Wirral moves to protect Birkenhead heritage buildings
The council wants to appoint a consultant to devise an up-to-date regeneration plan for Hamilton Square Conservation Zone as part of the wider £1bn town centre masterplan.
The conservation area is located at the heart of Birkenhead. Its centre point is Hamilton Square, a Georgian square designed by James Gillespie Graham in the 19th Century.
In total, Hamilton Square comprises 63 grade one-listed properties and is currently on Historic England’s ‘at risk’ register.
Several other grade two-listed buildings on Hamilton Street, as well as Hamilton Square station, also fall within the heritage zone.
Wirral Council adopted the existing conservation area appraisal, drawn up by BDP, in 2006 and is now seeking to refresh the framework to safeguard the buildings.
A tender notice for the opportunity states that the regeneration plan is “an essential requirement to ensure the value of the town’s historic assets are understood and appreciated, and their character and appearance is enhanced by future development proposals and regeneration schemes”.
Having an up-to-date plan will also allow the council to be more agile when funding streams become available, the notice states.
Wirral Council, in partnership with Muse, is in the early stages of a major town centre regeneration project aimed at delivering 280,000 sq ft of offices, 700 apartments and townhouses, a 110-bedroom hotel, and a 300-space car park.
It really is a special place, although I cannot believe some of the poor quality buildings that have been recently built in proximity to this.
By Heritage Action
Hamilton Sq is a terrific asset and it’s welcome to hear WMBC are investing time in a plan. Placemaking opportunity is long overdue.
By TJL
Hamilton Sq should be an incredible asset in Liverpool & Birkenhead’s crown jewels. It’s a beautiful square, a stone’s throw from an underground railway station with decent headways (which is a rare thing in a UK suburb outside of London) which has an incredibly short journey to the city centre. It also sports a waterfront (with one of the best suburban views in the UK, across the Mersey to the city centre) and some other lovely areas with great potential – yet every time I visit it’s almost deserted. I can’t understand why. If I were to move to Liverpool, this area would be a serious contender. There certainly needs new, modern, high density apartments in the area to increase footfall, which will increase facilities like retail and hospitality. And of course, this needs to be set back from the historical core, or using existing historical buildings.
By Jo
Wirral council did well here. We need to protect our heritage buildings.
By Anonymous