New Ferry gas explosion: Housing plan approved for blast site

Plans to transform an area which was gutted by a gas explosion have been given the green light.

Wirral Council has approved proposals to build 34 apartments on the site of the blast in New Ferry.

More than 60 properties were destroyed by the explosion in March 2017.

Developer Regenda said the homes would be affordable and made up of a mix of one and two bedroom apartments and will "create high quality developments worthy of the site's location".

Shop owner Pascal Blasio set off the blast on 25 March 2017 in an attempt to claim insurance, injuring 81 people.

He was jailed for 19 years for causing an explosion and fraud in 2019.

It is hoped the new apartments will spark a wider regeneration in the area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

David Hughes, Wirral Council's director of regeneration and place, said the redevelopment was "considered a positive contribution in terms of housing provision and design".

During the initial planning consultation, 50 people were supportive, 32 were neutral and 29 were negative.

Common concerns about the plans included a "lack of new retail and relocation of the Woodhead Street car park" as well as concerns over development management, according to Regenda documents.

After the planning application was submitted, six objected with one neutral raising issues about the design, parking, as well as lack of shops and retail provided.

In response to criticism about a lack of new retail, Wirral Council's former regeneration director Alan Evans previously said the council was hoping the new apartments would bring in more footfall and create a customer base in the area for new businesses.

The council previously said work would begin on the first phase "at the earliest opportunity" if the plans were approved.

The local authority also confirmed "the handful of properties on New Chester Road yet to be acquired are now the subject of Compulsory Purchase Orders to remove them as barriers to the redevelopment".

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