Spades in at Liverpool’s £71m Central Docks
Chief contractor Graham has broken ground to begin delivering the Peel Waters development’s foundations, laying the groundwork for 2,350 homes.
Place North West attended the groundbreaking ceremony where Graham’s initial work will be securing the 26-acre site’s essential infrastructure, including underground utilities, roads, and Central Park, the scheme’s 4.7-acre public space.
Remediation will prepare 11 shovel-ready plots at Central Docks, which has outline planning permission.
Peel Waters is working with four developers to bring forward a range of housing and mixed-use schemes.
The £71m project is supported by £26m from Peel Waters and £55m brownfield funding from Homes England and is a component of the wider £5bn Liverpool Waters masterplan.
Liverpool Waters is a 30-year regeneration project covering 150 acres between Princes Dock and Northern Docks along the River Mersey in Liverpool.
Central Docks is to be built in phases, with development moving from the south of the site north to the Hill Dickinson stadium, which will bookend the project.
The five-acre Central Park will be the first element to be completed at the site, in an effort to open up the public realm before work begins on blocks.
Central Park will provide sports, recreational, and play facilities for all types of visitors.
The 2,350 properties proposed by Peel Waters for Central Docks would be available across a range of tenures, including affordable, build-to-rent, build-to-sell, and elderly living.
The scheme was enabled by a £55m grant from Homes England. Credit: PNW
James Whittaker, managing director of Peel Waters, told Place: “To do up to 2,500 homes, we’ve obviously got to get quite high on these plots.
“We’ve also got affordable homes and elderly living coming through, so we’re engaging with about four developers to deliver the first few phases.
“It will be phased over 10 years. Developers will be appointed, hopefully, over the next six months.
“When they see the work that’s started today, the infrastructure that’s going to be delivered over the next 2.5 years, they can start to believe in the vision and come on board.”
Whittaker added he expects planning to take up to six months to be approved by Liverpool City Council.
Central Dock’s development has taken much longer than Peel Waters’ work at Princes Dock, just south of the project.
Whittaker said Central Park slowed things down, with developments requiring that to be installed before work on buildings can begin. Princes Dock is on the waterfront and has less land requiring development.
In September, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the £450m Therme site in Trafford Park, another Peel project that has taken extra time to get off the ground.
But work beginning at both sites has left Whittaker proud of his teams.
“It’s been a good year. I would like to have done more – I always like to do more, because there’s always room to do more.
“With the economy as it is, delivering homes is at times going to be very difficult. But starting here at Central Docks is a really important milestone for the whole of Liverpool.”
Everton FC’s new home, the Hill Dickinson stadium, bookends the site. Credit: PNW
Cllr Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, added: “This is the location on the banks of the Mersey that put our city on the global map, where so much trade from our city, from the whole of the country, came through.
“That’s important to mention when you think about our city’s renaissance going forward.”
He continued: “I honestly believe that Liverpool Waters and everything we’re seeking to do in the North Docks isn’t just one of the most exciting regeneration projects in the country – it’s one of the most exciting regeneration projects anywhere in Europe or beyond.
“We are not just shaping a community, we’re not just shaping careers, we’re shaping the future skyline of the city for the next century.”
Central Dock’s project team includes Placemarque, Walker Sime, Actua, Planit, Layer.Studio, Curtins, Crookes Walker and Hannan, Amion, Thomas Lister, Cushman & Wakefield, Brabners, Civic, DACI, Pegasus, Headland Archaeology, and architect Bate and Taylor.
Hopefully progress will speed up now.
Good job the Government stepped in with the money, or it might have taken a lot longer?
By Liverpool4Progess
I’m not looking forward to watching these ‘developers’ get it all so wrong. This will be a neighbourhood of cheap tat with absolutely zero architectural merit. Like a lot of things in Liverpool, will be one massive wasted opportunity.
By Anonymous
Though it’s a £5billion masterplan only a small amount will be Peel’s money, the rest will be from various government bodies and developers. It’s billed as a 30 year scheme and we’ve had 15 years already. Given that residential work will begin at the South end of the site Mayor Rotheram has been given plenty of warning and should have ample time to plan and build a Merseyrail station on the Northern Line to serve all these future residents, and the current residents in the Vauxhall area.
By Anonymous
Need to get the riverside walkway open asap to provide a safe and faster walking and cycling route to and from the new Everton ground. It can’t wait 10/15 years …. Shouldn’t be hard to section off the walkway from the new development site . also have two small basic bridges over the entrance to the docks by the dockers clock
By George
6 months for planning to be approved? It needs to be fastracked not more delay.
By Jack
The Hill Dickinson stadium will ” bookend the project” – really? As in ” this far but no further”? More short-sightedness & lost opportunity … This could have been a ‘golden ticket’ to BUILD (using LOCAL manpower) a revamped TramLink from LJLA through town centre and PAST the football stadium to serve the Tourist trade by extending the route of the old Overhead Rail line as far as Southport.
By Paul McDermott
Peel have a (well deserved) reputation for going slowly, so a spring 2028 finish seems very ambitious. Unless its a typo and you meant 2038?
By Anonymous
I’m still not sure about the therme project.. a giant Turkish bath centre parks mash up.. if they lose money on that will they finish this project?
By Anonymous
@Anon 3.40pm, that has to be a wind-up, you nor anyone else has seen any designs yet , and no developer announced, so how can you state it’s going to be rubbish and a waste of time.
By Anonymous
I totally agree with the comment above fast track the planning and get on with it
By Larry
I’m not sure how anybody can see any negativity in this project. Let’s see the proposals as they emerge over the next few months.
By Anonymous
Of all them designers what have been named and there builder Graham. How many new jobs, apprentices, graduates etc did this all create across the Liverpool Mersey Region?
By Val Brown
Difficult to develop passed the HD as there is a huge sewage works and working docks including massive scrap metal business
By Anonymous
What about the infrastructure? The city is expanding massively.hospitals!
By Anonymous
When you look at the comments for Liverpool development news on here, they all seem to be negative but when you look at the comments on news for development in Manchester, people’s comments are more positive. Interesting. A good example of the mindset between both cities? Maybe a bit of open mindedness would do Liverpool the world of good 🤔
By Scouser
@ Val Brown , you can’t expect all contracts in Liverpool to be given to Liverpool Companies nor Liverpool Designers. If we followed your logic then Liverpool Companies shouldn’t be winning work outside of Liverpool, that’s the way the system works.
By Anonymous
The miserable moaning comments on here knock me sick! This is great news for Liverpool let’s get things going! As for the comment regarding going further down from the HDS, what? Knock all the industry and docks down?? Honestly if some people had a brain!! Let’s go Liverpool and get this built! 🙌
By Anonymous
What sort of elderly living i wonder? Yukky apartments or lovely little bungalows ?
GP facilities? Any facilities?
I Live in hope
By Intrigued
Looks very grey, drab and miserable. I thought Liverpool had taken a different approach?
By Oh well
@By Oh well It hasn’t started yet !!!!!
By Anonymous
Why is ground not being used for parking for Everton football club instead of building more housing when nobody will be able to afford them??
By Anonymous
@ October 15, 10.53pm, if you think this prime land in such a great location should be given over to parking to be used maybe 30-40 days a year then you need to broaden your horizons.
By Anonymous
Are there plans for some mega warehouses in among the houses like they have built at Astley neas Wigan
By Anonymous
This is positive news, so lets hope Peel sell/team up with developers quickly to deliver some high quality dense buildings. Rotterdam, Toronto and Vancouver are great examples of good architecture which mixes towers with mid rise and good public realm. This area now needs a tram and Merseyrail station.
By GetItBuilt!
@ 4:05 pm
I’m talking about the grey towers which are currently there and shown in the photo
!!!
By Oh Well
More houses. The riverfront dockland is the jewel in Liverpool’s crown and the only imagination they have is to build an old folks home and affordable houses on it. What a waste.
By Anonymous
I know most people want to see the lovely architecture of the old buildings but we have to accept modernism is all they teach now. Architects and developers simply don’t know how to do anything else so we have to put up with the square steel and clad boxes with no detail ornamentation or aesthetic of any kind other than this. It’s the same most places…it’s this or nothing.
By Archie Tect
Yet another waste of prime jewel land close to the city and river.This land needs to be a valuable asset for the City.Just look at the new builds on Birkenhead docks.Digraceful designs on behalf of the same old click lining their coffers.Come on .up your game go and have look at Singapore .Dubai and Emirates for starters.Take their best elements and inspire us.
By C.Jones
Archie text.. it doesn’t matter what’s taught it’s the demands of the commission that determine the outcome.. and the commissioners are dullards with no appreciation or imagination.. and the buildings aren’t for posterity.. but for a quick buck
By Anonymous
@By Oh well They look great when the sun is out.
By Anonymous
£55m of government money funding this and somebody has a pop at Val Brown for asking how many local jobs have been created. I think it’s a valid point.
By Thomas Walker
When are Mayor Rotheram and his team going to get off their backsides and get modern transport links into the North Docks? No use spending millions to be hampered by terrible infrastructure.
By Anonymous