Wirral coastline to be given £10m investment to make improvements

Jan 18 2010 Liverpool Daily Post

Jean Stapleton

SIX ambitious projects which could transform Wirral’s coastline over the next 10 years have been unveiled by Wirral council.

Wirral announced plans to invest £10m to breathe new life into a 6.5km stretch of land and turn it into a major visitor attraction.

It has teamed up with the prestigious Royal Mersey Yacht Club (RMYC) in Rock Ferry, which is working on its own scheme to build a new clubhouse, refurbish a disused pier formerly used by an oil company and create a 100-berth marina to bring international sailing competitions back to Wirral.

The club’s proposal links up with council plans to seek investment to refurbish the derelict esplanade at Rock Ferry and overhaul Eastham Country Park, Shorefields Community Nature Park and Wirral International Business Park.

Along the same stretch of coast there are plans to turn the former Bromborough landfill site into a park.

Details of the individual projects making up the scheme – called the Mersey Coastal Park Strategy – can now be revealed.

They include:Š

Restoring a derelict jetty at Shorefields and the neglected esplanade on the riverside at Rock Ferry,

Creating an “iconic sculpture” at the highest point of Bromborough’s former landfill site and

The construction of a 100-berth marina in Rock Ferry to host major sailing competitions.

David Ball, head of housing and regeneration at Wirral Council, said the plans were still at an early stage but it was important to “move forward with momentum”. He said one current problem that the council hoped to tackle was that, while visitors went to historic Port Sunlight village, they did not stay to explore the surrounding area.