Wirral Council’s planning committee has approved 500 high-quality new homes at Wirral Waters, although Peel warns there are further hurdles to overcome.
The £90m scheme, known as Wirral Waters One, will be the first residential development on the former East Float dock and is anticipated to be the frontrunner to a number of other housing projects along Northbank.
Once complete, Wirral Waters One will be a very distinctive residential project including 500 one and two-bedroom apartments, dock edge walkways, gardens and terraces for residents as well as better pedestrian walkways and cycleway connections. It will also include 100 affordable homes.
With planning now granted, Peel is keen to get its first residential build underway but warns that, despite today’s step forward, there is still work to do to satisfy the many conditions of the transaction and the procurement regulations that have been imposed before the start of work on site.
A spokesperson for Peel Land and Property, said: “This is a really important step in the planning process and means that we are another step closer to making these 500 new homes a reality.
“We are very eager to get on site now, however, we still have several legal obstacles and conditions to overcome. We are working hard to satisfy these conditions so that we can move this project forward and get the build underway.
“This will be the first residential development at Wirral Waters and, with a very high standard of design quality and sustainability, it will make Wirral Waters an incredible place to live and will be a benchmark for future residential developments.”
Wirral Council leader, Cllr Phil Davies, said: “The approval of this planning application represents a major breakthrough for Wirral Waters and will play a significant part in helping us to deliver new housing.
“We are seeing huge confidence in Wirral as an area to invest in at the moment. Our plans for regeneration throughout the borough are gaining momentum and I believe this will help kick-start further development on one of Wirral’s key regeneration sites.
“These types of schemes are always difficult for private developers to make viable but Wirral Council has continued to show its commitment to this development- demonstrated by how we have stepped in and made it work, securing national funding to improve local infrastructure and devising a commercial approach to bring the scheme to fruition.”
The design team for Wirral Waters One has been led by Parkinson Inc, the master planner for Wirral Waters, working with Glenn Howells Architects, Re-form Landscape Architecture and Vectos Transport Consultants. Turley acted as planning consultants alongside advising on heritage, sustainability and economic aspects of the proposals.
