East Float forms the heart of the Wirral Waters regeneration project, launched by Peel Holdings in 2006.

It comprises of 17 million square feet of mixed use floor space and is the largest of its type in the UK.

It will transform the economic fortunes of Birkenhead and Wallasey, in addition to Wirral and the broader Liverpool City Region.

East Float was “minded to give” planning permission by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Planning Committee on the 3rd August 2010 through a unanimous positive vote. The scheme was formally approved by the Secretary of State on the 29th November 2010.

East Float will establish a series of five different quarters each with its own character and approach to design. These quarters are Sky City, Northbank West, Four Bridges, Marina View and Vittoria Studios.

The scheme will include a mixture of commercial, tourism, educational and cultural activities as well as up to 13,200 new homes, and will provide truly 21st Century ways of living and working in a highly sustainable way.

Once constructed, it is estimated that the East Float development will deliver over 20,000 new jobs and be home to up to 30,000 new residents over a period of 30 years.

The Hydraulic Tower is one of two historic building groups remaining within the East Float proposals. It is located towards the northern extents of the Four Bridges Quarter.

The Hydraulic Tower is a well known landmark in a prominent location on one of the most frequently used routes through Seacombe and Birkenhead. The building includes an accumulator tower and engine room. The building was designed by J B Hartley in 1863, in line with the wider plans for the Birkenhead Docks by George Gillespie Graham and James Rendal in 1844. The building is in a poor state of repair, with significant bomb damage from a direct hit during World War II.

The Hydraulic Tower was identified as an appropriate ‘early win’ for Wirral Waters. Planning permission was granted in June 2008 securing the long-term future of this abandoned Grade II listed building. Proposals include the partial demolition, refurbishment and extension of the Grade II listed Hydraulic Tower, its conversion to a restaurant, and the erection of a four-storey 91-bedroom hotel on adjacent land between East Float and Tower Road (A544). Listed building consent has also been issued for the necessary partial demolition and refurbishment works.

The Hydrualic Tower is included within the wider East Float planning application to provide a greater degree of flexibility in bringing forward the buildings conversion and regeneration.

Northbank encompasses two quarters along the northern edge of East Float. The Grain Warehouses are one of two historic building groups remaining within the East Float proposals. They sit in a central and pivotal location between Northbank East and Northbank West.

The Grain Warehouses have been converted to new homes and are occupied. They provide one of a number of appropriate starting points for early stages of the development and delivery of the wider Wirral Waters project.

Planning applications for the Northbank East site were submitted in February 2009. In August 2009 members of Wirral’s planning committee resolved to grant detailed planning permission for plot 1, closest to the Grain Warehouses, and outline permission for plots 2-5 of Northbank East. East float will provide new homes and offices, together with a new supermarket and smaller units that could become shops, restaurants, cafes or bars providing the first phase of a new neighbourhood centre.

The Grade II listed Grain Warehouses (East Float Mills) are thought to have been designed by G.F. Lyster (architect of Liverpool’s Waterloo Warehouse) and were built in 1850. The buildings were formerly used as a departure point for emigrants leaving the Country for Australia and later as a destination for cargo ships bringing in grain for the flour mill industry.

The buildings continued to be used throughout the decline of the flour milling industry until 1999. The Warehouses have now been converted into new homes by Gregor Shore Ltd providing 168 contemporary loft style apartments.