Neptune Developments received approval for the final reserved matters application for Phase 2 of the £60m regeneration of New Brighton from Wirral Council tonight.

The scheme already had outline approval but this latest decision by Wirral’s Planning Committee means the scheme is on track to start on site at the end of the year.

The second phases consists of a new Morrison’s Supermarket, a 66-bed Travelodge hotel, a digital cinema, bars, restaurants, a watersports training centre, a new model boating lake, a public lido and other public spaces, as well as improved public transport links. The news of Travelodge signing up as the hotel operator was announced last week and more announcements on end-users are expected in the coming months.

Neptune Developments Director Rob Mason has said: “This is great news for both New Brighton and Neptune as we are now all systems go to complete our vision for this once great seaside resort. We would like to thank Wirral Council for their support for this scheme and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the local community as construction gets underway later this year.”

The scheme is expected to create hundreds of jobs, both during the construction phase and when the finished phase opens for business, providing a huge boost to the local economy. The completed first phase of Neptune’s New Brighton scheme included the very successful 800-seater Floral Pavilion Theatre and Conference Centre.

Rob Mason continued: “We plan to have refurbished the Marine lake and completed the new Promenade and the Model Boating Lake within 5 months of the start. We will be maintaining the current boating lake until the new one is ready for use.

“The new supermarket will be completed next, 12 months after the start on site, ready for fit-out by the operator, Morrisons, and the new hotel, cinema and a number of the leisure buildings will be completed three months later, again ready for fit-out by the operators. The final elements, the rest of the leisure buildings and the Lido will be completed two to three months later, around 18 months after the start on site.

“The order of the programme means we are able to deliver all the public realm areas first and then we are completing elements of the scheme to meet the needs of the end users. We believe everything will be completed in 2011, making it an extremely significant and exciting year for New Brighton.”