Work is to begin in early 2014 to clear a site which will eventually provide up to 1,000 new jobs in the Wirral.
The site is intended to become home to the car parts industry, supporting local manufacturers such as Vauxhall and Jaguar Land Rover. It is the council’s hope that the first companies could be in place by 2015, in time for the next model Vauxhall Astra.
Aside from the car parts industry, Wirral Waters is also going to be used as Peel’s International Trade Centre in the £4.5bn industrial and business park.
Peel Holdings spokesman Vincent Chen told JMU Journalism: “Peel is committed to bringing long-term prosperity to the community; the construction of the whole Wirral Waters scheme will extend over a period of 30 years.
“The Peel International Trade Centre, being its first project to be constructed, has now reached the stage of recruiting tenants from overseas and is planned to be open in summer 2015.”
Wirral council said it is now getting ready to help businesses from China as they relocate people to work in the ITC.
Council leader Phil Davies told the Liverpool Daily Post: “As we move into 2014 the council’s role in this ‘tenant sign up’ process will be to ensure support mechanisms are in place to provide a ‘soft landing’ for those businesses when they first arrive in Wirral.
“This work will range from help with recruitment and training of local staff to providing advice on how Chinese staff can send their children to a local school and how to buy a residential property.”