Peel threatens to scrap Liverpool Waters project
Peel threatens to scrap Liverpool Waters project
Liverpool Waters
Liverpool Waters - Princes Dock
Wirral Waters between Birkenhead and Wallasey at Birkenhead Docks
ONE of the region?s largest developers yesterday warned it would pull out of Merseyside?s biggest-ever regeneration scheme if the Government calls a public inquiry into it.
Peel Holdings? development director, Lindsey Ashworth, said the planning regime needed to be relaxed to ease the progress of the company?s ?10bn Liverpool and Wirral Waters scheme to build dozens of skyscrapers on the banks of the Mersey.
?My view is if it goes to a public inquiry I am finishing, all bets will be off. We will abandon the scheme,? he said. In a rare public address, Peel chairman John Whittaker had earlier called for the North West Development Agency (NWDA) to be handed planning powers over the Manchester Ship Canal corridor where the company is planning ?50bn of investment. Last night, the idea was described by the NWDA?s chief executive Steve Broomhead as an ?interesting idea that was worthy of debate?.
Mr Ashworth and Mr Whittaker were speaking yesterday at the official launch of the company?s Ocean Gateway plan.
The launch included the start of a two-day swim of the length of the ship canal by Mr Whittaker?s son James, 37, to raise money for a new children?s hospital in Manchester.
Starting in Salford?s Media City development, that will see the re-location of BBC departments to the city, the gateway includes a number of schemes along the Ship Canal, culminating in the Liverpool and Wirral Waters scheme.
Creating a superport at the Port of Liverpool and harnessing the power of the Mersey for electricity generation are also part of the Ocean Gateway scheme.
The company has become frustrated at the length of time it currently takes to get planning permission and wants a special exception to be made for the Ocean Gateway.
permission for the Waters schemes, but plans to submit proposals to Wirral Council by Christmas and Liverpool Council next spring.
The Waters scheme would see the creation of 40,000 new homes and 50,000 full-time jobs on 320 hectares of redundant docks, on either side of the Mersey, over a 30 to 40-year period.
Mr Ashworth said: ?We are trying to bring international business and create new business.
?Vancouver which is now considered the most desirable place to live and work in the world, is a great example of what could happen on the Liverpool waterfront.
?Building small houses on here, it?s not going to happen ? it would not help the local economy. They have got to be tall buildings.
?We are stuck in a planning process that is going to take too long, something needs to happen to make it happen quicker. This scheme does not fit in with national, regional, or local planning policy.
?We are a nation of rules and regulations, and we need to change the way those rules work.?
He said different planning regulations were required as the UK appeared to be heading for a recession.
?You need different policies from those that we had in the boom time.
?My view is, if it goes to a public inquiry, I am finishing, all bets will be off. We will abandon the scheme.?
He said the idea was not to become a mini-New York or a mini-Dubai.
?It?s about being a place in itself, building something that makes the place individual.?
In 2010, Liverpool will have a stand at the Shanghai world Expo ? the world?s largest business fair ? which Peel is sponsoring.
?It would be nice to go there with planning permission and be able to say to the world here is a scheme that has got government approval.?
Mr Whittaker said the Ocean Gateway plan was designed to make the North West the most dynamic and economically active region in the UK.
?In an increasingly competitive world, we see the ?North West?s Ocean Gateway? concept as an opportunity to share ideas and attract investment interest to the region.
?I believe this represents a major opportunity to put the North West in a better position to compete internationally and help reduce the North- South divide.
?I believe a central ?Ocean Gateway? branded vision will positively raise the profile of the North West, encourage inward investment and wealth creation and bring with it new people, new businesses.
?We have two great cities in the North West, Liverpool and Manchester, and they stand like bookends on the Ship Canal.?
He said they competed for centuries, but about two years ago Manchester edged ahead through adopting an open planning policy.
?Liverpool City Council is getting there, but it should continue to open its doors more and adopt similar policies.?
?The Ocean Gateway concept should have its own planning regime lead by the [North West] Development Agency.?
Mr Broomhead said the idea of planning for the Gateway being controlled by the agency was ?interesting?, and ?worth having a debate about?.
?But it would require the full involvement of the local authorities.?
Peel threatens to scrap Liverpool Waters project - Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk
Liverpool Waters
Liverpool Waters
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