BEING serious about green projects means putting “our money where our mouth is” and backing schemes like the Mersey Tidal project, according to one of the men tasked with overseeing it.

Plans to construct the world’s largest tidal power project, stretching across the River Mersey between Liverpool and Wirral, took a major step forward last week with the announcement of a public consultation on the project.

Cllr Anthony Burns, leader of St Helens Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority cabinet member for net zero, told a Tidal Range Alliance fringe event at the Labour Party conference how the scheme has been bolstered by the election of a government that “finally cares” about areas like Merseyside. Cllr Burns, who has been in post since May, said it was vital to back the scheme “if we’re serious about saving the world and green energy.”

Last week, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram announced a public consultation on the project will take place and the scheme has entered the formal planning process, as a scoping report has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. A tidal barrage has been an ambition of Mayor Rotheram’s since his first election win in 2017.

His plan is to create a huge piece of infrastructure in the River Mersey, stretching from Liverpool to Wirral, built in order to generate clean and reliable energy from the river for years to come. Leaders believe that energy could power hundreds of thousands of homes and last for 120 years, while the project could create thousands of jobs along the way.

Cllr Burns said: “What we’ve really seen is the resources we’ve got. We want to reach carbon net zero by 2035 and to do that, we need to lead.”

He added how the new Labour government “finally cares” about areas like the Liverpool City Region and said the barrage presented an opportunity to “do something” on tidal power. The panel also heard from Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central.

He said it was important for schemes like the Mersey Tidal project to be in place across the country and added how there are “huge opportunities” in tidal energy. Mr Esterson, who was elected as chair of the parliamentary energy security and net zero committee earlier this month, said it was “absolutely” the time for tidal and it had the power to fill in gaps in the energy supply the country faces.

He praised the “very, very good progress” the combined authority had made and cited the partner work with South Korea to develop the scheme to this point. Cllr Burns added: “It’s going to cost a lot of money but if we’re serious about saving the world, about green energy, we’ve to put our money where our mouth is.

“I think we’re in a good place to deliver this. The time is now to grasp it.”

Starting next week, households in areas closest to the proposed project will receive invitations to public consultation events, with ten events planned across the city region. The engagement events will enable people to find out more about the project, meet the team behind it, and have their say on proposals.

Feedback from the consultation will help develop project proposals and will be considered alongside ongoing engineering design and environmental assessment work. It also opens the possibility of a first-ever cycling and pedestrian route over the river between Liverpool and Wirral and could provide a defence against future flooding risks associated with climate change.