Overview
- Hundreds protested outside Wallasey Town Hall on March 9 as councillors passed unanimous cross‑party motions raising concerns about the proposed pipeline and compression facility.
- Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram told residents the scheme is in early Stage 1 consultation under the nationally determined Development Consent Order process and warned some anti‑net‑zero activists have turned the issue into a political football.
- The roughly £5bn plan would route a 200km pipeline from the Peak District through the Wirral to the Irish Sea, add a four‑to‑five‑storey compression site near Meols or Moreton with a 50‑metre stack, and store captured CO2 in depleted Morecambe gas fields.
- Peak Cluster says about £60m has been committed so far, the route is not final, CCS is backed by government and the Climate Change Committee, land would be reinstated after construction, and safety standards would mirror those on the UK’s high‑pressure gas network.
- Campaigners and councillors cite safety and environmental risks, long‑term land restrictions and potential emissions from the compression site, and they urge investment in lower‑carbon cement or carbon‑utilisation alternatives instead of large‑scale CO2 transport and storage.