By
Elizabeth Robinson |
Liverpool City Council has submitted a planning application for a new £50 million cruise terminal facility on the River Mersey, which would enable the city to welcome some of the world’s biggest cruise ships.
The application includes the controlled removal of Princes Jetty and the construction of a new terminal, set within a “statement building”, on a new suspended deck structure in the river.
In 2017 Liverpool welcomed over 60 vessels, with 120,000 passengers and crew members. The council wants to create a new passenger and baggage facility which will feature passport control, lounge, café, toilets, taxi rank and vehicle pick up point.
The application is expected to be heard by the council’s Planning Committee in January 2018. If approved, site preparation at Princes Dock, in Liverpool Waters, is expected to start in spring 2018.
“A new cruise facility is one of the city’s most important regeneration projects of this decade and is vital to growing Liverpool’s tourism economy,” said Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson.
The council is currently inviting tenders to select a design and build contractor to construct the facility. This is a two-stage contract award process; the first stage is to develop the design and confirm the construction costs with appointed consultancy firm Ramboll UK and is expected to be awarded in March 2018.
Tenders are also being assessed for the site investigation works needed at the Princes Jetty site, which has been gifted to the council by Peel and is expected to start in January 2018.
Further planning applications could potentially include supplemental projects with a new 200 room hotel and a multi-storey car park for more than 1,700 vehicles.
“A new cruise facility will also be a huge boost to our plans to regenerate the North Liverpool docklands and create thousands of new jobs which is why we’re putting together the best team of experts to ensure we build this facility to the very highest standards,” said Anderson.
The council recently held a two-day public consultation on the scheme and is investing a further £32 million in upgrading the A565 to support the new cruise facility and north docklands. It is also planning to create a £20 million link road to extend Leeds Street to the waterfront to support a new £30 million Isle of Man Ferry terminal.
“We are delighted at the progress the city council is making with the new terminal proposals,” said Ian Pollitt, assistant project director at Liverpool Waters. “We are working very closely with them and our other partners to progress the development and this planning application is a major milestone in that process.”