The Assistant Director Property & Regeneration Investment has approved:

(1) The draft Indicative Site Development Plan for the former House of Fraser and part of Princes Pavement and Grange Road site, Birkenhead;

(2) that the Council shall proceed with legal agreements necessary to enable Wirral Growth Company LLP to proceed with the RIBA Stage 1 Design process, soft market testing and review of the soft market testing exercise as part of the proposals set out in the draft indicative Site Development Plan as a pre-requisite to any decision to proceed to RIBA Stage 2 and beyond.

The proposals would enable the implementation of the initial stages of design development as set out in the Wirral Growth Company draft Indicative Site Development Plan attached to this report. The initial phases of work are to complete design to RIBA stage 1 to allow viability and planning assessment to be undertaken together with the proposals being tested with potential funders and development partners. Further papers will be brought to this committee for review and approval of future work stages once this initial phase is completed.

Appendix 1 of the attached report is exempt from publication pursuant to paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government Act 1972 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) because it contains or refers to information relating to the financial and business affairs of Muse, Wirral Growth Company and the Council and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Do nothing. This would result in the potential clawback of the Brownfield Land Grant and not bring forward wider regeneration benefits. The Brownfield Housing Land Fund process has been lengthy and protracted, taking 3 years to date. Despite these delays the original spend profile and project completion date of March 2025 remains, so it is imperative to avoid further delay and commence activity to develop and deliver the projects.

Seek to identify an alternative delivery partner via a competitive process that can bring forward suitable proposals within the very restricted timetable linked to grant funding. This would result in delays that are likely to take the Council past the grant drop-dead date. The use of WGC as the Councils re-procured delivery partner will better meet the timetable.