WIRRAL is to get its own ver- sion of Liverpool’s award-win- ning Hope Street Hotel as part of a £10m scheme to breathe new life into West Kirby.

The luxury hotel is the centrepiece of a wide-ranging development which will also provide the seaside town with a new sailing school, to replace the existing 43-year-old complex.

Developer Carpenter Investments have been granted exclusive rights to work up their proposals in more detail after winning a competition and signing a contract with Wirral Council.

Their scheme will now go out to public consultation, with planning permission being sought towards the end of the year. The develop-ers will be hoping to avoid the controversy which held up similar regeneration plans for the New Brighton resort for many years.

Plans for West Kirby centre around a hotel at the head of the Marine Lake, on the Dee Lane car park site, which will include a restaurant, bar, spa and conference facilities, together with retail outlets at ground-floor level.

The new sailing school building will be on the footprint of the existing site, and will include an information centre for Hilbre Island, a separate boat storage building, and additional retail unit and café.

Developers are aiming to integrate all the sites into a single waterfront attraction, which will create around 50 new jobs.

Carpenter Investments was co-founded by David Brewitt, owner and operator of the Hope Street Hotel, and Alan Beer, director of Beers Timber & Building Supplies.

Last night, they said their development would make a significant contribution to the regeneration of West Kirby, and would also improve links between the town centre and the waterfront.

Mr Brewitt said: “We’ve been working on the scheme for a couple of years and we are delighted to have won the competition to develop the area.

“It’s a spectacular location and there is a growing trend towards high-quality spa type hotels in resorts which have faded a little bit.

“We’re keen to engage with as many people as possible, and I like to think the hotel building will be acclaimed architecturally.

“The new sailing school and information centre will create a focus at that part of Dee Lane and will be of great benefit visually.

“The discussions we’ve had to date have been very positive. All places move forward, and I’d like to think this is a positive addition to the area, and will make it much more exciting visually.”

The new sailing school will be entirely funded through the private sector at no cost to the council taxpayer, while the developer has put forward a number of different solutions for replacing lost car parking on the site.

Mr Beer, who has lived in West Kirby all his life, said: “I think it will completely change a lot of people’s perceptions of Wirral as a place to stay and visit, as well as bringing West Kirby up to a new standard for the 21st century and give it more of a classic resort feel.

“It’s a lovely piece of coastline, but perhaps it keeps itself to itself a little bit. There’s an under-provision of hotels in Wirral generally, and this should attract people who are visiting Liverpool and want to move out a little bit further.

“Our development respects the scale of West Kirby as it is, and will act as an enhancement to it. I believe the town will benefit enormously from having this level of investment going into it, and that it will create a new focal point for this beautiful stretch of coast.

“Our architects, Studio Egret West, are young and ambitious with a fast developing international reputation for creating exciting and place-making buildings.” Cllr Bob Moon, Wirral’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and leisure, said: “The Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool is a multi-award winning facility, and if its success is replicated in West Kirby it will benefit the whole of the borough immensely.

“The scheme also provides Wirral with a new, high quality, state-of-the-art sailing school at no capital cost to the council and will deliver significant economic benefits including approximately 50 new, sustainable jobs.”

OPINION: PAGE 12

alanweston