Peel is to invest a further £16m into the industrial and logistics element of its Wirral Waters scheme including a speculative 45,000 sq ft unit and capacity for more than 200 jobs. Tony McDonough reports
Peel Waters has submitted a trio of planning applications to Wirral Council for a new phase in its Wirral Waters development, including a 45,000 sq ft speculative unit.
While recent activity in Wirral Waters, located around Birkenhead’s docklands, has focused on residential development, Peel is now turning its attention to Mea Park West, a key industrial and employment site.
Mea Park West is a designated tax site within the Liverpool City Region Freeport zone. This offers businesses located within the zone tax incentives for investing and creating jobs such as relief on stamp duty, business rates and National Insurance contributions.
These new applications set out proposals for the enabling infrastructure across four distinct plots, involving site remediation, three new access roads, an energy sub-station and sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS).
Landscaping plans include the expansion of the Greenway active travel corridor. The applications also incorporate proposals for a speculatively built 45,000 sq ft manufacturing and logistics unit on one of the plots, with investment totalling £16m.
Located on the corner of Wallasey Bridge Road and Beaufort Road, Mea Park West is a largely vacant brownfield dockside site, part of Peel Waters’ vision to transform the area into a hub for advanced manufacturing, logistics and innovation.
In total, the four plots at Mea Park West will ultimately deliver 171,400 sq ft of new employment space, alongside the conversion of the 42,000 sq ft Mobil building into an upgraded Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) factory.
This facility will act as an industry-led centre for manufacturing, prototyping, training and digital design, supporting new housing delivery both at Wirral Waters and across the wider region.
Peel claims interest has already been secured from a range of occupiers, including both local expanding businesses and inward investors. It is anticipated the development could provide capacity for more than 200 jobs.
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Richard Mawdsley, Director of Development at Wirral Waters, said: “These planning applications represent an important step forward in the delivery of Mea Park West – a key employment hub within Wirral Waters.
“By creating the infrastructure and high-quality space for a wide range of modern manufacturing and logistics businesses, we can attract new investment, support local supply chains, and deliver hundreds of new jobs for the immediate area.”