WIRRAL Council has awarded a contract to move forward its plans for a new cycle lane that will connect Birkenhead to Liscard. The local authority said the contract was “necessary to support the next stage” of the £10m scheme.

At an environment and transport committee meeting on July 15, a majority of councillors approved for more work to be done on the cycling and walking route from Birkenhead to Liscard taking into account public feedback and developing a case for funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Those in favour said the scheme would improve transport for future generations but concerns have been raised about congestion but those who voted against.

To help move the scheme forward, Wirral Council has awarded a nearly £34,000 contract for three months to outsource the role of a project manager for the scheme, £11,247 a month with the option to extend this up until March 2025. Previous contracts for support are now over £100,000 but the costs are being covered by grant funding.

A council officer decision notice published on September 19 said: “There is a considerable value for money justification in commissioning Stantec to provide PM (project manager) support as they are able to capitalise on momentum from their previous involvement and have developed good relationships with stakeholders. 

“A deviation from using Stantec on this programme would result in lengthy delays, an increase in cost and a loss of knowledge from the project manager.”

The scheme is currently projected to cost around £10m though this is based on dated projections for original £18m plans to extend the route to New Brighton and Wallasey Village. The cost is expected to increase further due to continued inflation since 2020.

At the moment, the cycle route plans stop in Liscard town centre with plans beyond that to connect to Grove Road station and New Brighton several years away and no designs put forward at this stage. That hasn’t stopped the proposed route being controversial with an opposition campaign to scrap it currently taking place in shop windows and on social media. 

The funding for the Liscard to Birkenhead route scheme is expected to be covered by active travel grants awarded to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority which are earmarked for schemes to help people walk and cycle more and cannot be spent on other services. At the July meeting, it was reported thousands of people were reached in a public consultation exercise but only 366 people responded with 45% in support and 44% against.

Labour councillors who spoke in favour of the scheme called it “a golden opportunity” and the scheme would be “building the infrastructure for the future” with potential benefits for local businesses. It was highlighted how Wallasey school children had described their route to school as “dangerous, dirty and polluted.”

However, Conservative Cllr Vida Wilson, compared the scheme to the controversial Fender Lane route, adding: “It’s going to take a lot of the highway away. We’re going to end up with more traffic congestion and who’s going to use it?”