Wirral to reallocate £4.5m for transport museum expansion

A different scheme has been deemed undeliverable for its £6.35m budget, so the council has opted to punt most of that money towards the expansion of the Birkenhead attraction.

The money was initially ringfenced for the Transport Shed, a project to create a facility for the exhibition of the National Museum Liverpool’s transport collection.

But at this week’s Wirral Council economy, regeneration, and housing committee meeting officers said the shed project was not deliverable with the budget available.

An alternative option was put forward to reallocate £4.5m of the £6.35m budget available to expand the Wirral Transport Museum in Birkenhead which was transferred from the council to Big Heritage CIC last year.

There is a range of development plans being drawn up for the museum with a wider opportunity to join in with the regeneration of other sites nearby, linking heritage visitor attractions within Birkenhead into a single package.

These attractions are the U-boat story at Woodside, The Grasshopper, a working example of a giant steam pump used to clear water from the Mersey Railway Tunnel, and now the Wirral Transport Museum.

Councillors were told the outcomes of expanding the museum would be similar to those which would have been delivered by the transport shed project under the terms of the Town Deal funding.

The committee opted to follow the recommendations to reallocate the money, subject to further work on developing a grant funding agreement and undertaking due diligence.

The Town Deal funding has to be spent by March 2026, and the rest of the £6.35m will be reallocated at a future date.

Big Heritage has prepared a business plan to support the development of the transport museum and secured backing from the Heritage Lottery Fund with £230,000 to contribute to project development costs.

The Town Deal funding would enable the expansion and renovation of the building to facilitate more of the current collection being on display. This would be in addition to space being dedicated to attracting families and young children.