A HANDSHAKE on the site of the proposed £4.5bn Wirral Waters was yesterday intended to seal an agreement between Liverpool and Wirral over the massive redevelopment plans by property giant Peel Holdings.

Liverpool City Council’s Labour leader Joe Anderson met with Wirral Council’s Tory leader Jeff Green in Birkenhead’s dockland to agree not to differ over the ambitious plans.

Liverpool’s council will not object to the planning application in Wirral, and vice versa, Wirral will not oppose similar plans for Liverpool Waters.

Birkenhead docks, site of the proposed Wirral scheme, includes more than 500 acres and Peel say the development of offices and homes would create tens of thousands of jobs during construction over a 30 year period, and approximately 27,000 jobs when complete – making it key to Wirral Council’s regeneration plans.

In Liverpool Peel Holdings wants to regenerate the city’s northern docklands with a series of skyscrapers creating more than 25,000 jobs and 14,000 apartments in a £5.5bn development.

This week it was revealed the company has now agreed no building on the Liverpool waterfront will be higher than 15 storeys and eight skyscrapers have been removed from the plans after English Heritage raised concerns.

Cllr Anderson said: “Wirral could have been concerned about the development of Grosvenor’s Liverpool One.

“But the fact is that we can’t curtail and stop the private sector investing and developing, especially when it creates job opportunities and improves the conditions of areas like the poorest wards in Wirral.”