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REGENERATION PLANS HAVE BEEN APPROVED DAN HAYGARTH Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter 16:22, 23 May 2025Updated 16:22, 23 May 2025 The plans for the first phase of the
regeneration of Fiddlers Ferry have been approved. The former power station site, which saw its northern cooling towers felled in December 2023, will be transformed for future industrial and
residential use. Found between Warrington and Widnes on the River Mersey, the power station's construction was proposed in 1962. It was then built between 1964 and 1971 and entered
into full operation two years later. At its peak, the coal-fired power station was capable of producing enough electricity to power around two million homes. Its eight 114-metre cooling
towers and a 200m metre chimney made it a landmark, visible from the Pennines. The power station was decommissioned in March 2020 after nearly half a century of use. Peel L&P subsidiary
Peel NRE purchased the 820-acre site in July 2022 and the company is demolishing the power station in stages. As well as the cooling towers, the coal stockyard, and former administrative
buildings were levelled in 2023. Now, the phase one regeneration scheme has been approved by Warrington Borough Council's development management committee and will deliver up to
130,714sqm of employment floor space across four units across both industrial and distribution uses and is expected to create around 845 jobs, according to Peel NRE. The scheme will be
delivered across approximately 40 hectares of the former coal yard, representing the first step in redeveloping the wider 324-hectare site – which is allocated in Warrington’s local plan for
a long-term, sustainable mixed-use development. Article continues below Keiran Tames, Development Director at Peel NRE said: "We’re delighted that Warrington Borough Council has
approved this first phase of development at Fiddlers Ferry. "This marks a significant milestone in the transformation of this strategic brownfield site and will enable us to continue
our investment in the site and Warrington." The development will include sustainable features, with buildings targeting a minimum BREAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental
Assessment Method) 'very Good' rating. The scheme also incorporates renewable energy generation, including solar PV and heat pumps, alongside landscaping, amenity space, and
sustainable drainage features. Peel said the approval also secures transport infrastructure including improvements to the existing access at Widnes Road, new pedestrian and cycle
connections, and contributions toward enhanced public transport services. Since the removal of the northern cooling towers in December 2023, progress has continued across the site with
clearance works focusing on the southern cooling tower area, gas turbine house, pumping station and water treatment facilities. Peel is set to begin the next major phase of site preparation
in the coming weeks, which will address the Flue Gas De-Sulphurisation plant, precipitators and remaining coal handling infrastructure. The approval for phase one represents just the first
step in delivering the plans set out in the Fiddler’s Ferry Development Framework which was approved by Warrington Borough Council’s cabinet in September 2024. Article continues below Peel
NRE said the wider masterplan will eventually deliver approximately 101 hectares of employment land and a minimum of 860 new homes, alongside parkland and recreational areas.