Wirral Council has agreed to settle a dispute with the Nicklaus Joint Venture Group (NJVG) over the authority's decision not to proceed with financing of a proposed golf resort development in Hoylake.

The golf resort proposal dates back to 2008 when the Council's Cabinet approved the issue of a prospectus seeking a potential developer for a world class golf resort in Hoylake. Work continued on the project and the scheme was relaunched in 2012.

In 2015 the Council's Cabinet agreed to appoint the Nicklaus Joint Venture Group as the Council's preferred development partner, and in November 2016 Wirral Council's Cabinet approved the signing of a Framework Development Agreement.

As part of the Agreement, the Nicklaus Joint Venture Group required the approval of the Council for its funding strategy and, as a part of that, could approach the Council for direct financing.

Any financing by the Council was to be a separate decision to the main agreement and at the Council's absolute discretion.

An application for financing as submitted in 2019, which the Council refused by a unanimous vote at Overview and Scrutiny Committee and then the Cabinet in July 2019.

The Cabinet said it would instead focus meeting the pledge to deliver good quality housing to everyone who needs it and support to the borough's struggling high streets.

Following this NJVG raised a dispute under the Dispute Resolution Procedure as set out in the Development Agreement relating to the Council's decision to not approve the request for funding through prudential borrowing and alleged breaches of the Development Agreement in support of a claim in damages for not less than £20M

The Council strongly disputed the claim saying it was ill conceived and spurious, and agreed to enter mediation.

On August 11, 2021, Members of Wirral Council agreed that the Director of Law and Governance be granted authority to negotiate and enter into an agreement which would see the council pay to NJVG the sum of £495,000 "in full and final settlement" with no admission of fault or liability, and as a result dissolve the development agreement.