Welcome - Widnes Waterfront

The Widnes Waterfront Economic Development Zone (EDZ) is one of only fourteen designated Economic Development Zones in North West England and will, over a six-year period, utilise £8 million of European Regional Development Funding together with £7.5 million of funding from the North West Development Agency and approximately £1.5 million pounds of Halton Borough Council funds as the lever to facilitate the wholesale regeneration of a derelict, former industrial area in Southern Widnes.

It is anticipated that, in excess of, £70 million of investment will be brought into the Widnes Waterfront area which will transform the area into a commercial and tourism development site of regional significance in a stunning riverside setting.

The economic impact of the Widnes Waterfront Economic Development Zone will be considerable with over 2,700 new jobs being created over the lifetime of the programme.

Over a period of six years over eighty hectares or two hundred acres of low quality industrial land will be transformed into a new, regionally significant, development site made up of commercial office and light industrial developments together with a major tourism facility in a dramatic waterfront setting in South Widnes.

A master planning exercise for the Widnes Waterfront programme has been completed by Halton Borough Council's consultants' BDP and Jones Lang LaSalle.

The master plan for Widnes attaches great importance to the retention of existing industrial users. New industrial development will be focused towards the east of the Widnes Waterfront towards Shell Green. The areas closer to the town centre will be retained for uses such as office, leisure and high technology employment.

The development, along the banks of the Mersey and the Sankey Canal, will create an entirely new business environment for South Widne. The area will comprise a mixture of public spaces and landscaped parkland with trees, seating areas, lighting and public art.