Resort set for £20m windfall

Sep 27 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

THE second phase of development in New Brighton could bring £20m a year into the resort, its backers say.

New plans for the resort are due to be heard by Wirral Council’s planning committee next month at a special hearing.

The £40m proposals were radically revised by Neptune Developments, the company chosen by Wirral Council to find a way to improve the seafront area, after its initial plans were thrown out by a government inspector last year.

Rob Mason, development director for Neptune, said they had consulted more carefully than ever before on the new scheme which council planners are recommending be approved.

Regeneration experts say the proposal will result in 1,380,000 leisure visits in total, generating £20m a year with almost half of that coming from outside the borough.

A report to the council’s planning committee said the completed development could more than treble the number of visitors to the Wirral seaside town from 144,000 to 537,000, bringing in £8.9m.

The last application had faced massive opposition over part of the plans which would have seen a supermarket built on part of the existing marine lake.

New Brighton was heavily divided about the first application between those who fiercely opposed it and others who equally strongly wanted it.

Under that proposal, the marine lake was to be filled in and replaced with another lake further along the promenade. Also controversial were proposed apartments.

Opposition from local groups, including the owners of the grade II- listed Fort Perch Rock, led to a public inquiry which saw government ministers follow the inspector and refuse the application.

The new application is for 14 hectares of land, stretching from the listed Fort Perch Rock along the seafront to the roundabout with Kings Parade.

The application is for a supermarket on the site of the former outdoor pool, and a 60 bed hotel on the waterfront.

Neptune plans to dredge the Marine Lake, and there will be space for restaurants, cafes and bars.

Next to the supermarket will also be a building for indoor leisure uses such as a cinema, bingo casino and nightclub, and an indoor and outdoor pool and leisure club on the site of the current model boating lake.

liammurphy