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  IN
2010 the Peel Group, one
of the leading property and transport
companies in the UK, with assets
valued at over £4.5bn, outlined ambitious plans to rebuild
Liverpool's rundown dockland and also the Wirral's rundown dockland.
This section is all about the plans.
The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715
{ref}
and since then the port grew and by 19th century, 40% of the world's
trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's
rise as a major world city. By the late 1960's Liverpool's docks had
moved up north, towards Bootle as the boats had become to big to use
the older docks. This resulted in the decline of the old docks that
had brought the economic expansion of port. In 1972 the development
of Liverpool's Royal Seaforth Dock
{ref}
kept the port alive, but by then, most of the small docks had been
closed. By the late 70's the old docks had fallen into a state of
disrepair and started to become neglected and rundown. Over the
early 1980's and through out 1990's some parts had started to be
redeveloped for new uses, like the Albert Dock, yet others, mainly
on the Wirral side and in the middle of the Liverpool side of the
river had slipped into a state of limbo. By the end 1990's ended,
many businesses on both sides of the river had moved away from the
old docks, that had not become tourist attractions. This left a vast
wasteland of derelict dockland that still blites the river banks. In
September 2005, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) was acquired
by Peel Ports, part of the property and transport group Peel
Holdings, which also owns Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Shortly
after Peel looked at addressing the pressure growing on the port,
due to the ever increasing size of boats and what to do about the
unused land. Over 2006 the group unveil plans for £4.5 billion
'Wirral Waters' scheme
{ref}
and also set about looking at the Liverpool side of the river. In
2007 the group then unvalued it's plans
{ref}
Liverpool Waters scheme. The Liverpool Waters project included a
plan to build the North West?s tallest building, a landmark 60
storey tower on the Liverpool?s Princes Half Tide Dock.
{ref}
From then the plans grew.
The idea that Peel Holdings had and still
has is to use the old unused dockland and re-develop into something
that will attract both tourists and businesses from all over the
world. "Peel?s vision will see both these waterfronts
developed to rival cities such as Dubai, Vancouver, New York and
Shanghai." Peel said in a press release on 26 July 2007.
In January 2010, the first public viewing of Peel's full vision of
the future of both of the rivers waterfronts, 'Liverpool
Waters'
{ref}
and also the 'Wirral
Waters' {ref},
where revelled to the public. Both plans try to blend the old
with the futuristic. Most comments we heard after the first
two day Community Consultation Event
, had been very positive, but some people
still had mixed reactions and some of the many people who turned out
had worries about the plans.
Play our audio interview with the
Lindsey Ashworth,
Development Director
at Peel Holdings... This was recorded
at the public viewing on 29 January 2010. Music with
thanks to 'Misery
Guts'
{ref}.
As Peel Ports have stressed, they are after the publics views, as
one of the group in January 2010 told us:- "We want to help
Liverpool and the Wirral to build on it's amazing history. We want
the to help the people of this region re-discover this land that has
been wasted for so long. Liverpool One has shown to us all
that we can mix the old with the new and in doing show shows how we
can help save the areas future, with out destroying the past.
We aim to do just that with our project, but on a far bigger scale."
These following a few pictures below are taken around the area that
will be re-built should this development take place. The
photographs have been taken in January 2010,
by Peel Group:-
Liverpool
Wirral
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