Wirral secures £22m for Hind Street Urban Village

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has pledged to contribute the funds from its £710m City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement for the 1,600-home Wirral neighbourhood – provided that Homes England also chips in.

The combined authority voted on Friday to approve spending more than £156m on various projects throughout the region, including the £96m Liverpool Baltic Station.

For Wirral Council, the big news centred around its Hind Street Urban Garden Village project, also known as Birkenhead Central Gateway.

The 65-acre scheme looks at breathing new life into a former gas works site over the next 10 to 15 years, adding not just 1,600 homes but also around 600,000 sq ft of commercial space, green spaces, active travel infrastructure, and a dedicated bus stop next to Birkenhead Central Station.

Ion Property Developments is the developer partner of Wirral Council on the scheme. BDP has been leading the masterplan’s design, alongside planner WSP, engineer Curtins, and landscape architect Planit.

The £22m from the combined authority will go towards enabling works to unlock the first phase of the project. This phase zeroes in on 27 acres of the site and is to deliver 633 homes and 14,000 sq ft of commercial floorspace. The funds will support the building of a spine road through the site, bus state, new waiting facilities for bus travellers, a Dock Branch Park South off-road cycle route, and the relocation of gas infrastructure currently on the site.

If Homes England also agrees to invest in the project, the LCR money will help enabling works start on the Hind Street site in 2025 and complete in 2027. Then, the next phase can be brought forward – one that will see a further 950 homes and 586,600 sq ft of commercial space delivered.

Cllr Paul Stuart, Leader of Wirral Council, said: “We are expecting positive news from Homes England any time now which together with this LCR CA investment will allow us to begin the vital infrastructure work that will signal the beginning of this vital housing and regeneration project for Wirral and Birkenhead.

“The Hind Street project is one of our major brownfield regeneration sites and it will be a model of urban living, well connected to public transport being so close to Birkenhead Central and Green Lane train stations, the new dock Branch Park, providing high-quality open spaces, improved public realm and the creation of active travel routes,” he continued.

“This is just one part of our regeneration strategy, which is focussed on delivering social, affordable, people-focused regeneration that reduces inequalities and creating jobs.”