Liverpool Waters will be an investment by Peel approaching £6 billion and is currently the largest planning application in the UK, extending to over 60 hectares (150 acres) of currently under-utilised dock space. The proposals are designed to transform the site from an inaccessible, under-used area with a poor quality environment into a high quality mixed-use new quarter of Liverpool where people can live, work and enjoy the spectacular waterside setting.

Peel’s vision for Liverpool Waters includes creating a sustainable community in this part of the city. It is being designed to make a significant contribution to the economic resurgence of Liverpool and its wider area, accommodating new and existing residents and increasing the number of visitors to the city.

Liverpool Waters is being planned to accommodate city centre expansion and to stimulate regeneration in adjoining areas of the city centre, north Liverpool and the wider area.

The mixed use development will include offices/commercial areas, new homes a cultural centre and visitor attractions with supporting uses, local shops and services. Based on a 30 year programme, Peel’s aspiration is that Liverpool Waters will become home to a substantial workforce and population, delivering many thousands of new jobs and homes.

The scheme will:-

• Create a visually stunning development on a scale that will attract international and national investment and allow Liverpool to compete with the best waterfront cities in the world;
• Create new jobs and homes in the heart of the city;
• Reinforce the role of Liverpool and the wider North West region;
• Provide sustainable, heritage-based regeneration;
• Create life and activity in the World Heritage Site; and
• Build on the ongoing transformation of Princes Dock.

The Outline Planning Application for Liverpool Waters seeks permission to deliver circa 1,320,000 square metres / 14,200,000 square feet of development comprising:

• office space (Class B1 Businesses);
• residential space accommodating 9,152 homes (Class C3 Dwelling Houses);
• hotel and conference facilities (Class C1 Hotels);
• comparison retailing (Class A1 Shops);
• convenience retailing (Class A1 Shops);
• financial and professional services (Class A2);
• restaurants, cafes (Class A3);
• drinking establishments (Class A4);
• non residential institutions (Class D1);
• assembly and leisure (Use Class D2);
• cruise liner terminal and energy centre (Sui Generis); and
• servicing (Sui Generis).

Other more detailed points will be sought at a later stage – these are called reserved matters.

Wirral Waters on the opposite site of the River Mersey to Liverpool Waters is the largest regeneration project in the UK to be given planning permission. This Outline Planning Consent which consists of approximately 17 million square feet was granted in 2010 thereby enabling the transformation of 500 acres of Birkenhead docklands and the surrounding area from a deprived, under-used, environmentally poor area to a successful, mixed-use, high density location.

Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters are also both part of the wider Atlantic Gateway investment strategy for the North West region.

The scale of investment means that there will be major new employment opportunities for local people. The major challenge is to get the long term unemployed and those with no qualifications or experience into work. Peel is working with the City Council and local skills, training and education agencies to make sure that the local population provides as many workers as possible for Liverpool Waters, both during construction and once built. A scheme devised and managed by Peel has been implemented in Salford Quays for MediaCity and it is envisaged that this approach will also be adopted for Liverpool Waters.

Peel recognises that, if these opportunities are to have the most benefit for the City Region, they must complement rather than compete with existing city or town centres, be sensitive to the important heritage of the locality, and be successfully woven into the existing urban areas and communities.

Liverpool Waters will create many thousands of new jobs for local residents. This area of the city faces a number of key socio-economic challenges, with 50% of residents in North Liverpool in the top 1% most deprived nationally. Liverpool Waters will also help to attract and retain skilled workers to the city and North West region, thereby increasing levels of enterprise and attracting further private sector investment.

Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters will ensure that large areas of the dockland will be open for local residents for leisure access for the first time ever.

Peel is committed to the long-term future of Liverpool and recognises that Liverpool Waters will only be a success if the wider area is successfully regenerated.

Directly, Liverpool Waters will cost the taxpayer virtually nothing. It is largely being financed by Peel, and most of the public funds that are available come from the Government and the EU, and would be spent in other areas if they are not secured for the scheme.

Indirectly, we expect Liverpool Waters to create prosperity locally, opening up major new opportunities for business and enterprise, whilst also increasing the incomes and prosperity of local communities.

Liverpool Waters is a 30 to 40 year vision and, based upon economic cycles over the past few decades, will likely pass through a number of economic downturns. With regard to the current economic downturn we are now slowly creeping out of recession. It is anticipated that the first phases of Liverpool Waters will begin detail design in 2012, by which time it is expected that the economy will be well into recovery.

Although we are now in a period of uncertainty due to the “credit crunch,” the wider economy is stabilising and the Liverpool/Wirral economy will only grow in the longer term. This will mean that what has traditionally been regarded as the ‘economic core’ i.e. Liverpool city centre, will need to grow. We see that growth occurring north along Liverpool docks and across the water in Birkenhead / Wirral Waters.

Peel remains fully committed to the delivery of the Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters schemes.

Peel is looking to attract key employers who are not currently located in Liverpool and the North West region, in particular central Government relocations and new investment into the UK from ‘growth economies,’ including China and the Middle East. In order to convince these parties to consider locating at Liverpool Waters, it is imperative that the scheme is supported by local residents, businesses and local authorities.

Peel has also started the marketing process, working with Liverpool City Council and specialist property agents, to raise the profile of the project on the European and international stage and responses received to date are positive. This is aided by Peel’s reputation and track record of delivering key large projects, the most recent and notable example being MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, where Peel, working together with the local authority and urban regeneration company, is accommodating the relocation of key BBC departments from London to Salford Quays.

The whole of Liverpool Docks and Birkenhead Docks are being considered by Peel for major investment and improvements, though it is principally the redundant and under-used parts which currently are of limited value to the city that are identified for regeneration. In some cases, for these docks to survive and prosper and have a major long term economic role, the consolidation of these dock systems must take place. The docks are a hugely untapped resource and at present, they do not employ many people. Peel is therefore moving some areas, which are no longer suitable for port requirements or do not maximise their economic opportunity, to other parts of the Dock estate to allow areas to be regenerated by introducing exciting, new uses with far-reaching benefits.

Peel considers that it is of vital importance to both its own assets and the vibrancy of the City Region that an environment is created whereby port operations work in parallel with new high quality mixed-use property development. This provides variety, animation and interest on a scale unmatched in most UK cities. Peel’s emerging proposals for Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters will therefore not only restore the vibrancy that has been lost from these important areas and assets, they will also create new working and living communities which will integrate with existing, previously fragmented communities, providing new economic opportunities and life chances through an unprecedented scale of mixed-use intervention driven by the private sector. Peel considers it to be of vital importance to both its own assets and the vibrancy of the City Region that an environment is created whereby port operations work in parallel with new high quality mixed-use property development. This provides variety, animation and interest on a huge scale.

The development of a new international cruise liner terminal will also attract international visitors and increased investment to Liverpool and the North West region. The opening of the Liverpool Canal Link extension which re-connects the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to the South Docks in 2009, for example, is expected to generate an additional 200,000 visitors annually to Liverpool’s docks, with an extra tourism spend of £1.9m. The 1.5 mile Canal Link has allowed boats, for the first time in over a century, to navigate past the Three Graces and into Albert Dock. The £22m cost of this Canal Link included funding from Peel.

The existing docks will be preserved and transformed into public spaces, with the canal used not just by boats but for residential and tourism. Peel recognises that it is no coincidence that many of the worlds most successful and attractive leisure orientated destinations in the past two decades have been built beside water. Well known examples include Darling Harbour in Sydney, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in Cape Town, Granville Island in Vancouver and Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.

The range of employers and types of job that Peel are looking to create will provide a wide choice of jobs for local people.

Peel is proud of its track record in creating opportunities for local people, including training to apply and secure a job, and further training to continue to learn and progress when in employment. Peel recognises that the success, quality and experience of its developments depends to a large degree on the quality of the workforce and as such is committed to improving the skills and ‘know how’ of local employees.

Peel has a proven record in delivering local jobs for local people over a long period – as has been witnessed previously at the Trafford Centre and Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Peel is currently undertaking a similar approach at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, with the relocation of key departments of the BBC providing new employment opportunities for local people. Peel is committed to delivering the same success for Liverpool Waters and is working with Liverpool City Council, local colleges and agencies to put in place training and assistance in order to link new jobs with local communities.

Liverpool Waters and the wards adjacent to the site are within the New Heartlands Area. Therefore the wards in question are in receipt of significant levels of public investment to address a wide range of housing and social problems. The purpose of this investment is to create a diverse housing market in the area by providing for a range of home types and tenures. Monitoring undertaken for the Councils housing strategy and New Heartlands (NH) suggest that the programme is beginning to achieve some of its objectives with, for example, the level of owner occupation is increasing from 50% to 55%. So progress is being made over a relatively short period. Effectively new public investment is addressing many years of underinvestment and is required to establish confidence in the areas.

Liverpool Waters will contribute to sustaining that confidence and will therefore complement and support the objectives of the NH programme. In addition the project will deliver new predominantly owner occupied homes in higher Council Tax bands thereby contributing to achieving the Council’s housing strategy.

It is true that there are presently more apartments in Liverpool city centre than the market can sustain. Peel considers that this is partly because people do not have access to the finance they need, partly because too many have been built too quickly, and partly because many apartment schemes suffer a combination of poor quality design, poor community infrastructure, overpricing and a poor environment. 

At Liverpool Waters, Peel will seek to ensure that the right infrastructure is delivered, which will attract people to a place rather than just an apartment, delivering a quality of development which will speak for itself and create innovative living spaces to meet the demands of the 21st Century with the ability to deliver local facilities for existing and new communities, improved connections and a diversity of homes.

It is likely that much of the residential in Liverpool Waters will be private, sold to private individuals. We do not yet know the prices, particularly given the credit crunch. We are of course aiming to attract successful business people to live, work and invest in the area and the housing products will be aimed as high as possible. Not having a job is the root of many people’s difficulties in owning their own home. The opportunity to get a job within Liverpool Waters is high and therefore this should help some to afford homes within the scheme.

Peel is also conscious of the need to provide subsidised or affordable housing as part of its proposals, but is mindful of the major cost of providing this and the need to ensure that we not provide a similar housing offer to the adjoining Housing Market Renewal areas. We do not want Liverpool Waters to undermine the work that Liverpool City Council and others are doing in these areas. We are therefore working closely with Liverpool City Council and Government agencies to look at when, where, how much, what type and how affordable housing can be funded and managed sensibly.

Peel aims to create a sustainable development exemplar at Liverpool Waters, using the latest technology and best practice to minimize the effects of the development on the environment, in particular the amount of carbon (CO2) produced. The scale of the scheme, and Peel’s interests in renewable energy, waste management and utilities, should allow sustainable technologies to be achieved that would not be feasible on a smaller scheme.

Sustainability and eco-friendly considerations are changing all the time. Peel has not yet identified the detail of what will be done when, as this will be considered during the more detailed planning and design stages. There will also be a cost attached with ‘going green’ which will need to be factored in. It is therefore likely to be a phased approach over time. It is recognised that the scheme will be able to deliver sustainable development on an unprecedented scale, enabling the use of technologies often rendered unviable on smaller-scale, more isolated projects.

In recognition of the dock’s historic importance, part of the site falls within Liverpool’s World Heritage Site (WHS), which was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004. The remainder of the site falls within the WHS Buffer Zone. The presence of the Stanley Dock Conservation Area and numerous Listed buildings and structures also create significant historic, social and aesthetic value and contribute to the significance of the site and are being renovated and retaining.

The WHS Management Plan and recently adopted World Heritage Supplementary Planning Document set out a framework for heritage-led regeneration. Initial baseline research has identified substantial development opportunities for the site, with Peel working closely with English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). The Liverpool Waters scheme will ensure the sustainable regeneration of the Central Docks and bring enormous opportunities for conservation and enhancement of the historic environment. The scale of the area is vast, much of the historic fabric is in a poor condition, and this sector of the city has lacked investment for a long time. The introduction of new uses and major new development is vital in order to create value to fund restoration. The Liverpool Waters scheme will complement the historic buildings in the site, with the creation of a distinctive environment which takes advantage of the unique waterfront character. Public access to the site will also be encouraged, reintroducing life and activity to the area, with recreation and leisure based activities re-animating the redundant water spaces.

The waterside setting and public transport access at Liverpool Waters lend themselves very well to tall buildings. In fact, without tall buildings, it is difficult to see how the numbers of jobs and new homes and the increased activity needed to transform the site can be created. Tall buildings are also beacons of regeneration, symbols of success. They inspire investment confidence. We think they are essential for Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters. Low rise buildings simply will not create the profile or achieve the critical mass of investment that the area needs and are less likely to support new transport and other types of services.

As regards terrorist threats, the buildings will be designed using the latest engineering and technology to ensure that they are as safe as possible. 9/11 has not stopped tall buildings being constructed around the world.

Peel and its team has consulted extensively with various departments at Liverpool City Council about the best strategy for making sure that the deprived areas around the docks benefit from the proposals. Nobody wants to see an island development with no benefit to surrounding communities. It is in Peel’s direct interest to reduce the level of deprivation around its investment.

In addition to this ‘spatial’ approach, there will be host of strategies for tackling issues of skills/training, enterprise/business, retail/leisure and other issues to ensure that Liverpool Waters truly becomes a regeneration exemplar.

A major issue for the Liverpool City Region over the past few decades has been a decline in population, with an average of 10,000 people leaving the city each year in the 1970s. Today, the population of Liverpool has stabilised and now stands at around 450,000. Liverpool Waters provides an opportunity to attract and retain residents.

Peel is working with the Council and specialist property agents to understand what types of homes are needed to attract new residents seeking jobs, retain existing families and residents, and encourage those who have moved away from Liverpool to return. The employment opportunities and private sector investment which will be generated from Liverpool Waters will also help to retain residents who may previously have moved away from Liverpool to take up jobs and training opportunities.

In applying for planning permission for large projects, developers must set out how they will manage traffic, dust and noise and agree their proposals with the Council and other organisations. During construction, the Council will be monitoring the developer and contractors to ensure agreements are followed. It is likely that this will include using water to dampen materials which would otherwise blow off the site, using mufflers to control the noise of machinery and where close to residential, agreeing working hours outside of which the contractor may only do certain types of work.

As Liverpool Waters is to be developed over 30 -40 years, Peel will be working hard to make sure that new and existing residents, employers and visitors experience a high quality environment. As such, Peel will be looking to keep dust and noise to a minimum.

The wider plans for Liverpool Waters are to re-use vacant and underused sites, in sustainable locations which benefit transport strategies focusing on public transport, walking and cycling. Alternative forms of public transport are important to consider in redevelopment proposals, whilst also recognising that development schemes will place additional strain on existing transport systems with increased demand and usage. As such, there will need to be transport infrastructure improvements and interventions, in particularly to rail (including park and ride), bus and ferry services.

A range of potential infrastructure improvements have already been highlighted in our initial baseline reports and transport assessments. The existing public transport network has been studied, with an in-depth analysis assessing the impact of Liverpool Waters on traffic levels. In line with the latest Government agenda on transport, our strategies will also include demand management and the encouragement of smarter travel through Travel Plans.

In developing more detailed proposals for the various quarters of Liverpool Waters, the mix of uses proposed will provide ease of access to everyday destinations such as local shops, community facilities and employment opportunities, thus minimising the need for cars. If trips need to be made, the strategy is to ensure these can be made by public transport, thus reducing car dependence.

Connecting new communities at Liverpool Waters to wider facilities by linking into existing public transport systems and making best use of the highway network and the integrated transport system will help make the communities within Liverpool Waters truly sustainable.

The retail development planned as part of the scheme seeks only to meet the day to day shopping needs of the new residential and business community that will be created. Therefore, a key part of the retail development will be new supermarkets and services which you would expect to find in within other such communities in Liverpool. There will also be bars and restaurants to serve the needs of residents, businesses and visitors and to encourage activity throughout the development in the evening. 

Liverpool Waters will not be a new retail destination that would compete with Liverpool City Centre or Liverpool One. In fact, the scheme is designed to provide strong pedestrian connections with the existing City Centre so that new residents and employees can easily access existing facilities within the City Centre at lunchtime, in the evenings or at the weekend. Therefore, the new community will create a significant boost to trade within the City Centre which in turn will help sustain local businesses and retailers who are already established within the city.

The proposed retail elements of the scheme are scheduled to be delivered in later phases well beyond 2020 and will only be implemented once the resident and worker populations increase, this approach will ensure that there will be no impact on Liverpool City Centre. The phasing of development and the growth in population in this area, will only serve to support businesses in Liverpool City Centre in the longer term.

Liverpool City Council is working in partnership with Peel to make sure that all opportunities and issues are being considered in full. The Council is also considering how those areas adjacent to Liverpool Waters may change, to enable adjacent residential and business communities to share the benefits of Peel’s investment.

Liverpool City Council also has a key role to play in supporting the proposal and in convincing potential investors to discuss ideas further. They are also best placed to understand the needs of the community and to apply for new sources of funding not available to private sector companies. If you support the proposals, letting your Councillor and Council officers know will enable the Council to support the proposals further.

Peel has a strong track record in delivering major high quality and award winning developments around the UK within the confines of the existing planning system. Schemes include MediaCityUK in Salford Quays which has just be given Breeam Community Status, Gloucester Quays the Trafford Centre and Liverpool John Lennon Airport. These schemes have not only provided genuine benefits to the areas around them by employing local people and bringing high quality development, but they have also attracted investment.

Peel is also committing significant resources to the wider Liverpool Waters project, together with other projects along the Mersey corridor and Atlantic Gateway. The scale of investment in transport, energy and waste, and development projects is huge – it is a long term commitment to the future growth of the region. This investment is a demonstration of Peel’s confidence in the deliverability of the scale and ambition of the proposals. Put simply, Peel would not be spending significant sums of money at this time unless it was fully intending to bring the project forward as soon as possible. It would have been easy for Peel to ‘mothball’ Liverpool Waters, as many developers have done to similar projects elsewhere, and come back to them after the recession. Instead, Peel has maintained its commitment.

Peel’s projects are also recognised as being central to the delivery of local, regional and national Government targets. The North West Regional Spatial Strategy (September 2008), for example, outlines the regional housing targets for the period 2003 to 2021, with provision for 35,100 dwellings in Liverpool (net of clearance replacement), which equates to an average net gain of 1,950 dwellings per annum, of which at least 90 per cent should be delivered on previously developed land. It is expected that from 2014, Liverpool Waters will provide around 500 dwellings per annum.

Whilst Liverpool Waters has a 30-40 year delivery programme, we should not forget that the application boundary includes Princes Dock which is already subject to a number of planning consents that will be coming forward in the next few years. Princes Dock has already established itself as one of most desirable business and residential addresses in the city and is now home the flagship Malmaison Hotel. Peel intends to work with the existing consents to ensure that delivery can begin on delivery as soon economic conditions enable.

The public will have noticed improvements around the site recently towards the middle of this year with the completions of the repairs and refurbishment of the Bascule Bridge now open to traffic. A series of works are also proposed to repair a number of historic buildings and structures on the site, particularly towards the north of the site.

Due to the scale and nature of the proposed development there with be a 3 to 4 decade timescale necessary to deliver the Liverpool Waters project. On the presumption of securing outline planning consent and the recession ending the period of construction for new development may commence in 2012 and run until approximately 2042, by which time the proposals could be fully built out. The relationships established during the Shanghai Expo is hoped will be a key driver in forging the delivery of Liverpool Waters.

Whilst the composition of the scheme has altered radically from those visionary images shown in 2007, the vision to put Liverpool back onto the world stage as a business and investment location remains unaltered.

Working with stakeholders, Liverpool Waters has evolved to take account a number of differing views, detailed baseline evidence and emerging planning and policy thinking in relation to Liverpool’s role within the region and the UK for the next 20 – 30 years.

Peel believe that changes to the scheme have been positive and are confident that the scheme is robust and deliverable. Peel continues to work with stakeholders including the public and are proposing to hold a final exhibition in the City Centre prior to the City Council making its decision. Over the coming weeks and months Peel will continue to take on board comments and issues raised to ensure that it delivers the form of development that will suit the future needs of the city and its people.

Yes, we want to know what the people of Liverpool think. Liverpool Waters will be as much your project as Peel’s, and it won’t happen without the support of the community.

The application has been with Liverpool City Council since October 2010 and can be viewed on the Council’s web site and also hard copies are available for inspection in the reception at Millennium House in Liverpool.