Homes England agrees to invest £29m into project to create new community of more than 1,500 homes in Birkenhead, adding to £22m already secured for the scheme. Tony McDonough reports
Wirral Council will push on with plans to create a new community of 1,500 homes in Birkenhead after securing two cash injections totalling £51m.
Last month Liverpool City Region Combined Authority agreed to put £22m into the Hind Street Urban Garden Village. This aims to transform the 65 acres of a former gasworks into a thriving new neighbourhood over the next 10 to 15 years.
Now Government agency Homes England has agreed to invest a further £29m towards the regeneration scheme. Hind Street would also include a new park, improved transport links, commercial space and leisure facilities.
This £51m will fund essential infrastructure works needed to unlock the site and deliver the first 633 homes. It is one of a number of regeneration projects in Birkenhead which has already benefited from almost £20m of what was called Levelling Up funding.
Last week Wirral Council announced it was sharing multiple masterplans for the town with residents. They include Charing Cross and the new commercial district, an updated plan for St Werburgh’s, and the Birkenhead Waterfront project.
Cllr Paul Stuart, leader of Wirral Council, said: “This additional funding from Homes England will really help to accelerate our plans to change this part of Birkenhead for the benefit of local communities.
“I’m pleased our ambitious ideas to transform this key area have this backing, enabling us to get started bringing along new homes, public spaces and better-connected living for our residents.
“Our regeneration strategy looks beyond changes to the built environment to see that in the long term, when regeneration is people-focussed, it reduces inequalities, creates employment opportunities and improves health and wellbeing.”
The former Rock Ferry to Bidston Dock railway line will also be brought back to life as Dock Branch Park. The line, thought to be one of the oldest stretches of track in the world, has been closed since the early 1990s but will be turned into a ‘linear’ park.
Hind Street is being delivered by Wirral Council in partnership with developer Ion. Subject to planning approval, it is expected to start on site in 2025 and complete in 2027.
In the past couple of weeks the authority has reaffirmed its ‘brownfield first’ approach to regeneration and is seeking to maximise the prospects for the central Birkenhead area.
Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, added: “The funding approved today is further evidence of our support for the region and aligns with our mission to work together with the mayor (Steve Rotheram) and his team.”