Wirral councillors are being asked to approve a £36.5m contract for enabling works on the 1,600-home Borough Yard development, formerly known as Hind Street Urban Village, which is set to transform a large area of land close to Birkenhead town centre.
The major project will change the face of a sizable 32-hectare chunk of the town, with the brownfield site stretching between the Birkenhead Central and Green Lane Merseyrail stations. Outline planning permission for the scheme, which includes the demolition of two flyover roads near Birkenhead Central, was granted in early 2025.
Contract approval and next phase
At a meeting of the council's policy and resource committee next week, councillors are recommended to approve the appointment of John Sisk & Son Ltd to carry out enabling works for the project with a contract worth £36.5m. The committee is also being asked to approve a £2.86m agreement with Ion Property Developments Ltd for the management and implementation of the enabling works.
The next phase would include further site remediation and engineering works, the installation of a United Utilities attenuation tank and relocation of Cadent gas infrastructure.
Rising costs and funding
The amount of money required for the project has significantly increased since funding was approved in 2024. In September 2024, £57.2m was approved for the project, with the funding coming largely from Homes England and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), with a contribution also coming from Wirral Council.
The report for next week's committee meeting explains that a further £8.9m is now required, which will come from the combined authority. The LCRCA approved a re-allocation of funding to meet this need at a meeting earlier this month.
Wider regeneration context
The Borough Yard development is intended to tie into the wider Birkenhead regeneration scheme. Recent updates in the town's regeneration include the announcement that the recently built Birkenhead offices Mallory and Irvine are set to be fully let as well as the development of the new Birkenhead Market as efforts move forward to increase footfall in the town.
It will also coincide with the development of a new New York-inspired park that will cut through much of the town centre. The £15m Dock Branch Park will link Birkenhead's docks to Green Lane station. Inspired by Manhattan's The High Line, the linear park in Birkenhead would follow the route of a disused railway line. A spokesperson for Wirral Council recently told the LDRS the first part of the linear park will be part of the Borough Yard scheme.
