Secretary of state decides not to call in giant regeneration project
Wirral Waters
The government has decided not to call in the 拢4.5bn Wirral Waters planning application from Peel Holdings, giving final approval to the 17 million sq ft regeneration scheme.
Developer Peel says the scheme, which it claims is the largest regeneration project in the UK, will create 20,000 jobs over a 30-year period. It was approved by Wirral council in August, but has had to wait for secretary of state Eric Pickles to confirm whether or not it will receive further scrutiny from central government.
Peel hit out at the planning system, which has seen the scheme take four years to get approval.
Lindsey Ashworth, the firm鈥檚 development director, said: 鈥淭he ridiculous 鈥檅lack hole鈥� of a planning system that we have had to suffer in the UK for more years than I can remember is finally starting to show signs of common sense.
鈥淭he planning shackles that have been holding back progress and job creation are being loosened at long last. Wirral Waters being granted planning permission is a great win for everybody.鈥�
Peel said the scheme would be built out when the 鈥渞ecession allowed鈥�, which it estimated would be 2012 at the earliest.
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