That approval included detailed proposals for a development with 141 residential units, a small supermarket, restaurants and cafes and outline plans for 1,531 residential units, offices, bars and leisure facilities – including buildings up to 40 storeys high.

There was an objection from Warner Estates, the owner of the shopping centre in Birkenhead, which fears the scheme will damage the Birkenhead town centre economy – Wirral’s “main retail and commercial centre”.

This point has recently been underlined by a report to Wirral Council’s cabinet which said Birkenhead “has seen its attractiveness as a retail centre fall rapidly – in April 2008 Birkenhead’s share of Wirral comparison goods shopping was 28.4%, whilst in March 2009, this had fallen to 23.3% (-5.1%, the largest fall in Wirral).”

Cllr Foulkes also said Peel is “very excited about selling Wirral’s virtues” at the Shanghai Expo in China next year, and the company was “hoping to use that platform for attracting investment in Wirral Waters”.

Wirral’s cabinet will this week consider whether to spend £28,000 on maintaining a Wirral presence on the Liverpool Council stand at the six-month long “Business Olympics” which is being sponsored by Peel.

A report to the Cabinet said: “Peel who are the major sponsor of EXPO, have asked that the authority has a presence at EXPO as they intend to use this opportunity to promote the Wirral Waters scheme.”

The report recommends Wirral contributes £18,000 to the cost of the event, plus a further £10,000 for attending.