18 Jun Can Birkenhead change and provide better opportunities for residents?
Birkenhead has secured £80-90m in government funding and now, there is a chance to create a new future that brings meaningful opportunities for all. But, is this enough to deliver beneficial change.
Background
Birkenhead is located opposite Liverpool and run by Wirral Council. It’s a place which has struggled with health deprivation, job opportunities and reputation for decades.
Can this funding open up the town centre to residents new and old and create job opportunities over the next 15 years.
Hitting the road
The sites were so spreadout we had to travel some of the route by coach to fit them all in!
We started off at Wirral Waters and I must admit to not quite knowing where it was in relation to Hamilton Square and the town centre. The scale of the site is vast – it’s the largest regen project in the UK – needing a coach for us to visit it, and the views across to Liverpool are incredible. Amenities are coming with a supermarket and retail/F&B hub space opening later this year but it currently feels isolated with no attractive walking routes or bus links to train stations.
But there’s good stuff happening with a FE College for construction creating much needed training and job opportunities with students having been involved in the college design and on housing developments through work experience programmes or being employed.
We heard that the emphasis is on creating jobs – much needed in Birkenhead – and leveraging funding related to the maritime sector and Freeport status. It’s a site to return to as it develops to see how it can connect with the wider town.
Returning back to the town centre, the council now owns most of the retail area and we met in their new town centre office. By bringing 800 employees into the town centre, they feel that they have stabilised the town centre – while admitting there is too much retail – and created increased footfall for the businesses which are there. 300 new homes are expected to be delivered in the next 18 months.
Only minutes from the town centre, we stopped at Hind Street, a former gasworks primed for 600+ homes where Ion Property Developments Limited and Picture This are involved. This is seen as a key site in repopulating the town centre but again, it’s a 15-year timeline.
The final stops were at Make CIC’s new maker space building and Future Yard CIC a live music venue and bar which was in the first wave of venues bringing life back to Birkenhead.
The plans we heard about are credible but it is likely they will need to adapt as the programme develops. Bringing people back into the town centre will be challenging and I wasn’t clear what the attractor will be – new market, new creative businesses, refurbished retail street? It’s going to be vital that local people buy into the plans and spread the word that Birkenhead is changing to bring people along with them.
Key takeaways
Amenities and transport are crucial in the first phase. At the new Brent Cross Town development in London, the train station and playground in the first phase as opposed to these coming later at Wirral Waters
Partnerships are vital – Wirral Council have partnered with Muse, Peel and Homes England
Colocation of council / public sector services can increase footfall and deliver efficiencies for the council
Local authorities (in general) don’t always understand the ‘best value’ rules when it comes to community assets meaning acquisition takes too long
Long term plans – masterplans, town plans etc – are important in setting out a strategic vision but with many of the completion dates 15 years away, what can happen now to change perception of the town and bring people back?
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