Consultation event for new Mersey cruise terminal

Liverpool City Council will be hosting a two day public consultation next week on proposals for a new permanent Cruise Terminal Facility on the River Mersey.

The council is looking to create a new £50m facility which includes the controlled removal of Princes Jetty and construction of a new terminal within a statement building, on a new suspended deck structure in the Mersey.

  • Residents and business are invited to view and discuss the proposals with the project team on Wednesday and Thursday, 20 and 21 September, within the arrival hall at the Cunard Building, Water Street, between 2pm and 7pm.

This year Liverpool welcomed more than 60 vessels, with 120,000 passengers and crew, but the council wants to capitalise on the cruise boom by creating a new passenger and baggage facility complete with passport control, lounge, café, toilets, taxi rank and vehicle pick up point. The current terminal generates more than £7m a year to the city’s economy.

Engineering consultancy firm Ramboll has been appointed to lead a highly skilled technical team to develop the facility with a planning application is expected to be submitted later this year.

The multi-disciplinary design team, includes architects Stride Treglown, cost managers Gardiner & Theobald, global planning and property consultants JLL, and landscape architects Hyland Edgar Driver.

Tender documents for procurement of a main contractor on a two- stage contract award basis is expected to be issued in later part of October 2017, in the meantime tenders have been invited for progressing the site investigation works.

Subject to planning and funding approval the construction works are expected to start in summer 2018. The Ramboll team will then project manage and assist with ongoing monitoring of construction of the new facility.

Further planning applications could potentially include supplemental projects with a new 200 room hotel and 1,700+ multi-storey car park to enhance the city’s capabilities in handling the next generation of turnaround cruises, which can carry up to 3,600 passengers.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “A new cruise facility is vital if we want to continue to grow Liverpool’s tourism economy. We want to welcome the next generation of super liners and passengers to the Mersey and provide a world class welcome and a five star experience.

“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 have put together one of the very best teams of experts to ensure we build a facility to the very highest standards.

“Everyone in Liverpool has a connection to the river and I expect this consultation event will be very popular. We’re excited by the plans and we’re keen for the public to see what they have developed.”

Although the proposed multi-storey car park has been earmarked for the new Cruise facility, the council is reviewing locations north of Leeds Street so it could also support initiatives around the Ten Streets creativity district and North Docks areas, including Everton FC’s proposed stadium at the nearby Bramley Moore Dock.

The council recently approved a new £20m waterfront link road by extending Leeds Street as well as investing a further £32m in upgrading the A565 to support the new facility and a new Isle of Man Ferry terminal, with the new link roads expected to begin by 2019.

Liverpool City Council, which is currently overseeing £13bn worth of regeneration projects, is also carrying out further maritime and infrastructure investigations, environmental impact assessments and surveys and is working closely with Peel Land and Property which has gifted the Princes Jetty, which sits within its £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme, to the city.

Ian Pollitt, Assistant Project Director at Liverpool Waters, said: “We are delighted at the progress the city council is making with the new terminal proposals. We are working very closely with them and our other partners to progress the development and this public consultation is a key stepping stone in that process.”

 

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