Revised Woodside Plans Would Move the Bus Interchange and Open Up the Waterfront

The wide bus turnaround at Woodside would become a public park under revised plans Wirral Council has submitted. The bus interchange would move to the south of the site. The council announced the revised application on Wednesday 4 November (Woodside transformation continues, Wirral View).

The council is aiming for everything at Woodside to open together in spring 2028. That includes the new ferry pontoon and a renewed Battle of the Atlantic visitor attraction.

What the revised plans include

If planners approve them, the council says:

• the area now taken up by the bus interchange becomes new public space with landscaping across the centre of the site
• a children’s play area sits in the middle of that space
• existing trees are kept, and new ones planted
• the bus interchange moves to the south of the site
• road links are renewed from Woodside up to the Argyle Street and Conway Street roundabout, where they meet the town centre works

The council says the plans follow “extensive survey work” across the site. They are meant to make it easier to walk between the ferry, the waterfront and Birkenhead’s shops.

The council gives the application number as 233358 on its planning portal. We could not open the portal today: it blocks requests from anything other than a full web browser. So we have not read the drawings or the documents filed with it.

How the scheme has changed

This is the third version of the plans in under two years.

• March 2025: the first planning application, for a Woodside Culture Park and arrival plaza with an events plaza, a pocket park, a children’s area and road and parking changes. The council called it a “£20 million-plus” transformation (Planning application submitted for Woodside revamp, Wirral View)
• February 2026: preparatory works began. The number of trees to be felled for the new roads fell from up to 56 to 21, with at least 66 new trees required (Birkenhead Waterfront preparatory works get underway, Wirral View)
• March 2026: the scheme was partly redesigned after the first cost plan came in over budget. The council blamed sub-contractor prices, inflation and the risk of hitting cables close to the surface. The overall design and build budget is £25.6 million (Birkenhead Waterfront delivery update, Wirral View)

The March 2026 version kept a walking and cycling route between Hamilton Square station and the ferry terminal, a new transport interchange at Hamilton Square station, and the heritage tramway, so the line could run again in future.

Why the ferry date matters

Woodside Ferry Terminal closed in October 2022 for an upgrade. Mersey Ferries said in March 2024 that it was “set to reopen from summer 2025” (Woodside upgrade, Mersey Ferries). That did not happen. Spring 2028, the council’s target for the whole site, is the first date it has given that includes the ferry.

For now Seacombe is the only Wirral terminal with commuter sailings. Read where the new Royal Daffodil fits in.

What it means for you

• To see or comment on the application, search the council’s planning portal for 233358.
• Bus users: nothing changes yet. The interchange only moves if planners approve the scheme and the works reach that stage.
• Ferry users: there are still no sailings from Woodside. The council’s target is spring 2028.

Our Wirral planning news page tracks other major applications, and current closures are on Wirral roadworks and travel.