New Brighton: Frustration over Wirral Council regeneration delays

The New Brighton Coastal Team's regeneration plan includes a scheme to secure investment to develop empty buildings

Traders and community groups have drawn up their own plans to regenerate a town, claiming unnecessary delays by a council were holding back development.

The New Brighton Coastal Team was formed after members became frustrated waiting for action to be taken.

Wirral Council said it had been working on a "masterplan" for the area which was due to be unveiled by the summer.

But local entrepreneurs said delays in revealing the full plan had put investors off.

Sean Martin, from the team, said the group's regeneration plan included a scheme to secure investment to develop empty buildings and build a land train along the promenade.

"The buildings are in a bad state of repair, they need regeneration.

"We want to look at ways to enhance the tourism offering we have here in New Brighton, to extend the tourism season which would benefit the local businesses here."

Sean Martin said buildings were in a bad state of repair

Local entrepreneur and founder of Rockport Leisure Dan Davies invested £8m in New Brighton's Victoria Quarter in 2018, creating a mix of independent bars, restaurants, galleries and street art which draw visitors.

Mr Davies said the council's masterplan for the town had been repeatedly delayed, so no private investors had been sought to back more developments.

"With it being put back, and back, and back, people are sat on land, waiting saying, 'what can we do with it? What are the plans? Can we have a joined up approach?'"

"They end up running out of money... [or] just the will to carry on with it.

"We're going to see a massive missed opportunity."

Dan Davies invested £8m in New Brighton's Victoria Quarter in 2018

A draft of the council's masterplan was revealed last year, which outlined developments for the next two decades.

The council said the plan would be finished in the summer and would give confidence to new investors.

It said the plan had been delayed because it had been focusing on putting in bids for the government's Levelling Up funding for areas with higher levels of deprivation.

The New Brighton Coastal Team wants to look at ways to enhance the tourism offering in the town

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"The government's levelling up funding programmes are competitive processes, and the council expends scarce resource on submitting bids with the best opportunity of success," a spokesperson for Wirral Borough Council said.

"One of the main criteria that the government employs in assessing levelling up bids is the relative level of deprivation being experienced by the communities that the funding will be directed at.

"New Brighton, although experiencing challenges, does not have the higher levels of deprivation experienced in New Ferry, Birkenhead and Liscard, hence the successful bids were focused on these areas."