HOW can Liverpool’s world-famous waterfront be developed and improved is the subject of a major new public consultation. Liverpool City Council is posing the question as part of an 8-week consultation, which runs until:- Friday, 8 August 2025.

The Council appointed highly acclaimed urban design and landscape architecture firm, West 8, together with BDP, to develop an ambitious and visionary plan that sets a benchmark for waterfront regeneration in Europe.

Now the public are being asked to provide feedback on a draft waterfront Vision and Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The Vision sets out bold proposals for the future of Liverpool’s waterfront over the next 20–30 years, placing local communities at its heart. It also seeks to create a more inclusive, accessible and thriving waterfront.  The Vision is underpinned by three core principles:-
 

• Connected – Reconnecting neighbourhoods to the Mersey, ensuring everyone can access and enjoy the waterfront.
• Free and Green – Prioritising free-to-access public space and green infrastructure to support climate resilience
• Growth – Supporting high-quality, heritage-sensitive development that creates places to live, work and play and benefits the whole City.

A key focus is to improve connectivity and linkages, both north/ south and west/east, and to create new public realm with an emphasis on quality of place. The vision will also address conservation and enhancement of the natural and historic environment, as well as climate change and the Council’s ambition to deliver net zero by 2030.

The draft SPD will translate this Vision into planning guidance, design principles and development parameters covering such matters as movement, active travel, green and grey infrastructure, identity and character of different areas along Liverpool’s waterfront.

Once adopted, the SPD will be a material consideration in the determination of planning applications and will guide public and private investment.

The draft plans have been informed by meaningful engagement with Liverpool’s communities, residents, and businesses and key stakeholders, such as Liverpool BID Company, Grosvenor, Tate Liverpool, and major land-owners such as Peel Land and Property, National Museum Liverpool, the Canal and River Trust, General Projects, and Liverpool Yacht Club.

This public consultation provides a further opportunity to provide views and help shape the final Vision.

Councillor Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:- “Liverpool is blessed to have 1 of the world's most iconic waterfronts and it’s our duty to ensure its future development befits that status. Our vision for the riverfront is to honour its heritage whilst embracing innovation. This plan should be both a celebration of our rich maritime history and a blueprint for embracing its potential, helping to grow communities and create new jobs. We’ve already had some great conversations with a number of stakeholders and now we need to hear the views of our residents. Their feedback will help guide this exciting new chapter in our waterfront story and help ensure everyone continues to enjoy and benefit from this amazing asset for generations to come.”

Councillor Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Development and Growth, said:- “Liverpool’s waterfront is instantly recognisable and a principal reason we’re 1 of the UK’s most visited cities and 1 of the most filmed in Europe. It has been transformed over recent decades and is once again a huge part of the City’s economic engine. Now with this new plan we all have a chance to play our part in shaping its future. The ambition, scale and scope of what is being planned from Festival Gardens to beyond Everton’s new stadium has the potential to transform all the communities connected to the Mersey. It’s not often we have the chance to make history but helping to shape this waterfront plan is that moment, and I hope people embrace this consultation to make this and plan the best it can possibly be.”


HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY:-

The Council will be inviting key stakeholders and the public to an engagement event on:- Monday, 7 July 2025 at Liverpool Town Hall.

A copy of all consultation documents will be available to view during normal working hours at the following locations:-

Cunard Building, Brunswick Street, Liverpool, L3 1AH
Liverpool Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EW
 
They can also be downloaded at:- liverpool.gov.uk//waterfrontvision

Feedback can be provided by email at:- planning.engagement@liverpool.gov.uk

Or people can write to:-
Liverpool City Council – Planning Policy Team
Cunard Building, Water Street
Liverpool, L3 1AH


NEXT STEPS:-

After the consultation period closes, the final Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) will be prepared and reported to Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet by Autumn 2025. If approved, the SPD will be adopted as part of the Council’s planning framework, supporting the Liverpool Local Plan and informing the consideration of planning applications within the waterfront area.