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The natural resources division of the Peel Group is seeking approval for the method of demolition of the boiler house, turbine hall, chimney stack, GT exhaust stack and four remaining cooling towers at Fiddlers Ferry.

Subject to approval, the works are targeted to start at the end of 2025 for completion by late 2027, with the cooling towers planned to be demolished in late 2026, continuing the multi-year process of regenerating the site. 

Since the demolition of the northern cooling towers in December 2023 – a controlled explosion by PP O’Connor and Specialist Explosive Services brought down four 115-metre high concrete towers – progress has been continuous across the site. Clearance works have focused on the gas turbine house, flue gas system, water treatment facilities, and other ancillary structures, whilst remediation is ongoing across the wider area. 

Fiddlers Ferry is allocated for mixed use redevelopment including 101 hectares of employment space and up to 860 dwellings in Warrington’s adopted local plan, and a development framework to guide the regeneration was approved by Warrington Borough Council in September 2024. The council’s planning committee resolved to grant planning permission for the first phase of new development at Fiddlers Ferry in May 2025, subject to completion of a section 106 legal agreement. This scheme includes the construction of more than 130,000 sqm of employment space.

Peel NRE development director Kieran Tames said: “Submitting this application is another important step in the journey to transform Fiddler’s Ferry. We have already delivered significant clearance works over the past 18 months and subject to approval, this next stage will allow us to continue preparing the site for Warrington’s long-term regeneration needs.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to repurpose a nationally significant brownfield site and bring forward new jobs, homes and green space for the region.”

This phase of demolition is an enabling step for the next stages of the masterplan. Subject to future consents, further employment land will be brought forward in phases alongside new site access, including a new western access from Widnes Road becoming the primary employment entrance and the existing central access serving as a secondary route. 

Once the remaining power station structures are cleared, residential development is planned to start, delivering a minimum of 860 homes supported by new community infrastructure such as a primary school, local centre, sports pitches, landscaping and open space.

Several projects are already under way at the site, with Peel NRE recently reaching a long-term deal with Titan Group to extract and process ponded fly ash from the site’s lagoons into a low carbon cement replacement product. SSE Renewables is also currently building a 150MW battery energy storage system at Fiddlers Ferry. 

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