Peel Development Director, commented after the vote: “I am so happy I could cry with joy! We are absolutely delighted that Wirral Planning Committee has reached this positive decision, it is what the public wanted and what the area is crying out for. This is an historic day for the future of Wirral and the entire City Region”.
An image of Northbank West, which is part of the Wirral Waters scheme.
Richard Mawdsley, Development Manager at Peel said “Tonight’s endorsement by Wirral Council is a huge milestone for Wirral Waters. We are delighted with the result. The positive and unanimous outcome is a testament to true collaboration. A lot of hard work has taken place by a very large number of groups, organisations and individuals. The Committee’s decision is a massive step-forward towards the delivery of what is a truly shared Vision - and one that can only improve the economic prospects of future generations. With this result we can be hopeful that Wirral Waters’s won’t be called in however we can never be sure”.
The next step in the planning process will be for Wirral Council to refer the project to Government Office Northwest. This is a legal requirement and will serve to see whether the project goes to a Public Inquiry. It is hoped by Peel that this will be unnecessary given the massive amount of support and goodwill the project has engendered, but also because of the new government “localism” agenda where it wants decisions that will affect local communities to be made by the local communities.
Once Government Office Northwest give their seal of approval, the Peel Group will be able to forge ahead and embark on the marketing phase of the project. This will involve branding and place-making and will involve a marketing team plus inward investment agencies including Wirral Council, the NWDA and The Mersey Partnership. Peel will be promoting the project on the international stage including the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Richard Mawdsley said: “After 3 years of ‘planning process’ and assuming no call-in, we can move into the ‘marketing phase’ of the project. Big, catalytic occupiers – whether cultural, educational or commercial - are only interested with a consent in place”.
Peel hope to start on site as soon as the recession allows. Lindsey Ashworth considers as a ‘best guess’ that this will be during 2012.