Cllr Denise Realey asked if it was true they would have tidal power by 2020?
Mr. Mawdsley said that was incorrect, they had finished the feasibility study, settled on a location, technology and costed it. The total cost came to £3.5 billion for 720 MWh of power. It would last for one hundred and twenty years, but financial models only went over twenty-five years and this had a break even point at the thirty year mark. He said pension funds would have to take a long-term view, it was a green project, but they were sitting on their hands waiting for government and overseas investors. It was now over to government if it happened….
Cllr Andrew Hodson said he had done really well and he’d found the presentation interesting. Would there really be occupation next year?
Mr. Mawdsley from Peel said the remediation would run from March to November. The site needed cleaning up as it was a remnant of the industrial heritage. They also needed to investigate the geotechnical conditions. Once this was done they would build the first phase, however they needed tenants as well as to secure a loan for 50% of the capital costs.
Cllr Andrew Hodson asked if they had got the money to start construction?
Mr. Mawdsley said they had got 50% and were hoping to get the other 50% in a bank loan.
Cllr Hodson asked if they could start with just 50%?
The person from Peel said it was a joint venture and they had already put in £5-£6 million. It was difficult getting a loan from a UK bank, so they were speaking to the Bank of China.
Cllr Hodson referred to Peel’s assets of £6 billion. Cllr Stuart Kelly said he never failed to be impressed by the sheer scale, but he had his eye on the fact he’d like to see bricks and building of this long-term project. He said the other issues were there’d be a shift in the business and retail centre on the periphery. Chinese and Far East companies would have good links to the rest of the country, but was there anything they should be doing about infrastructure? High Speed 2 wasn’t enough in our direction and there was the whole mess that is the M6.
Peel responded by saying that the International Trade Centre would be a springboard into the UK and Europe. The fact it was close to the port was essential, where it was, was pretty good with the motorway and public transport. What was important was connections to London, ideally there would be a direct mainline station to Euston, but that was not going to happen. However you could get from Liverpool Lime Street to the Wirral quickly and it was very well-connected. If it was connected to Lime Street through a disused tunnel to the dock there could be a feeder service.
Cllr Tony Cox asked about the proposed automotive and rail businesses and whether they were close enough to their target market for example Vauxhall Motors?