New images reveal plans for a £20m Woodside Culture Park and ‘arrival plaza’ around Woodside ferry terminal in Birkenhead. Tony McDonough reports
A planning application has been submitted to create a £20m Woodside Culture Park and arrival plaza around Woodside ferry terminal in Birkenhead.
New images released by Wirral Council show the new scheme, part of wider plans to transform Birkenhead and the waterfront. It adds to the £10m revamp of the ferry terminal itself which is already under way.
This project will also form a gateway into the rest of Birkenhead connecting major regeneration work already underway across the town while better bringing together Woodside Ferry Terminal, Hamilton Square and the wider town centre.
Wirral Council leader Paul Stuart, said: “Here in Wirral, as well as being a fantastic place to live and work, we also have the very best views of one of the most instantly recognisable waterfronts anywhere in the world, just across the Mersey from us.
“These plans, along with the replacement of the ferry pontoon at Woodside, could see this area finally becoming an attraction, worth a visit not just for the views but as a space to hold events and ultimately a unique neighbourhood for people to live in.
“Wirral is delivering one of the country’s biggest and most significant regeneration programmes to ensure we can provide thousands of new homes and jobs in Birkenhead and across the borough over the next 20 years.”
If approved this scheme would see an events plaza and pocket park suitable for a range of uses including by the community as well as changes to improve roads and parking, plus an area for children. The plans include:
- Change of use of the current car parking adjacent to the Woodside Ferry Terminal to an events plaza with flexible spillover space to the north east.
- The partially boarded area of water to the north is to be converted to a safe place for children’s play. A small section closest to the river wall, will be protected by fencing and be retained as open to incorporate and showcase heritage features.
- The outdoor space previously occupied by the Woodside Market during and post COVID will accommodate attractive new urban parkland, greening and a sustainable drainage system to further soften the aesthetic of the area.
Last week the council revealed the Government had approved its new Local Plan which sets out the borough’s blueprint for regeneration over the next two decades, focused on brownfield sites. Councillors will meet to consider the plan on Monday, March 31.
This vision includes a new ‘vista’ along, or close to, the waterfront that would see the building of thousands of new homes. Preliminary work is already under way on the Hind Street urban village project in Birkenhead that will see 1,600 homes built.
That project will also include a new park, facilities for pedestrians, cyclists as well as commercial and community space.
In June 2021 Wirral Council’s Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee considered plans for a £100m ‘Sports City’ complex at Bidston Dock that would become Tranmere Rovers’ new home. That project is still some way off.
Birkenhead waterfront has been identified as a key location to support the wider push for regeneration within the recently adopted Woodside Masterplan, Birkenhead Regeneration Framework and the Local Plan.
Aim of the initial work is to make the waterfront area far more accessible, better for pedestrians, cyclists and those on public transport as well as creating a visitor destination with views across to Liverpool.
There will be further consultation on the Woodside project in the coming weeks in relation to the associated Traffic Regulation Orders and general highways matters.
In addition the Woodside Masterplan consultation asked people to give views on the design ideas for Woodside and the Waterfront, as well as Argyle Street and Hamilton Square area.