Huge Mersey Regeneration Plan At Birkenhead

Huge Mersey Regeneration Plan At Birkenhead

Property company, Peel, have revealed their ambitious plans for the development of Wirral Waters at Birkenhead Docks.

On the other side of the River Wirral from Liverpool the vision is for 14 odd towers plus dozens of lower-rise buildings arranged around the docks. The £4.5 billion scheme is arguably the largest single regeneration scheme in the country on a scale to that not seen in the U.K outside of London but before anyone gets too impressed at the glossy renders it;s important to inject some realism into these plans.

For a start the estimated completion date of the development is 2037, Canary Wharf may have been ongoing since the early 80s but the designs barely resemble what was originally aimed at.

The second problem is demand. Peel are aiming at over 50,000 square metres of retail space, 15,000 new homes for new residents who will presumably have to find jobs somewhere plus 500,000 square metres of office space. That's equivalent to the five largest skyscrapers in Canary Wharf.

Filling plans of this size, particularly in somewhere as unglamorous as Birkenhead is a challenge for even the most determined developer, particularly with Liverpool on the opposite bank of the Wirral already established. The nearby New Brighton has also had proposals for the past thirty years and nothing has yet come of those so getting anything going will be a massive challenge.

The third hitch is the scale of the developer. Peel are not a huge company like British Land or Land Securities and only made about £15 million profit in 2004. They might be aiming a little above their station here.

Whilst interesting to look at the project is to be applied in outline only which means the ideas will only be roughly submitted to have the principle approved. No detailed design has yet been done on any of the buildings, and before this can happen there will have to be a proper master-plan also worked up and considered by the local planning authorities.

If something does end up being built it will likely to be radically different from this initial idea. Still, it's interesting proof that even property companies can be dreamers sometimes.

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Fish of the Bahamas