With a major review being published this week, reporter Ed Barnes looks at what comes next
Grange Road West, one regeneration scheme, that has been slammed in recent weeks(Image: Copyright Unknown)
One thing that often strikes me as I visit Birkenhead to ask people for their thoughts is how proud of their town they are. This is despite a feeling for many it has become a ghost town or something much, much worse.
Despite its challenges, people want to see it do well. They remember the days when you had to squeeze through Birkenhead Market because it was so packed or the high street had big brands like Marks and Spencer, Wilko, and House of Fraser.
Several years ago, people told me they had hoped the town was set for a revival. Plans had been put forward for a complete transformation by 2040 with a bustling town centre with new homes, shops, and restaurants.
Millions of pounds of funding came in for various projects with at least £150m to back up them up. Promises were made to turn the struggling town into something that could challenge the city over the river.
However things have not been smooth for Wirral Council’s regeneration department. Schemes were scrapped, costs shot up, controversial plans were put forward, directors left, and a feeling set in for some that nothing would get delivered.
Those issues have been thrown into sharp relief after it was revealed a major town centre scheme aimed at reviving Birkenhead was under investigation and the project causing delays and disruption was also likely £12m over budget. The council’s latest regeneration director left and the local authority is looking for a replacement.
Questions are still being asked about what went wrong and an action plan has been put forward. At the same time, a wider review into regeneration is expected to make for difficult reading when it is published next week.
The release of the review was pushed back a month, something council leader Cllr Paula Basnett recently told the ECHO was needed so councillors could fully understand it. She said the review showed the situation was serious, highlighted a failure to deliver, and that the council needed to reflect before moving on to deliver.
This could be easier said than done. There are many challenges facing the council over the next few months as the local authority looks to move on from these controversies.
While Wirral has been very successful in the past in getting funding in, the council needs to keep this momentum going.
Some developers believe Wirral Council would need nearly £1bn to deliver its housing plans by 2040. In areas like Birkenhead and Seacombe, the council’s own estimates suggest £580,000,000 could be needed to deliver nearly 10,000 homes.
If the council does not start to deliver new homes on the sites it has promised the government it will, this could see more challenges from developers looking to build on Wirral’s green belt.
Leverhulme Estates which previously proposed homes across large parts of west Wirral could have another go and any refusal would be costly.
A lack of delivery on housing could also present other challenges. It has been highlighted thousands are on waiting lists and housing the homeless is understood to be getting more and more difficult while an ageing population will put more pressure on the council’s budget.
When the regeneration review drops next week, it is likely to raise big questions about what went wrong. The bigger test for those in the council though is what happens next.