Merseytravel pulls out of deal to buy Birkenhead theatre and tramway

Feb 10 2011 By Liam Murphy

A PLANNED new tramway in Wirral and the sale of a key arts centre are under threat after passenger transport authority Merseytravel decided to pull out of the deal.

The ambitious plans could have seen a tramway connecting Seacombe and Woodside – linking into the huge Wirral waters scheme being developed by Peel.

The deal initially involved Wirral council selling the Pacific Road theatre in Birkenhead and the transport museum and tramway to preferred bidder Merseytravel.

But the deal is under threat after the Merseytravel board voted not to go ahead with it.

The sale is understood to have been for a notional sum, but with Merseytravel taking on the running costs.

Deputy leader of Wirral Council Simon Holbrook has slammed the 10 Labour members of the Merseytravel board who voted against the deal – including Wirral Labour councillor Ron Abbey.

It was the Labour group in Wirral whose party had initially instigated the Strategic Asset Review, which the sell-off was a part of.

Cllr Holbrook described Ron Abbey’s decision to side with his Labour colleagues in Merseytravel as a "betrayal" and said he had even approached the Labour leadership in Wirral in a bid to secure their support for the transfer deal.

Sources have confirmed that Peel, the company behind the £4bn Wirral Waters scheme, had offered land to Merseytravel to extend the historic tramway in Birkenhead to Seacombe, which would link Merseytravel’s Spaceport and U-Boat attractions at Seacombe and Woodside.

The hope was that this could lead to improved transport links for the long term Wirral Waters scheme.

Cllr Holbrook said the deal had appeared to fit in with Merseytravel’s other interests in Wirral and the tramway could link Spaceport and the U-Boat, as well as providing the start of a tramway for Wirral Waters.

He said: "The reason they (Merseytravel) gave for not proceeding was cost, but having said that the report came with the recommendation to Merseytravel to proceed.

"It’s taken a very long time to get to this point and Merseytravel have given it the most detailed scrutiny. I find it incredible that Cllr Abbey could do an about-face on this issue in this way.

"I consider it a bit of a betrayal and it makes the future of Pacific Road very uncertain."

But Cllr Abbey defended his decision to vote against Merseytravel’s purchase of the theatre and museum. He had earlier voted against raising tunnel tolls, against the rest of the Labour group.

He said: "We were asked to spend £1.2m of public money on a project which when you looked at the business case seemed not to add up.

"We have members from St Helens, Sefton, Liverpool who have seen massive budget cuts, job losses. Having to cut day centres, nurseries funding for voluntary groups, and other services and then saying, by the way, we’ve spent £1.2m of your money on a museum.

"We are a transport authority and that is what we should be focusing on."

A statement from the Transport Authority said it had rejected plans to acquire Wirral Transport Museum, Birkenhead Tramway and Pacific Road.

Cllr Mark Dowd, chairman of Merseytravel said: "In this economic climate, it is impossible for Merseytravel to commit to this kind of project.

"We recently saw cuts of around two-thirds to our government block grant, and sustaining existing services will be tough enough."

However, Merseytravel are understood to still be negotiating over "acquisition of assets in Birkenhead" and the Daily Post understands it is seeking to split the theatre, museum and tramway, potentially leaving Pacific Road out of a final deal.

Jim Wilkie, interim chief executive of Wirral Council, said: "We are still looking at the implications and options for how we can move forward."