Works starts on Wirral New Brighton regeneration scheme

Dec 15 2009 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Photomontage of the Neptune new New Brighton scheme, phase two 300

DECADES of failed schemes and missed opportunities have come to an end with the start of work on a major development on Wirral’s waterfront.

A contractor appointed by Neptune Developments – which has worked on the project since the turn of the century – has erected fencing around New Brighton’s marine lake.

It is expected the lake, which for a time was the focus of opposition to the plans, will be drained within days if water sampling is approved by the Environment Agency.

Work to remove silt to fill in massive holes on the site of a proposed supermarket nearby will then begin.

More major parts of the scheme will have to wait until after the Christmas break, but, by late summer next year, it is anticipated around 500 people will be working on the project.

Rob Mason, development director for Neptune, last night admitted it was a longer-term scheme than anyone ever expected.

He said: “We have had 14 different schemes for this site, with the first planning application by Neptune coming in 2004.”

New Brighton has a history of ambitious projects which never got off the ground. They included massive plans to build on the Dips – site of the Wirral Show – in the 1960s to the £150m Ocean Dome proposal, which was first proposed in 1996 and was also supposed to breathe new life into the seaside resort.