Neptune reveals New Brighton vision

Neptune Developments is to submit detailed plans for the biggest phase of its New Brighton town centre redevelopment project to Wirral council next week and has released fresh artists impressions of how the new Floral Pavilion will look in advance of the move.

The Floral Pavilion, which is being reconstructed, is the centrepiece of phase one of the town's £70m regeneration which will also see a block of apartments and shops created adjacent to the building.

Its completion, due later this year, and a successful outcome for the planning application's second phase will be a huge relief for Neptune, which has battled on with the scheme despite a series of changes and a public inquiry turning down one proposal.

Amended plans were finally approved last year, and now, according to the company's development director, Rob Mason, 18 of the 37 new apartments planned for the town square development have already been sold.

Although the initial contractor for the town square apartments went into liquidation before Christmas, more contractors have since bid for the work, and building could start mid-April.

Phase two of the scheme will include plans for the Marine Lake, which will be drained and surveyed, a new inner seawall, the relocation of the model boating lake, and remodelling land around it.

A Morrisons supermarket, cinema, bars, cafes, a hotel and a leisure complex with an outdoor pool also feature in the plans. A planning application for this particular part of the phase, is expected within three months.

If approved, work will begin late summer and completion is expected in 2010.