Liverpool City Region Development Update 2025

Cllr Liam Robinson has been a Councillor since 2008, representing the Kensington & Fairfield ward. He became Leader in May 2023, having previously held the position of Cabinet Member for Finance, responsible for setting the Council’s budget. He is also the Liverpool City Region Cabinet Member for Innovation. His priority is to lead an administration that puts Liverpool at the heart of a mission-driven government. He is committed to making Liverpool greener, using sustainable growth to create high-quality jobs, as well as supporting citizens to make sure their hard work pays, and embracing innovation to improve Council services.

Cllr Paula Basnett is a prominent figure in Wirral's political and business communities, currently serving as the Leader of Wirral Council and representing the Rock Ferry ward as a Labour councillor. She was elected to the council in May 2023, with her term running until 2027. In addition to her political role, Paula has a longstanding commitment to fostering economic growth in the region. She holds the position of Chair of the Board at Wirral Chamber of Commerce, where she has been instrumental in developing services and support that encourage business development and economic prosperity in Wirral. Before that she was Head of Investment at Wirral Council, spanning her career over 24 years in a variety of areas of the local authority.

Cllr Anthony Burns became Leader of St Helens Council in May 2024, after serving for six years as Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage. During that time, he was responsible for Public Health and played a key role in leading the borough’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as steering critical support through the cost-of-living crisis. Alongside his leadership in St Helens, Anthony chairs the cross-party North West Regional Leaders Board, provides regional leadership on Net Zero for the Liverpool City Region, and contributes nationally as a Local Government Association (LGA) peer member. As Council Leader, Anthony is committed to delivering the #StHelensTogether approach – a collaborative ethos that empowers residents, businesses, and community groups to work together for the benefit of the whole borough.

Gavin joined Legacie in 2021 with over 30 years of experience in the construction and development industry, including senior roles at prominent Tier 1 and SME Businesses. A Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors, he oversees the governance and operations of all Legacie’s interests. Since joining, Gavin has played a pivotal role in driving growth, leading the company’s expansion into new markets such as social housing, and embedding strong governance, systems, and leadership structures across the business. He co-established the Legacie Foundation alongside CEO John and has helped shape a high-performance culture centring on its people and aligned with Legacie’s community-focused values. Gavin also serves as a board member of the Liverpool City IOD Committee, supporting regional development and collaboration.

Hugh’s property career began with the refurbishment of a terraced house in his native Merseyside in 1972, from which he went on to build a major residential portfolio up until the mid-90s. His long and steady learning curve prepared him for greater things, beginning with a city centre hotel, then on to the residential & office tower developments for which he became famous, most notably for Beetham Tower in Manchester and Liverpool’s West Tower. He came to redefine the skylines of Britain’s largest cities, with major developments also in Birmingham & London. Frost is overseeing the delivery of the King Edward project on Liverpool’s waterfront in partnership with a subsidiary of retail giant TJ Morris, having bought the 7-acre site from Peel in April of this year. The scheme promises a cluster of major towers as part of a transformational mixed-use development.

Paul took up his current post in April 2024, having previously led transport and housing development at the Combined Authority from 2020. As Head of Development, his role involves strategic engagement and close working with the City Region’s six Local Authorities, national government, partners in business, civic institutions, and the wider community. He is responsible for all housing functions at the Combined Authority, as part of the Strategic Investment and Delivery function. Paul joined the CA from Merseytravel from its inception. Prior to this, he held a number of senior posts at Knowsley Borough Council. He has a proven track record in leading spending review negotiations and was the architect of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements for the combined authority. He is also developing the housing function to respond to the devolution changes recently announced.

Steven is currently the director of development management with responsibility alongside the development team for delivery of Muse numerous projects within urban centres across the North West region. Specific projects include Talbot Gateway, Blackpool, Birkenhead Town Centre, The Wirral & St Helens Borough Council. Prior to Muse, Steven held senior leadership positions at two prominent PLC real estate companies, Harworth Group Plc & St. Modwen Plc gaining experience across both residential & commercial sectors with an extensive background in regeneration & partnership working.

A Chartered Architect, Jonathan has been shaping regeneration projects across the country since 1989, founding his first practice, shedkm, before co-founding Urban Splash in 1993. Jonathan leads strategic design and marketing across Urban Splash projects, delivering large-scale, transformative regeneration schemes. From establishing the Ropewalks in central Liverpool, to rejuvenating historic sites like Royal William Yard in Plymouth, and more recently developing concepts for seven key sites across Swansea, and early masterplan designs for Festival Gardens in Liverpool. Beyond Urban Splash, he serves as an ambassador and trustee across several cultural and design organisations, including the Design Council, Liverpool Biennial, and the British Architectural Trust (RIBA).

James specialises in residential-led regeneration, public-sector partnerships and funding. At Cityheart, he manages key projects including schemes in Prescot and Darlington, and the Foundry Lane development in Halton. A Chartered Member of the RTPI, James previously worked for a single-family BTR specialist.

Rachel is a Chartered Member of the RTPI, and Principal Planner at Pegasus Group. She has several years of experience in urban regeneration, tall buildings and city centre development across the North West. She has a passion for the city of Liverpool and it's continued sustainable growth, advocating for improved social infrastructure and high quality design on brownfield land whilst enabling positive regeneration to wider existing neighbourhoods. Rachel is supporting the project team on the King Edward Triangle masterplan, drafting planning documents and advising on ongoing opportunities and constraints. She is also currently preparing representations to the Draft Liverpool Local Plan on behalf of clients of Pegasus Group.

Phil started his career in local government in Kent in 2000 as a graduate trainee. He had a wide variety of roles across Kent Council before becoming programme director for Transformation in Adult Social Care. He left Kent in 2008, spending 3 years in private sector consultancy first with Deloitte and then with Ernst and Young. Phil then went back into local government in 2011 at Brent Council, starting in Adult Social Care. He became the Director of Adult Social Services in 2013, and then in 2016 took on the responsibility for a range of other services including Housing (management and delivery of over 700 council homes), Health, Public Health, Leisure and Culture (which included leading Brent’s £6m Borough of Culture programme in 2020). Phil Porter joined Sefton Council as Chief Executive in July 2023 from Brent Council Since joining Sefton Council, Phil has been focused on improving children’s services; the delivery of the Council’s growth plan, and building relationships with partners in the private, public and voluntary and community sectors across all areas of work and parts of the Borough to deliver on our priorities of communities (listening to our residents), collaboration (working with people and partners to make things happen) and ambition (a commitment to ensure Sefton is an even better place to live, work and visit).