Development ‘to create 550 jobs’ in Birkenhead

Jan 4 2012 Birkenhead News

Development ‘to create 550 jobs’

MORE than 500 jobs could be created in a major new development planned for Birkenhead.

New shops and offices are proposed for a largely unused site behind Birkenhead Central railway station, on the edge of the town’s main shopping district.

It would follow the opening of a major new Asda store in Birkenhead town centre and the massive expansion of call centre group The Contact Company, creating hundreds of new jobs, last year.

The proposals, which should revitalise an area which has been derelict for years, were welcomed by Birkenhead and Tranmere Cllr Phil Davies, Wirral council’s cabinet member for regeneration.

Cllr Davies said: “We have been trying to develop that area between Birkenhead Central station and through to the A41, trying to come up with a good plan for a regeneration scheme for a number of years now.

“If we can make that happen at long last, it would be fantastic in terms of really lifting that part of Birkenhead, which is slightly on the periphery of the town centre.”

The proposal – put forward by National Grid Property Holdings and the Homes and Communities Agency – is for shops, offices, a restaurant, car showroom and a creche.

The scheme is due to go before the council’s first planning committee meeting of 2012.

A council report recommending it is approved said the Hind Street scheme “has the potential to create 550 jobs in one of the most deprived areas in the borough”.

The planning application does not provide details about how the scheme would look, but suggests there would be eight separate buildings, the largest two set aside for shops. The council report said their research had shown there was a need for new shops in Birkenhead town centre “to retain or claw back spending power of Wirral residents and stave off some of the competition from Liverpool and Chester”.

Cllr Davies said: “A convincing plan which would create that number of jobs is good news for the town.”