Building Birkenhead's Future: Summit Series Tackles Housing, Jobs, and Investment

A series of three summits throughout July brought together local leaders, businesses, and community representatives to discuss  Birkenhead's future, focusing on housing, employment, and community life.

Member of Parliament for Birkenhead Alison McGovern, chaired the summit series, which was held at the Williamson Art Gallery and designed to explore how different aspects of community development can work together to strengthen the area.

The series began with the Homes for Birkenhead Summit, which focused on clearing derelict sites and attracting investment for quality housing. Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotherham participated in discussions, commenting, “Years of inaction and chronic underinvestment by the previous government left places like Birkenhead in the grip of a deepening housing crisis - making homeownership feel out of reach for too many families. 

“Now, we’ve got Angela Rayner leading a serious national plan for housebuilding, and a government that’s backing councils to build, cracking down on landbanking, and prioritising genuinely affordable homes. 

“Here in our city region, we’ve already delivered more than 30,000 homes through devolution, taking a brownfield-first approach that protects our green spaces. And with Westminster finally pulling in the same direction, we’ve got the chance to go even further, giving more families across the Wirral a chance to put down roots and build a better future.”

Discussion at the Jobs for Birkenhead Summit addressed employment opportunities for young people, strengthening connections between job centres, colleges, schools and employers, and tackling health barriers to employment.

The series concluded with the Enjoy Birkenhead Summit, with discussions exploring investment opportunities in central Birkenhead, examining how cultural and sporting assets could drive regeneration and attract more visitors.

With Birkenhead being selected to receive up to £20 million in government regeneration funding over the next decade through the trailblazer programme, these summits presented an opportunity for improved collaboration between Wirral Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the Member of Parliament and local stakeholders to deliver positive change for Birkenhead.