In 2008 the site of Ellesmere Port's operational dock - including over 70 acres of the waterfront area (immediately to the north-west of Ellesmere Port Historic Dock and Conservation Area and to the south-east of the Bridgewater Paper Works) - was the subject of a planning consultation, in which it may have been proposed that the docks be relocated closer to Eastham on the Cheshire West and Chester/Wirral boundary, and the area be redeveloped into a predominantly residential area consisting of up to 8,000 new homes.