King Charles III England Coast Path: Birkenhead to the Welsh border
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access – including maps, process and timing – in Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester.
Map of the stretch
Natural England has begun to investigate how to improve coastal access along a 41 km stretch of the Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester coast between Birkenhead and the Welsh border.
Officers from Wirral Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council are providing Natural England with expert local advice and helping to make sure there is full consultation with local interests during the development of the route.
Stage of progress
Stage 5
On 23 November 2023, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs approved the remaining section of coast path between Birkenhead and the Welsh border.
The reports are still available to view.
Natural England will publish further details of the approved route in due course.
You can see the current status of the collection in the table.
| Report number and title | Date of approval |
|---|---|
| BHW 1: Seacombe Ferry Terminal, Birkenhead to Red Rocks Slipway, Stanley Road, Hoylake | 7 July 2021 |
| BHW 2: Red Rocks Slipway, Stanley Road, Hoylake to ‘The Boat House’ Public House, Parkgate | 23 November 2023 |
| BHW 3: ‘The Boat House’ Public House, Parkgate to the Welsh border | 7 July 2021 |
Next steps
Stage 5: Open
Work is now underway to prepare the new stretch of coast path for public use. The first step is to contact owners and occupiers of the affected land to discuss the design and location of any new infrastructure which is needed, such as signs and gates.
When preparations are complete, new access rights will come into force along the route and adjoining spreading room. For further advice see the detailed guide below.
Find out more about the King Charles III England Coast Path
See information about all stretches in preparation around England’s coast.
The coastal access scheme gives details of the process being followed to improve access to the coast.
Contact the coastal access team
Contact Natural England with any comments, suggestions or queries you have about the establishment of this stretch.
Coastal access (North west)
Natural England
Murley Moss Business Village
Oxenholme Road
Kendal
Cumbria
LA9 7RL
Email northwestcoastalaccess@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone 0300 060 3900
See the map below for information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts of the north west of England.
Last updated 23 November 2023 + show all updates
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Page updated to show that the remaining length BHW2 has been approved.
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Following an administrative error, the section BHW2 has reverted to Stage 4 - to be determined.
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Page updated to show that the remaining report - BHW2 - has been approved. This stretch is now at stage 5.
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Added table showing the reports which make up the collection. Page updated to show that 2 of the 3 reports have received Secretary of State approval.
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Page updated to show this stretch is now at stage 4.
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Changed expected date for publication of the reports to early 2020.
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Removed the sentence giving a date for when access is expected to be ready. Publication of the report is expected in autumn 2019.
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Dates amended: publication of report now expected in spring 2019. Access expected to be ready in 2020.
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Page updated to show that work on this stretch has moved to stage 2/3.
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First published.