2025 has been a memorable year for Peel Waters – a year defined by delivery, ambition, and collaboration. Across all our waterfront destinations, we’ve achieved milestones that will shape communities for generations to come. 

At Liverpool Waters, we celebrated the opening of Everton Football Club’s Hill Dickinson Stadium – a world-class venue that sets new standards for sustainability and design. I visited the stadium throughout its construction, but to stand on the pitch once the build had been completed was a spine-tingling moment.  We also broke ground on Central Docks at Liverpool Waters, paving the way for thousands of new homes and a major new 5-acre city park. The infrastructure works have been funded by £55.2m from Homes England (Brownfield Infrastructure Land grant) and £26m direct investment from Peel Waters, with Liverpool City Council as the accountable body for the grant.  We all felt incredibly proud to see so many students from the City of Liverpool College’s Construction Academy join us for the groundbreaking ceremony and for them to take part in a historic moment for their city. 

As a huge Padel fan, a standout moment was partnering up with Padel Ventures and Finnish based Floating Padel Solutions to secure planning permission this year for Great Britain’s first floating Padel Courts. The concept is one of the best examples I can think of what can be achieved through ambitious thinking and collaboration. The floating Padel destination is set to open in Liverpool Waters in spring 2026 and I will be amongst the first on those courts! 

Read the full Liverpool Waters 2025 highlights wrap here. 

Wirral Waters saw the completion and full occupancy of Miller’s Quay – a £130m, multi-award-winning development that has transformed the waterfront and created jobs, skills, and opportunities for local people. When I see the bold, striking, colourful towers, it’s a striking reminder of what can be delivered through collaboration and ambitious design.  It was also a year for planning progress across all of the neighbourhoods within Wirral Waters, as we submitted plans for more homes at Redbridge Quay, an employment campus at Mea Park West, and a fantastic 6-acre David Lloyd Leisure Club complete with a state-of-the-art gym, swimming pools and spa retreat – which will be a gamechanger for health and wellness in the area. 

Read the full Wirral Waters 2025 highlights wrap here. 

At Chatham Waters, this year we opened our brand-new public park, that spans over half an acre and is filled with trees, play areas and new space to enjoy. I have always believed that Medway’s best asset is the River itself and so we have designed the park to run directly through the centre of Chatham Waters to the River Medway. Together with our partners, representatives of Medway Council and Lauren Edwards MP, we marked the completion of the park by planting the final tree with Greg Dickson and Lara Elsegood, the son and daughter of the late Andrew Dickson, our former Peel Waters colleague, who was instrumental on the delivery of our projects at Chatham Waters. This year we also built a lasting tribute to Andrew within the park. Named ‘Andrew’s Allotment’ the space has been created for children to learn about growing fruit and vegetables, engage with nature and a place for families to enjoy and make memories.  

This year we started the construction of our next residential development at Chatham Waters, a 75-bed care home, that will also offer specialist on-site dementia care.   We’re very proud to be collaborating with specialist healthcare developer Montpelier Estates again to deliver these homes which will also feature a dementia friendly amenities and facilities and is due to complete in 2026.  

Planning permission was granted for Basin3 a 300,000 sq ft employment development and Chatham Docks has been included within the draft local plan for a mix of housing and employment space that could accommodate over 2,500 new homes. 

Read the full Chatham Waters 2025 highlights wrap here.   

Trafford Waters has been an excellent example of both delivery and collaboration this year. Trafford Waters will one day have over 3,000 homes and to complete and open the very first development was a huge milestone. The Trafford Waters Care Home offers Elderly Living and Dementia Care, and the feedback we have had from the residents has been fantastic. This year we also topped out on the first affordable housing scheme at Trafford Waters being developed by L&Q and will be open in early 2026. 

Read the full Trafford Waters 2025 highlights wrap here. 

TraffordCity continued to evolve as a leading leisure and retail destination, with The Padel Club opening the UK’s largest purpose-built Padel facility, the popularity and demand has been exceptional. One of my personal highlights from 2025 was taking the residents of the nearby Trafford Waters Care Home over to the Padel Club and join them in a game – showcasing the community spirit within TraffordCity. We worked with ICITIES to submit plans for their ice-arena and multi-use events space and we saw success and expansion across all venues in TraffordCity.  

One of the most significant milestones and a truly groundbreaking moment was the construction starting on Therme Manchester – a £450m wellness resort that will redefine wellbeing in the UK. From the moment I first experienced Therme in Romania, I knew we had to bring their first UK concept to our site at TraffordCity.   Having worked very closely with the team at Therme Group over the last seven years, to bring the vision to a reality, it was a truly momentous and proud moment to share the stage that day along with Dr Robert Hanae, Stelian Iacob, Professor David Russell and Angus McAlpine as the diggers moved into place and the celebrations began. 

Read the full TraffordCity 2025 highlights wrap here.  

In Scotland, Glasgow Waters made huge strides with planning for Yorkhill Quay, cultural initiatives like Clydeside Containers, year-round events at Merklands Quay and the exciting plans for the UK’s longest urban zipline at James Watt Dock. We announced the 126,000sq ft Meadowside Industrial Estate sale to the Easdale Brothers, as well as the conditional sale of the historic Sugar Sheds at James Watt Dock to Glasgow Arts Centre Ltd. 

Read the full Glasgow Waters and Scotland 2025 highlights wrap here. 

At Manchester Waters, 2025 marked a major milestone with the submission of our new outline planning application for Pomona Island. This updated masterplan sets out a bold vision for a world-class waterfront neighbourhood, delivering up to 2,600 homes alongside 10 acres of green space, a dockside park, and tree-lined promenades. Designed to create a lively, inclusive, waterside community, the plans also include spaces for cafés, restaurants, retail, and flexible workspaces – all shaped through extensive public consultation to ensure Manchester Waters becomes a destination for everyone. 

Read the full Manchester Waters 2025 highlights wrap here.  

Finally, I wanted to mention Embassy Village. Embassy Village is a pioneering community designed to provide safe, supportive accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. Delivered in partnership with Embassy Charity and supported by an incredible network of businesses and stakeholders, Embassy Village reflects what can be achieved when the private, public and charitable sectors work together. A very personal moment for me was when Kate and I took our mum to Embassy Village and showed her the site.   

It is incredible to see the vision come to reality through the support of people and businesses working together to help some of our most vulnerable members of the community.  

As we add the finishing touches and prepare to welcome the first residents in the New Year, this project stands as a powerful example of regeneration with purpose. 

Watch the most recent progress update from Embassy Village here. 

These achievements reflect the commitment of our Peel Waters team and the strength of our partnerships, and I want to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of our dedicated Peel Waters team. 

Together, we’re regenerating places, creating beautiful homes, building communities, initiating new job opportunities, driving economic growth, and delivering social impact. 

2026 promises even more progress, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved and what’s to come. 

— James Whittaker, Managing Director, Peel Waters