Hi, i'm new here

I was just wondering what sort of development/regeneration is happening outside the city centre.

As far as I'm aware, there isnt too much going on on the Liverpool side of the river except down near Otterspool where you have the Garden Festival being redeveloped and of course, Brunswick Quay. There is also an 11-storey building proposed at Runcorn.
There is a lot of interesting stuff going on in Wirral though, such as the Poseidon statue and the large scale redevelopment of New Brighton.

Have a look at Martin's devopement summary which mentions things such as LFC's new staduim and Aintree Racecourse.

Another one not mentioned is the New Heartlands scheme.

New Heartlands (http://www.newheartlands.co.uk/PAGES/FRAMESETS/BACK_FRAMES.html)

Most of us are critical of the scheme which appears to be commited to lower density housing in the inner city. There are also the city gateway improvement shemes such as the Edge Lane approach where the roads capacity is to be increased resulting in the demolision of many homes.

These people are involved in a lot of the work going on outside the city centre -mainly on the approaches to the city.

http://www.liverpooldev.co.uk/index.asp

As far as I'm aware, there isnt too much going on on the Liverpool side of the river except down near Otterspool where you have the Garden Festival being redeveloped and of course, Brunswick Quay. There is also an 11-storey building proposed at Runcorn.
There is a lot of interesting stuff going on in Wirral though, such as the Poseidon statue and the large scale redevelopment of New Brighton.

Welcome, the first thing to know on this super forum is to forget all the crap that the Preston Prat utters. :weirdo:
There is plenty of activity outside the downtown area, details are a bit thin on the ground here as we concentrate on the big sexy jobs. take a look at Liverpool Land Development Co. www.liverpooldev.co.uk for information on projects in the 4 STRATEGIC INVESTMENT AREAS (SIAs). Over £325M is being invested in these four areas alone. Other sites that will give infirmation are, www.liverpool.gov.uk & www.merseyside.org.uk try these first.

As for that list of jobs posted by Preston Prat, they are all still on the drawing board.

Thanks, I'm going to read all the links now.

Welcome Mr Boombasticman. :cheers:

MAybe Project Jennifer could get a mention around the Scotland Rd/Gt Homer St area. Not much has happened apart from rumours. But at the moment there is a 4storey apartment block under construction which has sold out and phase 2 is about to start sson. Also a new centre for the NSPCC is planned where the indoor market is. I know its not 50 storey's but for this part of the city its a step in the right direction and I don't see why this area can't milk the city centre for all its worth!

City sites in building deal Jun 9 2005




By Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Echo

BUILDER David McLean has clinched a landmark deal with an office developer worth £75m a year, which includes a new scheme in Liverpool.

Leeds-based Business Homes develops offices all over the UK and has 30 projects under way.

It was recently granted planning permission to start work on a development at Liverpool International Business Park, next to Liverpool John Lennon airport, big enough to cater for 200 jobs.

Business Homes chairman Simon Houlston also indicated a desire to develop a similar-sized adjacent scheme and also one in Wirral.

Under the agreement McLeans will build up to 250 units a year for Business Homes, worth £75m annually to the construction group.

David McLean Contractors group managing director Ken Dalton said: "This is an exciting opportunity for all concerned and we see it as the major achievement in being able to deliver this quality product for a guaranteed price throughout the country."

The builder is behind several major developments in Liverpool's regeneration, from student accommodation to luxury housing and hotels.

Business Homes provides modern, air conditioned units for offices and start-up firms. The Liverpool site will provide nine separate office units. Work should start in early July.

Mr Houlston said: "We build in phases and there will be four units in the first phase. All four are in solicitors' hands, so that means we will start to build the rest in six to eight weeks' time."

He said the four tenants included two airport- related companies, a software company and a media firm.

The company said it distinguishes itself from fellow developers by offering freehold packages on single floors, which encourages buy-to-let deals.

Mr Houlston added: "We are on the lookout for sites on Merseyside and we are very interested in the former Cammell Laird land and are keen to go there."

A 150 home green village is to be developed on a former tower block site in Everton at a cost of £18M. The design will be based on "green" ideas, high standards of insulation to cut fuel bills and appliances that use less water are proposed along with timber frame construction instead of concrete,the village will be built at the junction of Everton Brow and Salisbury St.

A 150 home green village is to be developed on a former tower block site in Everton at a cost of £18M. The design will be based on "green" ideas, high standards of insulation to cut fuel bills and appliances that use less water are proposed along with timber frame construction instead of concrete,the village will be built at the junction of Everton Brow and Salisbury St.
this pleases me something being built for the average people of liverpool.

Sounds a bit like the planned 'green scheme' for the Dingle too. Not heard anything on that in a while..

The IKEA in Netherton has been approved. (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=15683799%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=mersey%2dikea%2dstore%2dmoves%2dstep%2dcloser%2d-name_page.html) :)

The IKEA in Netherton has been approved. (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=15683799%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=mersey%2dikea%2dstore%2dmoves%2dstep%2dcloser%2d-name_page.html) :)

Great news fo the city.

Its mad - even though I live in Liverpool, the Warrington Ikea is still easier for me to get to!!!

A new 300 million Alder Hey. (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=15679062%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=a%2dnew%2dalder%2dhey-name_page.html)

ASDA have applied for planning permission to build a 40,000 sq ft store on the TA base in Bootle, behind New Strand railway station too. :cheers:

A new 300 million Alder Hey. (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=15679062%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=a%2dnew%2dalder%2dhey-name_page.html)



I love the Alder Hey hospital buildings. Its right by where I grew up and it’s very close to where I now live. It will be a shame if it does get knocked down but it’s obvious that the hospital doesn't meet with current NHS standards so it's definitely right to relocate. Perhaps it could it be converted to apartments?

If it was to be demolished I would hope that they keep the building that fronts Eaton Road then demolish the buildings behind it.

A prime site to relocate would have been the land off Edge Lane, next to the old John Moores Pools building, but I believe this area is now being developed for something else.

It says the hospital could be relocated to stanley market...! Doesn't sound like an ideal place to me.

Hospitals these days need to be ultra modern, all in one, cheap and clean, so it's understandable new ones are replacing the old multi building hospitals, so hopefully Alder hey will be built on a new site, and the old site redeveloped for housing, with retention of the best bits of architecture.

Has anyone seen the plans for Woodside? could be good. The green scheme in Dingle is under construction - this is behind where I live!. Personally it would of been greener to of kept Corinth tower, more density = less travel to the city for work and shopping etc - they could of done a view 146 on it!.

The IKEA in Netherton has been approved. (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=15683799%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=mersey%2dikea%2dstore%2dmoves%2dstep%2dcloser%2d-name_page.html) :)

Pity. Only a couple of weeks ago IKEA said they were going to trial a new 'city format' store because they were finding it so hard to get out-of-town and big sites these days. Liverpool City Centre has loads of empty sites around its periphery that would be suitable for a small IKEA. They should have turned this down and lured IKEA into the periphery of the centre. Isn't there loads of unused or underused space in and around the southern docks, Scotty Road and the central docks?

Very true!, could of been an achor tenant for a new development?

Liverpool City Centre has loads of empty sites around its periphery that would be suitable for a small IKEA.

But this one is the same size as the one in Warrington.

But this one is the same size as the one in Warrington.

As may be, but if it was turned down, they could develop a smaller city centre format store in Liverpool, near the city centre, then develop other small stores, such as this proposed Bootle one, and maybe Chester or Birkenhead. They should be at public transport nodes, is Netherton a public transport node? (I have never been there, I'm afraid, so I don't know). A smaller store can offer as much choice, just needs a bit more logistical know-how by the shop to make sure there is enough stock in.

Just seems a real lost opportunity to build up the city centre. I go to the Croydon IKEA by tram, and I think a Liverpool one should be built with a tram stop, as it's dead easy getting big boxes onto trams in a way you can't on a bus.

Pity. Only a couple of weeks ago IKEA said they were going to trial a new 'city format' store because they were finding it so hard to get out-of-town and big sites these days. Liverpool City Centre has loads of empty sites around its periphery that would be suitable for a small IKEA. They should have turned this down and lured IKEA into the periphery of the centre. Isn't there loads of unused or underused space in and around the southern docks, Scotty Road and the central docks?
Problem being that this is in Sefton council area, who are not likeley to say no, go to Liverpool instead, but i agree the city centre ikea would be great, because those Ikea stores are usually chokker block full. Think of the increased business generated for Liverpool city centre, that would be great. :)

Problem being that this is in Sefton council area, who are not likeley to say no, go to Liverpool instead, but i agree the city centre ikea would be great, because those Ikea stores are usually chokker block full. Think of the increased business generated for Liverpool city centre, that would be great. :)

The need for a City Regional authority seems urgent: retailers are very powerful. It's no wonder our metropolitan areas are clogged with climate-destroying cars on pointless journeys when they take advantage of US-style balkanisation of city governance.

Is there any opposition to this? It sounds like it flies in the face of the need to develop sustainable transport to big retail developments.

No-one should ever need to drive to an IKEA, unless they are disabled or have a very large family. IKEAs should all be connected to public transport - bulky items can be delivered. In my town there are two companies who "shop" at IKEA for you and deliver and assemble the things for a small fee. It's far more efficient to load up one van than have 30 private cars driving for miles.

People enjoy walking around IKEA for days on end. That is why they go there in droves, not to actually buy stuff, but to 'enrich' their sad little lives by coveting crap furniture they'll never own. Why use public transport, which can be an unpleasant pain in the arse, when you can get into your car outside your front door and park outside theirs? The site on Dunnings Bridge Road has been a vacant plot for about five years, and has almost direct motorway access, making it a lot easier to get to for out-of-towners, as the Warrington store is for us.

The Fazakerley Hospital bus link goes down Dunnings Bridge from Bootle Strand, Old Roan Merseyrail station is a ten minute walk away, as is a major bus terminus at Marian Square.

Half the appeal of Ikea is the driving to it. Our flat sometimes feels like it is almost entirely kitted out with the stuff (try finding stuff as good for less, yeah right). Whilst I can imagine taking the train/bus there to get some of the smaller items but with the delivery costs starting at £35 it would make it somewhat prohibitive if you're one of the many people who like us who can't afford to buy everything at once buy goes along once every month or two and picks up the next thing you want.

Sorry, I'm very much a convert to the Mothership and it goes against my case of being pro-public transport and having out of town centres. However, unlike places like the Trafford Centre (why?!) I think that shops like Ikea probably have some sort of justification for locating where they do.

There is of course an argument that plonking an Ikea in the middle of Liverpool CC, Bootle, Birkenhead, Chester etc will have the effect of killing any furniture shop in town.

went to huyton villiage today and theres a quite big retail development ongoing were the old asda used to be. some example of improvements outside the city centre.

Did you get any names of the developers A1 or the scheme?

not sure, il look next time i go i was in the car , theres goona be 26 new retail units 70% of the units are let, including wilkinsons. it will create hundreds of jobs. something to do with knowslet and ctp or something.

Don'k know if Prescot counts, but there is a large site which used to be BICC Cables Ltd, that is being developed with large groundworks at the moment. Probably not going to be high rise though.

Demolition on the building on the corner of Kensington and Hall Lane is now complete. Anyone know what is going here?

St. Mowlem Developments have applied for planning permission for a new district centre bounded by Great Homer St, Buckingham St, Scotland Rd, Kirkdale Rd. The plan includes demolishing some existing buildings building a superstore, petrol station, retail units, light industrial units and 371 residential units. Quite a big job here in an area in much need of investment.

WORK has started on a £36m new town centre for South Liverpool's Speke community.

The 130,000 sq ft centre will create almost 500 jobs and will see a major Morrisons Supermarket as an anchor store along with a parade of shops and community facilities.

The work is starting 10 years after the regeneration started in south Liverpool, with the highly successful Estuary business park and other developments.

The city council-backed Liverpool Land Development Company described the start of the scheme, alongside the main Speke-Widnes link road as a "major milestone" in the area's transformation.

The first phase of work involves the creation of a new junction off Speke Boulevard to access the seven-hectare site of the new centre.

The existing, largely-derelict, shopping centre will be demolished to make way for additional sports pitches for the showpiece Parklands High School.

Developments in Speke and Garston, including Estuary Commerce Park and Boulevard Industry Park, have dramatically enhanced the prosperity of the area.

The new District Centre will provide the local amenities needed to serve the Speke estate and the area's burgeoning workforce.

The centrepiece of the scheme will be the Morrisons superstore and the creation of a new bus terminus at the entrance to the store.

The local stores will also be updated with a 1,040 sq m parade of smaller shops and there will be 3,717 sq m of retail warehouse space.

The new centre has been designed to integrate with the adjacent Parklands Complex which includes a school, community centre, library and Liverpool City Council One Stop Shop. There is also potential within the development proposals for a new health centre.

Liverpool Land Development Company development director Ian Hassall said: "Regeneration is about much more than attracting investment to an area, which is something we have done very successfully in Speke. It's also about creating a sustainable community.

"The new District Centre will both address the needs of the local community and serve the surrounding commercial development and the start of work on site is an important milestone for south Liverpool's ongoing regeneration.

"We are delighted that our partners, Morrisons, are now starting with this significant investment which will create many new employment opportunities and continue to boost confidence in the area."

Liverpool Land Development Company envisage a construction period of between 12 and 15 months in total with Morrisons opening in summer 2007.

Mr Hassall added: "Together with other projects like the Boulevard Industry Park, Estuary Commerce Park, New Mersey Shopping Park and the refurbished Aerodrome and Matchworks complexes, Speke District Centre will provide further evidence of the outstanding success of regeneration efforts in south Liverpool. We look forward to making further announcements about the progress of the scheme."

Work has started on a new £36m town centre for Speke.

link (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16671049%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=work%2dstarts%2don%2dnew%2dtown%2dcentre-name_page.html)

Ah...I wondered what the roadworks opposite Jaguar were for.

We need more in fill developments to try and readdress the balance and again create a sense of urban density, such around the hozi build new town houses where houses used to be instead of grass which no one uses. Rebuild Windermere Terace on Upper Parli street. 3 storey town houses are the best for high density living without highrise and perfect from families too!!

We need more in fill developments to try and readdress the balance and again create a sense of urban density, such around the hozi build new town houses where houses used to be instead of grass which no one uses. Rebuild Windermere Terace on Upper Parli street. 3 storey town houses are the best for high density living without highrise and perfect from families too!!

That's right Dreamer. Some of the highest density housing in this country is 3-4 storey victorian terraces! A lot of the tower blocks that replaced these in the 1960s had far lower densities due to all the carparks and swathes of grass. (although it depends on the way density is measured- it's usually by dwellings per hectare.)

I was reading this paper the other week and they gave special attention to upper parly st.- apparently densities there are 100+ dwellings per hectare, compared to a modern national average of 25. Those crappy orange shoe boxes on the edge of town are probably more like 10 per hectare! How things regressed over time.

Anyway, I'll stop now :)

By Larry Neild, Daily Post


HOME shopping group Littlewoods is preparing to move into its new home - one of the historic listed hangars at the old Liverpool Airport. Skyways House, the £31m office and showroom development spanning 100,000 sq ft, is the final part of Liverpool Land Development Company's successful regeneration of the former airport complex.

The award-winning programme started seven years ago when Hangar 1 was converted into a leisure centre. This was followed by the transformation of the derelict 1930s art deco main terminal building into the four-star Liverpool South Marriot Hotel.

The redevelopment of Hangar 2 is now ready for its new occupier, Littlewoods Group's home shopping division. The company is expecting to be fully moved in by the end of March, ending its association with the former JM Centre in city centre Old Hall Street.

Alongside the Hangar 2 refurbishment project, two new-build developments have been created for Littlewoods on the site. One new building, Skyways 2, will provide a further 83,000 sq ft of office and warehouse space, while Skyways 3 will house the company's IT centre in an 11,000 sq ft unit.

Liverpool Land Development Company chief executive, David Waugh, said: "The Aerodrome scheme has succeeded in reinventing historic buildings, and giving them a new lease of life as modern, best-in-class commercial and leisure space. This scheme has been key to our success in bringing large numbers of new jobs to the area, and has helped to raise the overall commercial landscape of Speke. The completion of Skyways House is a major achievement that retains the characteristic features of Hangar 2 whilst providing a stylish, contemporary work environment. We are delighted with the result and look forward to welcoming Littlewoods to the site."

The Aerodrome scheme has received a number of honours including Outstanding Achievement in Regeneration Awards from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 2002 The programme began with the transformation of Hangar 1 into a David Lloyd Leisure Centre which opened in 2000, housing six indoor and six outdoor tennis courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, squash and badminton courts, a fitness suite, an aerobics studio and a spa as well as bar and restaurant areas.

In 2001, the second part of the scheme came to fruition with the opening of the 160-bedroom Marriott Hotel, 70 years after the idea of an hotel on the site was first conceived as part of the original plans for Speke Aerodrome.
As with the leisure centre, the building's original features were carefully preserved and restored. The third element in the regeneration of the Aerodrome was the opening of the Damons family restaurant in 2002 in a new building designed to complement the other buildings on the site.

Absolutely brilliant!

THE new Mersey Retail Park in Speke could double in size.
The firm is in talks with Port of Garston owner Associated British Ports about acquiring a piece of land adjacent to the retail park. ABP is thought to be asking £10m for the 40-acre site. UK property giant British Land, which owns the retail park, has shown an interest in acquiring the site with a view to expanding the successful facility, whose tenants include Boots and Marks & Spencer.

British Land bought the park after its takeover of Pillar Properties, in May last year, in a deal worth £811m. Pillar bought the 480,000 sq ft Speke park from the Cardinal Lysander group for £100m in 2000 and by 2004 its value had doubled to £200m.

The Pillar portfolio also included the Broughton Shopping Park in Chester. ABP, owner of the nearby Garston Docks, has instructed agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), to sell the site, which has its own rail connection, as part of its corporate restructuring.

Part of it is let to car distributor Ansa Logistics for a further 63 years, but investors may want to negotiate to release some of the land earlier for redevelopment. The £9.2m guide price reflects a 4.22% yield, but this could rise to 4.77% in 2008

JLL capital markets director Andrew Hawkins said the site had "gilt-style characteristics".


He added: "It is held on a very long lease with reviews every five years, but the residual value of the land is arguably worth more than the investment value. "There is a cocktail of angles." It is believed Liverpool City Council would be unlikely to grant consent for leisure use in the near future, but is likely to welcome commercial development.


A spokesman for British Land told the Daily Post last night: "We are having a look."


tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

the area is already becoming heavily congetsed i would prefer a housing dvelopment rather than an expansion of the retail park!

Yet more lunacy... and you thought that the design obsession was only for downtown and the occasional conservation area?

there was a tiny piece in tonight's Echo about planners refusing permission for flats on the old cinema site on west derby rd.....because they are too big

These loony landscapers have the whole city in mind when they talk of 'appropriate scale' The local community and councillors are in favour of the scheme...but the hired hands are adamant!

Well the fucking hired hand shandies don't live there so don't give a toss about the arsonists hookers and smackheads. As long as it looks nice and 'in keeping' on their daily commute from leafy suburbia then who cares? After all, people on West Derby Road are poor, thus have not made a success of their underachieving little lives, and their opinions can be ignored with utter contempt. They're a lower form of being apparently, as is everyone else living on the 'wrong' side of Queens Drive. :rant:

Yet more lunacy... and you thought that the design obsession was only for downtown and the occasional conservation area?

there was a tiny piece in tonight's Echo about planners refusing permission for flats on the old cinema site on west derby rd.....because they are too big

These loony landscapers have the whole city in mind when they talk of 'appropriate scale' The local community and councillors are in favour of the scheme...but the hired hands are adamant!

The Carlton is a burnt out piece of shit. A blot on the Tuebrook landscape. Has been for years. Fucking depresses me whenever I drive past it. I have a soft spot for this part of Liverpool. It was our "local" cinema, even though it was a 15 minute bus ride from Canny Farm. I was also married in nearby St Cecilia's, Green Lane

NEW football pitches will be built to appease campaigners who objected to a major development planned for land next to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Plans for a three-storey 100-bedroom hotel and office blocks on the former Dunlop Sports Ground in Speke, were yesterday granted permission by the city council.

Details for the hotel have not yet been submitted, but it will be built alongside the Fox Hotel on the current home of Speke FC.

Sports and social groups initially opposed the plans presented by JLA owner Peel Holdings, fearing buildings would be erected on the pitches.

But now a separate space has been earmarked for sports users on the former site of Speke Comprehensive School and the new football pitches will finished before work starts on the hotel.

Dave Trimingham, director of Thurley Associates, presented initial plans for the site in front of the planning committee, stating there would be "like-for-like replacement" of the sports grounds.


Mr Trimingham said: "This is the next step in the growth of the airport and will ensure the airport can capture as many of the job opportunities that it helps to create as possible.


"There will be the same amount of pitches and off-site car parking."


Sport England has raised no objections to the plans.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16736858%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=club%2dreveals%2dplans%2dfor%2dthe%2dsaints%2d%2dworld%2dclass%2dhome-name_page.html

Club reveals plans for the Saints' world-class home Feb 23 2006

By Larry Neild, Daily Post

THIS is the first image of the new home for one of the country's greatest Rugby League teams, St Helens.

The club yesterday took the wraps off the designs for a proposed multi-million pound stadium for the Saints inside a major new retail and leisure development, on the town's former United Glass site.

A partnership of the club, St Helens Council and developers the Langtree Group, last night said talks were "progressing well" to deliver the first phase of the project.

It would mean the club moving away from Knowsley Road, its home since the 1890s.

etc .....

Project title: Stonebridge Cross
Location: Liverpool
Turnover: £60 million
Completion date: 2006
Clients: Liverpool City Council

http://www.davidmcleandevelopments.co.uk/display/show_images.asp?ID=65
David McLean Developments and Tesco have been selected by Liverpool City Council and Speke Garston Development Corporation to regenerate this area of Liverpool along the A580. The mixed use proposal includes 200,000 sq ft of retail space and 300 homes of which 25% is affordable housing. The estimated capital value of this project when it completes in 2006 is £60 million.

A REGENERATION plan deemed to be on the wrong side of the road has been given the green light.

Developers wanted to spend £4m transforming a derelict former nightclub into new flats and shops.

Council planners told them the scheme would have to be rejected because it was on the wrong side of the road for regeneration.

But campaigners were celebrating a "victory for common sense" today after councillors rejected the advice of their experts and approved the plans for The Venue in Tuebrook.

It has been a magnet for arsonists and vandals for more than a decade, and is currently a haven for yobs throwing missiles at passers-by.


But plans to bulldoze it hung in the balance for months because the Green Lane site falls yards outside a regeneration area.


Yesterday, councillors sided with residents.


Tuebrook councillor Steve Radford described their decision as "a victory for common sense".


He said: "This is a green light for the regeneration of Tuebrook, and I am delighted.


"Every single resident, business and community organisation I have spoken to wanted this plan to go through."



Lady Doreen Jones, chairwoman of the council's planning committee, said: "This building has been derelict for 10 years at least. It is an eyesore, and we have got to use common sense."

"The regeneration benefits of this scheme are enormous. The place is a filthy mess and it is not fair on residents. A change is desperately needed." Planners wanted the plan rejected so the council could concentrate on regeneration areas like Anfield and Toxteth.

Developer Ascot Properties wants to build three buildings containing shops and 55 flats.

Political reporter Nick Coligan says...

TRY explaining to Tuebrook residents that they live on the wrong side of the road to a regeneration area.

They are the ones who suffer daily bouts of anti-social behaviour from louts attracted to the hideous Venue building.


Council officers hid behind bureaucracy while trying to justify their ludicrous recommendation to reject this desperatelyneeded plan.


Congratulations to the councillors who realised that £4m of regeneration cash does not come easily to places like Tuebrook and stuck their necks out to support it.

Stonebridge cross is this all happening now even though the trams have been cancelled?

Stonebridge cross is this all happening now even though the trams have been cancelled?

It's still on the agenda but the council had a grant so they could pay the people off who'd lose their homes but never acted in time,the grant ran out and left many residents stranded there while they wait for them to sort out a solution,sound familiar?

Warren Bradley made it one of his top priorities when he was elected though.

A REGENERATION plan deemed to be on the wrong side of the road has been given the green light.

Developers wanted to spend £4m transforming a derelict former nightclub into new flats and shops.

Council planners told them the scheme would have to be rejected because it was on the wrong side of the road for regeneration.

But campaigners were celebrating a "victory for common sense" today after councillors rejected the advice of their experts and approved the plans for The Venue in Tuebrook.

It has been a magnet for arsonists and vandals for more than a decade, and is currently a haven for yobs throwing missiles at passers-by.


But plans to bulldoze it hung in the balance for months because the Green Lane site falls yards outside a regeneration area.


Yesterday, councillors sided with residents.


Tuebrook councillor Steve Radford described their decision as "a victory for common sense".


He said: "This is a green light for the regeneration of Tuebrook, and I am delighted.


"Every single resident, business and community organisation I have spoken to wanted this plan to go through."



Lady Doreen Jones, chairwoman of the council's planning committee, said: "This building has been derelict for 10 years at least. It is an eyesore, and we have got to use common sense."

"The regeneration benefits of this scheme are enormous. The place is a filthy mess and it is not fair on residents. A change is desperately needed." Planners wanted the plan rejected so the council could concentrate on regeneration areas like Anfield and Toxteth.

Developer Ascot Properties wants to build three buildings containing shops and 55 flats.

Political reporter Nick Coligan says...

TRY explaining to Tuebrook residents that they live on the wrong side of the road to a regeneration area.

They are the ones who suffer daily bouts of anti-social behaviour from louts attracted to the hideous Venue building.


Council officers hid behind bureaucracy while trying to justify their ludicrous recommendation to reject this desperatelyneeded plan.


Congratulations to the councillors who realised that £4m of regeneration cash does not come easily to places like Tuebrook and stuck their necks out to support it.
With every silver lining comes a cloud. The Lords pub ( formerly the Painted Wagon) has closed its swinging doors for the last time.
Was quite a good little boozer and Mick the manager had a brilliant collection of football memoribilia on display.

West Derby Rd rivalled Scotty at one time in the number of pubs on the corners. It's down to five now I think.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before:
http://www.glacialproperties.co.uk/development-projects-shaw.html

I'm doing a project as part of my degree on the regeneration of Great Homer Street. Does anyone have any good links to Project Jenniffer? Or any good links to any history on great homer street??

Thanks folks!

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Images/tcm21-34473.pdf

Not sure if this has been mentioned before:
http://www.glacialproperties.co.uk/development-projects-shaw.html

Dave,

I think there has been an older posting on this when first released - but not with so much detail.

The great thing is that it looks `spanking new` (almost LA) and will or should have tremendous views across the city to the river and beyond and will also push redevelopment back towards the likes of Breck Road and West Derby Road.....where there will undoubted be a class of inner city style.....and perhaps not in a bad way.

Olympic swimming pool gets the £15m go-ahead


A £15M Olympic-standard Liverpool swimming pool gets the go-ahead today.

Councillors are set to rubber-stamp blueprints for a top-class 50-metre pool on the site of Picton Sports Centre.

It will provide both indoor and outdoor sports facilities and attract more than 500,000 visitors every year.

The pool is expected to be open by September next year and initial work has already begun.

The revised cost now stands at £14.9m, with £4.02m from a Sports Lottery Grant.

Liverpool council is finalising contracts with Gleeson Building to build the pool.


The complex will feature a 50-metre, eight-lane pool with moveable floor, 20-metre, four- lane teaching pool and seating for 400.


Stephen Parry, who won Olympic bronze in Athens, welcomed the news on a visit to the site.

A REGENERATION plan deemed to be on the wrong side of the road has been given the green light.


It has been a magnet for arsonists and vandals for more than a decade, and is currently a haven for yobs throwing missiles at passers-by

Lady Doreen Jones, chairwoman of the council's planning committee, said: "This building has been derelict for 10 years at least. It is an eyesore, and we have got to use common sense."

"The regeneration benefits of this scheme are enormous. The place is a filthy mess and it is not fair on residents. A change is desperately needed." Planners wanted the plan rejected so the council could concentrate on regeneration areas like Anfield and Toxteth.

Developer Ascot Properties wants to build three buildings containing shops and 55 flats.


Congratulations to the councillors who realised that £4m of regeneration cash does not come easily to places like Tuebrook and stuck their necks out to support it.

Well done Lady D and chums, its not often that the planning committee and common sense appear in the same sentence. :)

Regional news





Communities have say in city's improvements Mar 8 2006




By Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo


MILLIONS of pounds have been set aside to improve quality of life in Liverpool neighbourhoods.

It means more money will be spent in the areas where taxpayers live - and community leaders will choose where it goes.

Currently, council officers working from the city centre decide how cash should be allocated across Liverpool and which projects should happen.

Under new plans announced today, cash will filter down to councillors and residents with local knowledge.

They will then select which schemes should be paid for, depending on what is most needed in their community.




Story continues

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For example, they could have more CCTV cameras to tackle anti-social behaviour or traffic calming to slow down speeding motorists.


Or they could decide to spend more on rubbish collection, street lighting and warden patrols.


City leaders hope to gradually increase the amount of money being passed down so in three years, the majority of council cash is spent locally.


Council leader Warren Bradley said: "What people in Wool-ton want is not always what people in Walton want, so this will give councillors and residents the chance to decide.


"They will still have to meet certain minimum standards to make sure services like street cleaning do not suffer.


"But they are the best people to decide which roads need resurfacing or traffic calming, for example."


Liverpool currently has 10 neighbourhood committees, each containing three council wards, and the money will be divided up depending on each area's population.


Officials have yet to decide exactly how much will be handed out this year, but it is likely to be millions of pounds.


Cllr Steve Radford, member of the Anfield, Tue-brook and Old Swan neighbourhood committee, said: "There is nothing wrong with this idea, as long as committees are objective.


"In Anfield and Tuebrook, I would like us to have more power to buy up derelict properties so they can be brought back into use."


In this year's budget, the Liberal Democrats propose raising tax by 3.3% to a £767.50 annual bill for Band A households.


That will then be topped up by police and fire ser vi ce charges to £885 a year.


Opposition resources spokesman Malcolm Kennedy said: "This budget was put together at the last minute, in a panic."


What do YOU think?


What would you spend the money on in your neighbourhood? Send us your suggestions to www.icliverpool.co.uk/feedback

Giving local communities power on where improvements are made will be good, and encourage people to be move involved and satisfied that they can get things they need done.

-Warden patrols are good.
-discuss with persistent yob kids and their families, the
consequences of not berhaving, i.e. eviction.
-CCTV cameras in a residential area i think is very negative, tells
everybody straight away that the area is a crime hot spot,
although they will probably cut incidents within view, or cause
the yobs to vandalise the cctv poles.
-

Area between Princes Road & Mulgrave Street, South of Hatherley Street, including Eversley Street & the area of Eversley Street, Liverpool 8 (Princes Park Ward) PDF 27 K

Find out more about item 14.
To consider a recommendation that Application No 05F/3263 to redevelop site for residential purposes by the erection of 33 no. three-storey dwellings and 6 no. three-storey apartments (39 units in total) following demolition of existing buildings, in the area between Princes Road & Mulgrave Street, south of Hatherley Street, including Eversley Street & the area of Eversley Street, Liverpool 8, be granted subject to the conditions proposed by the Planning Manager and a legal agreement.

Additional documents:

Princes Road and Mulgrave Street, 17/01/2006 Planning Committee PDF 48 K
princes rd mulgrave hatherley L8 PDF 63 K

Graham Davies
[I]Daily Post


BOOTLE is experiencing a property boom with house prices rising faster than most places in the UK, experts revealed last night. The town, which gained a reputation for industrial decline and unemployment, has been placed 12th on a list of the country's property hotspots, compiled by the Halifax. Estate agents said families and young professionals were flocking to the area thanks to £600m of investment by the private and public sectors and its proximity to Liverpool.

Jeremy Clark, of Clark and Davidson estate agents, said: "The two things really driving this are the resurgence of Liverpool, its Capital of Culture status and the massive regeneration of Bootle, which is less than 10 minutes from the city centre. I have been in the business for 16 years, 10 of them in Bootle, and we've had the busiest January and February I can remember. Prices in some parts of the town have more than doubled in the last three years."

Regeneration and development company Evolve Neighbourhoods is pumping money into new housing in the town. The company, which plans to invest more than £35m in the area over five years, is providing three-storey family homes from £90,000, and refurbished apartments from £65,000. But Maria McQuirke, Evolve's neighbourhood director, said the scheme was not just about housing. She added: "Along with our partners and Sefton council, we're establishing a long-term base in the area and working with local people to create a neighbourhood that is clean, safe and well-managed. Bootle's had a bad reputation in the past but perceptions do change and people are starting to think differently about it now. All the properties we've sold to date have been snapped up within two months, with one sold before completion and two further flats reserved."

Bootle's regeneration includes a scheme by housing organisation New Heartlands, which plans to demolish and replace about 350 homes around Queens Road and Bedford Road. Two-up, two-down homes in the terraced Klondike estate will be bulldozed and replaced with a new canalside village, complete with more than 1,000 new homes, shops, community facilities and a church. Some people living in the regeneration zone are protesting against the demolitions, saying it would be better to leave their homes standing for possible refurbishment.

But New Heartlands says the homes are unfit for 21st century living and are unpopular with residents.

<clears throat> Ignoring my highly exciting Bootle projects thread, Fitzy (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=240643)? Harrumph!

No, I checked it out first but the story I posted seemed more about regeneration in the city region than individual Bootle projects.

Bah.

Bah.
Bah! as in Wool Awayo?
:)

Wool? Cheek of it! I'm plastic scouse, more like.

A grafitto in the waiting room of the Liverpool-bound platform at Formby railway station when I was teenager read "Formby is full of twats and plassy scousers." At the time, I had to agree with its sentiments.

Wool? Cheek of it! I'm plastic scouse, more like.

A grafitto in the waiting room of the Liverpool-bound platform at Formby railway station when I was teenager read "Formby is full of twats and plassy scousers." At the time, I had to agree with its sentiments.

Slightly off subject, but the funniest graffiti I ever read was in a public bogs in Knowsley Village as a kid - "Gentlemen be seated and let the matter drop"

Getting back to Liverpool, I read this in the bogs at Butlins, Minehead when I worked there one summer - "Scouse Power" to which was written below - "I've seen more power in a glass of Andrew's Liver Salts"

Slightly off subject, but the funniest graffiti I ever read was in a public bogs in Knowsley Village as a kid - "Gentlemen be seated and let the matter drop"

Getting back to Liverpool, I read this in the bogs at Butlins, Minehead when I worked there one summer - "Scouse Power" to which was written below - "I've seen more power in a glass of Andrew's Liver Salts"
The funniest (strangest) graffiti I ever saw was scratched on to the surface of a pub table in Dublin and read... Tony O'Leary shags protestant donkeys!

It got me thinking!

what is going on with the docklands, central docks and stanley docks, are they going to be redeveloped, if so, what are they going to be redeveloped into?

what is going on with the docklands, central docks and stanley docks, are they going to be redeveloped, if so, what are they going to be redeveloped into?

There is no definite proposals yet.

Stanley dock is planned to be restored for apartments/leisure/retail, but nothing definite happening.

Central docks owned by Peel who want to build residential/leisure also, but again no firm plans or announcements.

That stanley dock proposal was first planned three years ago. i can't understand what the hold up is. it is a fine site and reputed to be the largest warehouse in the world. i think whoever took the bull by the horns and transformed it would make a financial killing. it would drag central Liverpool development further northwards where it is desparately needed.

HOME shopping outfit QVC broke ground yesterday, marking the start of £20m construction work for a new warehouse and call centre at its Knowsley base.

The massive building works come just 10 years after the home shopping channel first chose Knowsley for its customer operations centre.

In 1996, QVC was available to just over 5m homes. Now more than 17m households - seven out of 10 of Britain's households - can receive the channel and sales have quadrupled.

In 1996, 3.6m parcels were shipped to customers. By 2005, this had grown to 11.5m parcels.

The new high-bay warehouse is the fifth phase of QVC's expansion in Knowsley and will double the amount of storage space available.


Mark Suckle, chief executive of QVC, said: "We believe top-quality customer service is the key to driving our business, and it is well trained people with good facilities, technology and support who deliver outstanding service. That's why we are investing in these new state of the art facilities which will allow us to excel at our processes and build the QVC of the future.


"In the fourth quarter of 2005, our busiest time of year, 1,700 people worked at Knowsley. Once this construction work is completed in 2007, we will create 700 new jobs at all levels over the next seven years."


Cllr Graham Morgan, deputy leader of Knowsley Council, said: "QVC is one of the largest investors in the borough and has made a major contribution to the economy of Knowsley.


"This expansion is great news for the borough's growth and development, and helps secure many more local jobs." The warehouse will be 37m high, fully automated and will hold 30,000 pallets, which would stretch from Knowsley to Chester City Centre if placed end-to-end.


The Customer Operations Centre occupies a 38-acre site at Knowsley Industrial Park North.

Regarding Stanley Dock, the Sunday Market can trade until August 2007. Will that affect the timescale of any current development plans or can the Council reneg on their decision and turf them out whenever they feel? :dunno:

Regarding Stanley Dock, the Sunday Market can trade until August 2007. Will that affect the timescale of any current development plans or can the Council reneg on their decision and turf them out whenever they feel? :dunno:


I think there is plenty of work to carry out redeveloping the smaller surrounding dock buildings, to start the area off, and provide momentum for future developers to see the potential in tackling the massive Stanley warehouse. So i think the market will probably extend its time at Stanley Warehouse if anything. It would be great if the market was a part of the area after it was all regenerated.

So then Stonebride Cross :) Tesco's are now building up by the old Deysbrook barracks by Canny farm. Is there proposed store on the East lancs finished now? Are the plans for the area destroyed now with the tram?

Is there proposed store on the East lancs finished now?

It's nowhere near starting yet because they are yet to relocate the local residents,stonebridge cross wont start for a good while yet.

It's nowhere near starting yet because they are yet to relocate the local residents,stonebridge cross wont start for a good while yet.

You the man in the know? :) Any other news?

You the man in the know? :) Any other news?

They had a grant to buy out the local residents but had a year to do it,you've guessed it the time ran out on the grant leaving a load of people in limbo surrounded by empty houses,some people had already bought other homes on the strength of this money to be left stranded in an impossible position.They are now trying to find more money to pay off the remaining residents before this project can move on.

From tonights Echo, plans for a multi-million pound development in Runcorn, 450 flats alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. Developers Bryant Homes are calling the project The Deck and prices start from £90k to attract first time buyers.

I think these look good, ambitious for Runcorn, the article doesn't say if this plot of land is owned by Peel but most of the Ship Canal is.


http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/29/dsc018257xn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5121/dsc018137lw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/332/dsc018090fs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

They look good and in an impressive setting, more of this will do around Runcorn. :)

Yeah and most of those flats should have a great view once the new bridge is completed.

From tonights Echo, plans for a multi-million pound development in Runcorn, 450 flats alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. Developers Bryant Homes are calling the project The Deck and prices start from £90k to attract first time buyers.

I think these look good, ambitious for Runcorn, the article doesn't say if this plot of land is owned by Peel but most of the Ship Canal is.


http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/29/dsc018257xn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5121/dsc018137lw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/332/dsc018090fs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The whole waters edge on both sides of the `mersey` between the `two bridges` is ripe for redevelopment - housing, retail and leisure.

Someone is sitting on a pot of gold.

I think it may very well be Peel Holdings!!

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/breakingnews/tm_objectid=16974215%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=us%2dtycoon%2dtells%2dthe%2dretail%2dworld%2d%2dlook%2dat%2dbreck%2droad-name_page.html

US tycoon tells the retail world: Look at Breck Road Apr 21 2006

By Larry Neild, Daily Post

HE EARNS $30m a year and heads a retail operation with more than 6,500 outlets stretching around the world.

Yet it was a store in one of Liverpool's most deprived areas, Everton, that H. Lee Scott picked out as a "shining example" of what his company had done to help local communities.

The American business tycoon, who is president and chief executive of Asda's parent company, Wal-Mart, told an audience of global journalists in Arkansas how the store in Breck Road has transformed a derelict muggers' paradise into a thriving shopping area.

Speaking in Bentonville, Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart's world headquarters, Mr Scott heaped praise on the store as a way of responding to critics who have attacked company policies and so-called publicity stunts.

More than 300 local people were hired to work in the Liverpool store which opened last November, and 60% of them had been long-term unemployed.

Mr Scott told an audience in Arkansas: "Let me take you to Breck Road, in Liverpool. It used to be a shopping centre with about 10 stores in it. For several years it was anchored by a small supermarket which closed and gave way to a bingo hall. Eventually that closed, too, and became a magnet for vandals, muggers and drug pushers.

"Our British unit, Asda, committed to revitalising this neighbourhood. We opened last November creating 300 jobs. Around 60% of those went to the long-term unemployed. We also redecorated the local community hall. This what I say to critics: talk to the people who live along Breck Road and ask them if what Wal-Mart does is a publicity stunt."

Louise Swift, manager of the Breck Road store, said last night: "I was chuffed to bits that Lee Scott chose our store as a example out of the 6,511 stores he has worldwide. We are very proud of what we have done here at Breck Road. "

Ms Swift, a mother of two, graduated from Liverpool John Moores University and lived just off Scotland Road for four years in her student days.

When the store opened, nearly 3,000 people applied for the 300 new jobs at the store. More than 75% of those 277 jobs went to people who had recently been unemployed, with more than 60% to people who had been long-term unemployed, on incapacity or disability benefit - ie Government high priority to get back into employment. Added Ms Swift: "This is very reflective of the local community and we felt strongly about ensuring the majority of colleagues we took on lived within that community - in fact, nearly 80% of colleagues at the store live at postcodes within a 10-minute walk of the store.

Mother-of-two Rachel Jarvis, who lives near the store, said: "I wouldn't go anywhere else - and it's great to have a cheerful and friendly store on our doorstep. It's given the whole area a big lift."

However, Mr Scott's praise did not impress Everton councillor Jane Corbett. She welcomed the multi-million pound investment, but insisted that Asda and not Wal-Mart should take the credit.

She said: "Although I welcome what Asda has done, I am appalled by Wal-Mart's performance around the world, where communities are being harmed by their activities."

Wal-Mart faces constant criticism from union leaders demanding a better deal for employees, particularly its women workers.

The company has also been criticised by the United Food and Commercial Workers union in the US.

larryneild@dailypost.co.uk

Business mogul's meteoric rise to success

WAL-MART was founded 40 years ago by Samuel Walton, who wanted to introduce cut-price stores for working-class families. His son S Robson Walton is chairman of the board.

The group has more than 6,000 stores in the US, UK, Japan, China, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Puerto Rico and South Korea.

In the Fortune list of the USA's biggest corporations, Wal-Mart ranks number two, following Exxon Mobil. Turnover exceeds $300bn, with the group reporting profits of $11.2bn in the past year.

More than 1.3m people are employed by Wal-Mart around the world.

Lee Scott, left, has worked for the company for 25 years, working his way through the ranks after starting as a graduate. He is described as one of the 100 most important business people in the world.

WORK STARTS ON EDGE LANE PROJECT

"£350m regeneration project will transform key eastern gateway to Liverpool

Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC) announced today that work has begun on the Edge Lane Project; a radical and comprehensive regeneration scheme that will transform Edge Lane and the surrounding area and create a high quality 21st century gateway to Liverpool city centre.

The comprehensive regeneration scheme, which is being led by Liverpool Land Development Company on behalf of the partners in the project, will include highway improvements, as well as the provision of over 550 new housing units, over 1,000,000 sq ft of new and refurbished commercial and retail floorspace and community facilities.

The Edge Lane Project, which also involves making the whole length of Edge Lane a dual carriageway will also reduce congestion, create and safeguard 1,900 jobs, improve local services and enhance the local environment by planting over 100 new trees. The new urban boulevard will also create a modern gateway to Liverpool, whilst maintaining the architectural heritage of the area, reflecting Liverpool’s Capital of Culture and World Heritage City status.

The Edge Lane Project partners include Liverpool City Council, national regeneration agency English Partnerships, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Kensington Regeneration, Community 7 Housing Association, New Heartlands Pathfinder, Government Office for the North West and the Department of Transport, and the private sector, making it unique in terms of all these partners working together on one project."

Sorry I know that some of this is now old news but surely .....
over 1,000,000 sq ft of new and refurbished commercial and retail floorspace and community facilities. is going to make some real difference to that part of the city.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17001415%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=millions%2dfor%2dnew%2danfield-name_page.html

Millions for new Anfield Apr 27 2006

EXCLUSIVE by Jane Woodhead, Liverpool Echo

EUROPEAN millions are still available for Liverpool FC's new stadium dream despite fears funding could be pulled.

Objective One moneymen today confirmed the promised £9m investment remains on the table after the city council and the club gave renewed support to the scheme.

In June it looked like the money would be lost. But the government today said council moves to appoint a contractor to renovate Stanley Park showed renewed confidence in the £160m stadium project.

However, they warned the club it has three months to provide a cast iron promise that the stadium will be built - or the cash will be lost.

Cllr Flo Clucas, who chairs the Objective One programme monitoring committee, said: "We now need the club to assure us that the stadium will go ahead."

Liverpool Football Club was unavailable for comment today.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/business/news/tm_objectid=17024730%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=penny%2dlane%2dpubbought%2dbyalma%2dboss%2d-name_page.html

Penny Lane pub bought by Alma boss May 3 2006

by Sophie Freeman, Liverpool Daily Post

THE man responsible for bringing Alma de Cuba, the Blue Bar and the Pan American Club to Liverpool has acquired the licence of a well known Mossley Hill pub.

Rob Guttman, who sold his famous Albert Dock venues last year, has bought the right to trade in the Dovedale Towers pub on Penny Lane.

The venue, one of two pubs on the terraced street, is Mr Guttman’s first acquisition outside of the city centre with his new leisure company, Korova Corporation.

His former company, the Lyceum Group, sold its Albert Dock bar/restaurants to Lancashire-based firm JI Entertainment last October in a deal believed to be worth more than £3m.

The group decided to sell the bars to concentrate on its other venues, Alma de Cuba, Baby Cream and Korova.

Mr Gutmann said: “We are looking forward to working on our next project, Dovedale Towers. The site holds an affectionate place in the hearts of many local residents and its sympathetic restoration is of paramount importance to its on-going success in the area.

"Korova Corporation is dedicated to regenerating Liverpool through unique and exciting routes.”

Before it became a pub, the Dovedale Towers was St Barnabus Church Hall. The venue played host to John Lennon’s band the Quarrymen in 1957, but the two people who ran the hall baulked at the Beatles’ fee of £15.

Maybe he knows something, the regeneration of Liverpool is really starting to spread outwards now. Maybe Penny Lane will be a development/regen Hotspot.

Here is a picture showing one of 2 old council tower block's done up, there is also a 3 storey housing block being built up the road.

Note this is one tower block, not two close together. Ruffwood/Old Rough Lane Kirkby.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/246/zkirkbyroughwood4wj.jpg

I'm getting a digital camera for me birthday in a few weeks time so expect a few pics of regeneration in L8. In fact, expect shed loads of pictures of L8 full stop :yes:

L8 looking forward to seeing those pics!!

I'm getting a digital camera for me birthday in a few weeks time so expect a few pics of regeneration in L8. In fact, expect shed loads of pictures of L8 full stop :yes:

L8,

Will you be covering `Smithdown Road, Lark Lane and Aigburth` by any chance?

Greenbank and Penny Lane?

Some excellent bars and resturants in the area - which I`d like to see creep into more of the `Mansions` etc surrounding the likes of `Sefton and Princes` parks ..... bring a greater feel of `Cosmopolitan` life and also along `Princes Boulavard`.

I also look forward to seeing your pictures,

`Kellys Wine Bar` on Smithdown Road used to be a lot of fun and used to serve very reasonable food (and also to get around the drinking laws you could stay after 11pm for a meal £1, you should have seen the size of the chicken and chips! - there was no need to go home and cook.)

`Jalons Bar, Resturant` also very good and had Jazz performances.

and there is still an excellent `Thai`..... and `Mexican` etc but I have to say that `Sunday afternoon in Lark Lane` is a must - a few pints in the `Albert` and then anything else you fancy, a meal, wine bars, a stroll in the Park!

Suberb.....

I`d really like to see a few `Hilton on the Park` type developments in the area - they would do very well and open up a few more eyes regarding Liverpools cultural mix.

L8,

Will you be covering `Smithdown Road, Lark Lane and Aigburth` by any chance? Penny Lane?

:yes: L8, of course will be first but I'm already eager to snap a pic of Lark Lane at night, after it has been raining. Southwood Road just up from St Michael's station is screaming for my attention, as is the Belgrave pub and...

Super super dooper dooper!! L8.

Does anyone have any picture of developments or improvements in the Norris Green area?

To my mind `Norris Green` needs to develop as some sort of its own much larger district / town centre that allows it to be some sort of half way house in between Liverpool City Centre and Kirby etc ie, building facilities further out progressively so that there is a corrider of developments that can then spur off to other locations.

The Outer Loop Line is a must for Merseyrail to progress.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/thebusinessweek/regionalnews/tm_objectid=17089988%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=facelift%2dplans%2dfor%2dvillage%2dcentre-name_page.html

Facelift plans for village centre May 17 2006

By Graham Davies Daily Post Staff

A DEVELOPER has bought almost half the land in Crosby village in a bid to make it one of Merseyside's trendiest retail districts.

Maghull Developments announced last night it had invested £16m in land, shops and flats in the centre.

Directors are planning a shopping complex with apartments and offices on wasteland next to Sainsbury's supermarket.

Meanwhile, the Liverpool-based company has bought most of one side of Moor Lane - one of the village's busiest shopping streets - to give it a major facelift.

It follows the firm's acquisition of Crosby's Central Buildings, which are to be demolished to make way for more stores, luxury apartments and offices.

It is hoped the area will become an upmarket shopping suburb, similar to Wilmslow in Cheshire.

Michael Hanlon, Maghull's managing director, said: "Hopefully our investment will act as a catalyst for further investment and regeneration within the town centre, which has unfortunately been left behind while other similar towns, such as Formby, have prospered in recent years."

Maghull bought its latest £7.5m acquisition, including Moor Lane's Glenn Buildings and derelict land on Allengate, from property company Portville, based in the Isle of Man.

Directors believe a local firm can play a bigger part in managing the shops in Moor Lane, which include small businesses such as florists, opticians and greengrocers. The upstairs flats and other residential properties on Moor Lane are to be refurbished and sold on.

No plans have been announced to replace the shops with big name stores.

However, Maghull is hoping to attract major companies to the Central Buildings and Allengate sites, including Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Tesco Express, Argos, Home and Bargain, and Specsavers.

The £8m Central Buildings scheme will comprise 10,000 sq ft of shops on the ground floor, with 10 two-bed luxury apartments and 12,500 sq ft of office space.

Bulldozers will move in next month and the scheme is expected to be completed in October 2007. Crosby traders were originally opposed to the plans, but yesterday said they were hoping the developments would benefit all businesses in the village.

Catherine Caddick, chairwoman of Crosby Village Traders' Association, said: "We are now aware that the Central Buildings development is going to be relatively sensitive to the village.

"The Allengate site has been flattened for about four years. It is an eyesore, so we are looking forward with anticipation to see it being redeveloped.

"However, we don't know what is planned for Moor Lane yet, so we will have to wait and see.

"But if they do their job the way they should, we might get big names coming into the village and that will suit everyone."

The Maghull Group is already undertaking various development schemes throughout the North West with an investment value of more than £275m.

Snapped this rather fine looking frontage at the lower end of Lodge Lane, Toxteth (details) (http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/showthread.php?t=819&highlight=lodge+lane) this morning. 1866 - details appreciated if you know much about it.

http://static.flickr.com/77/166553476_c4494d1457.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijob/166553476/)

A closer look:

http://static.flickr.com/59/166553479_c4df6569bc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijob/166553479/)

That's where all the Toxteth cats lived in the 1950s'!

Excellent pic

:) :cheers: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17234453%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=liverpool%2dlessons%2dfor%2dnew%2dyork%2ds%2ddeputy%2dmayor-name_page.html

Liverpool lessons for New York's deputy mayor Jun 15 2006

Daily Post

NEW York's deputy mayor toured Liverpool's regeneration projects yesterday and said she could learn a lot from the city.

Linda Gibbs met Liverpool City Council leader Warren Bradley and newly-appointed chief executive Colin Hilton, and saw some of the projects aiming to tackle poverty in the area.

She was finding ways to help the one in five New Yorkers who live below the bread line.

"What has impressed me is the level of local cooperation between different authorities," she said while visiting Clubmoor's new children's centre.

Michael Bloomberg's second in command was among representatives from New York's Commission for Economic Opportunity, visiting the city as part of a trip to the UK.

She also toured the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre, based on the Red Hook centre in Brooklyn where she lives, Kensington Regeneration and South Liverpool JET, a centre aimed at getting the long-term unemployed into training.

After a dinner with council members last night, she set off to London to talk about what she had seen with the Government.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Downtown `Clubmoor` hotdiggitydog ........ :) :cheers:

It was a stable, hence the name mews and the horses head. As all the big houses had horses.

i wasn't sure which thread to post this, but here goes....

Beyond the headline, it looks like there is some rational debate going on here.
I suppose there is a sort of chicken and egg scenario here for developers - is it a case of 'why provide 3/4 bedroom family apartments in central locations when there is no infrastructure for families to live downtown' or is it a case of families saying 'We'd love to live downtown but there are no family apartments'?
In either case, the infrastructure needs to be in place, of that I'm sure. I'm talking about GPs, schools (they've nearly all gone) etc.

Guardian report (http://society.guardian.co.uk/communities/news/0,,1801886,00.html)

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/thebusinessweek/regionalnews/tm_objectid=17293935%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=regeneration%2dplans%2dare%2dworth%2d%2dpound%2d100m-name_page.html

Regeneration plans are worth £100m Jun 26 2006

By Neil Hodgson Industry Reporter, Liverpool Echo

REGENERATION agency Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC) wants to spend more than £104m over the next three years on schemes throughout Merseyside

The money is provided by the public sector, but would also lever in much more private sector funding for high profile developments.

LLDC was formed in 2003 and is run by Liverpool council, Northwest Development Agency and English Partnerships.

The organisation has just submitted its spending proposals for approval to Liverpool council which acts as the accountable body to oversee European and government grants on LLDC's be-half.

Councillors have been urged to consider the proposals as a matter of urgency as delays may mean the loss of European Objective 1 funding for Merseyside which is set to end at the close of this year.

The spending plans cover the years from 2006/07 to 2008/09. They comprise:

* £65.7m for the Eastern Approaches scheme which takes in the Edge Lane improvement works; the Liverpool digital park on the former Marconi and MTL sites; and the art deco former Littlewoods printing plant being converted to luxury flats.

* £21.8m on the Atlantic Gateway area in north Liverpool which LLDC wants to develop with a private sector partner and Mersey Docks and Harbour Company owner Peel Holdings.

* £9.8m for Approach A580, taking in the Aintree industrial estate and Stonebridge park, Stonebridge Cross in conjunction with Tesco.

* £6.7m for Speke Halewood, where LLDC is building on the work of its forerunner, the Speke Garston Development Company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

All good stuff.....

Christmas has come early for contractors specialising in locating red brick walls, flower beds and dwarf conifers in busy urban environments. I can't wait to see how far £100 million goes. It's all about impression management, I guess. Some bank accounts will be experiencing bigger impressions than others. Do I sound cynical? Sorry.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/thebusinessweek/regionalnews/tm_objectid=17369118%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=business%2dpark%2dgo%2dahead%2das%2deu%2dcash%2daid%2dconfirmed-name_page.html

Business park go-ahead as EU cash aid confirmed Jul 12 2006

By Tony Mcdonough Deputy Business Editor, Daily Post

A HUGE £29m business park planned for the edge of St Helens town centre will go ahead after the approval of £1.2m of European funding.

The development could create up to 2,000 jobs, English Partnerships' Lea Green Farm West development will create around 280,000 sq ft of commercial and industrial units, which should be completed by 2015.

Lea Green Farm West is south of St Helens town centre and next to the A570, which is the main road link to the M62.

It will have a new access through land belonging to the Langtree Group, which will enter into a joint venture agreement with English Partnerships.

Eliot Lewis-Ward, area director for English Partnerships, said: "We're investing up to £6.4m of national coalfields programme funding on a joint venture basis with the Langtree Group to bring the site forward, which will benefit local people through job opportunities and fill the gap in terms of much needed business development space."

Confirmation of a £1.2m investment from the Merseyside Objective 1 programme means that work can now start.

The director of the Merseyside Objective 1 programme, Richard Nutter, said: "There is strong demand for space in St Helens but companies need suitable premises if they are to locate to the area.

"This project will help to make sure that happens by providing the right premises in the right place and at the right time."

The leader of St Helens council, Brian Spencer, said the go-ahead for the scheme could encourage firms from outside to invest millions of pounds in the borough.

He added: "This is a key component in our regeneration portfolio and will provide an exciting new opportunity to invest in our borough.

"The new development will also incorporate the Merseytravel Job Links bus service network and the Employment Link cycle network being developed by St Helens Council to ensure that job opportunities on the site are accessible by all members of the local community."

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------

More possitive investment.

City demolition masterplan is given go-ahead

DESIGN watchdogs have withdrawn objections to Liverpool's house clearance programme.

The government's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment opposed the council's plan to bulldoze 3,000 homes in Anfield, Breckfield, Wavertree and Edge Hill.

Experts were concerned the plans would not improve the areas.

But the council has now agreed to set up a design panel including representatives from Cabe and English Heritage before issuing planning permission for new houses. It will also submit a detailed plan to the new body.

Cabe's director of design review Selina Mason said: "It would have been better if the council had insisted on a masterplan in the first place.


"A lot still remains to be done in Liverpool and Cabe will be closely monitoring the process."

Terrible shame as LCC have failed again in saving and making/improving decent homes instead of knocking them down. So say hello to cheap and shitty looking houses, which say council all over them

I am confused as to why the houses in Norris green and croxteth are not getting rebuilt.These houses do need knocking down they are of no historic importance but are just left.

I went for a bike ride around Anfield a few weeks ago. It really is in a bad way, especially the streets between Walton Breck Road & Robson Street. They can give the Welsh Streets a run for their money any time in terms of dereliction.

1,200 jobs hope at £20m centre

UP TO 1,200 jobs could be created in Knowsley, the ECHO can reveal.

Talks are under way with a potential investor and the jobs boom could be confirmed before Christmas.

Wilmslow-based developer Patrick Properties and fellow developer LNC is behind the £20m Galaxy distribution centre which has recently completed construction on Kirkby's Knowsley Industrial Park amonth ahead of schedule.

It has been purpose-built to suit the needs of the most modern distribution operators and Patrick managing director Andrew Dickman revealed two international companies are already negotiating a 10-year lease on the massive development which is the size of five football pitches.

He said: "We are talking to two companies, both international players and both for the whole building.


"Normally a building this size would support about 500 jobs, but one operator we are talking to is speaking about 1,200 jobs, all new."


He said the marketing drive for a tenant began eight weeks ago: "We did roadshows in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, helped by Knowsley council's team."


He revealed that Galaxy, which created 580 construction jobs during its eight-month build, could alternatively be used as a manufacturing centre: "One potential inward investor we have flirted with from Europe is a manufacturer."


He said one reason they chose Knowsley to develop Galaxy was the abundance of skills: "Wedid our research and Knowsley ticked all the boxes. The labour dynamics here are good."


Galaxy, in Acornfield Road, is an amalgamation of some of the most advanced techniques for distribution centres in the US and UK.


It has 24 loading bays on both sides of the building. The warehousing is totally secureand there is an option to replicate the existing 10,000 sq ft of office space.


More than 300 car parking spaces have been provided alongside Galaxy which is a 1km walk around the building perimeter.

Stondebridge cross

It seems Tescos are no longer building on the Stonebridge Inn and the land is back up for sale by the council.

My conspiracy version is tha ttescos want to build Everton's new ground in Knowsley so have been f***** off by Liverpool council??

Stondebridge cross

It seems Tescos are no longer building on the Stonebridge Inn and the land is back up for sale by the council.

My conspiracy version is tha ttescos want to build Everton's new ground in Knowsley so have been f***** off by Liverpool council??


i think u might be right. and as usual, the residents around there are left in limbo living amongst tinned up properties with no end in sight. and to think there are some who think that we have a very good cooperative relationship between the councils here. yeah right! if ever you wanted proof that having all these artificial self important boroughs (Knowsley, sefton) competeting with each other for major projects/developments is a hinderence, then this is it. Q.E.D. :bash:

We're still waiting (10 years now) for a Tesco on Hawthorne Rd in Litherland.

there is a strange development taking place in Huyton Village.

5t is purely a retail development, but they have laid it out along a 'street pattern'.. all shite stuff... not worth rushing out to see it... will get some pics if anybody is desperate!

I guess it's a Co-Op with Spar/Wangs Chippy type stuff attached?

there is a strange development taking place in Huyton Village.

5t is purely a retail development, but they have laid it out along a 'street pattern'.. all shite stuff... not worth rushing out to see it... will get some pics if anybody is desperate!

Is that the stuff on Lathom road on the site of the old ASDA. Is basic yellow/brown brick retail boxes.

yes, it also takes the site of the 70s' library.

Finally after whingeing like a bitch about this it seems good progress is finally being made... maybe doug could do an extended trip next time and get a few photos of this.

This will be a real plus for the area when complete and wavertree will have its own little sports village.

there is a strange development taking place in Huyton Village.

5t is purely a retail development, but they have laid it out along a 'street pattern'.. all shite stuff... not worth rushing out to see it... will get some pics if anybody is desperate!

Think there's going to be a big 'New Look' there and a few other shops. Not much to get excited about.

Finally after whingeing like a bitch about this it seems good progress is finally being made... maybe doug could do an extended trip next time and get a few photos of this.

This will be a real plus for the area when complete and wavertree will have its own little sports village.

I want a swimming baths with water slides and a wave pool built like they have at Europa pools in Birkenhead,you shouldn't have to travel to something like that it pisses me off.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17737668%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=norris%2dgreen%2dgives%2dold%2dimage%2dthe%2dboot-name_page.html

Norris Green gives old image the boot Sep 13 2006

By NICK COLIGAN, Liverpool Echo

BURNT out houses and derelict streets are being exchanged for trendy kitchens and lounges.

The new look - and new name - for Liverpool's notorious Boot estate is finally being unveiled.

A developer will officially launch three showhomes on the fringes of the near-derelict Norris Green neighbourhood, months after building work started.

And it hopes to shake off the Boot's reputation for decay and deprivation by christening the new estate "Ellergreen", the same as a nearby community centre.

Long-suffering residents have already had a sneak preview of two showhomes, which were finished some time ago.

But the third - a three-bedroom detached house - will be the most common design on the new estate's first phase.

Builders have now begun constructing 104 properties for sale, starting at £110,000, and 90 rented Cobalt housing properties. The first few should be ready by Christmas.

Later phases of the 640-home development will then begin.

Steve Barber, from developer New City Vision, said: "It is well-documented that the project has taken years to get over a set of obstacles.

"But now we have started full construction works, it is moving at a fast pace.

"The homes for rent have been prioritised for people who used to live in the immediate area previously. The homes for sale are aimed at a wide range of people, including first-time buyers.

"The first houses are now appearing and roofs will be going on shortly. They will be completed before Christmas, but final moving-in dates depend on access and utility issues.

"We decided to give residents the final choice on the new name, and we think people liked Ellergreen because it already has a local identity and signifies a new start."

Boot residents, who are surrounded by burnt-out, boarded-up houses, today praised the new designs, but demanded to know when properties would be ready.

Jane Canning, of Glassenby Crescent, said: "They are nice designs, but where are the houses? I am not bothered about looking at them yet.

"So many people have waited so long for a new home and I am watching them pass away one by one.

"I like the new name, but I would have called it 'Never Never Land'."

The last plan to rebuild the Boot estate collapsed four years ago, leaving hundreds of families in horrendous living conditions.

Cllr Marilyn Fielding, executive member for housing, said: "I am delighted that residents are finally able to get a glimpse of these high-quality homes.

"But we are aware that people have been waiting for several years and aim to make sure the properties are completed as quickly as possible."

Mmmmmm


Ellergreen? Not sure than one works. Unintentionally it lets the cat out of the bag:

Hell Green. Well, maybe it will be different now.

It also sounds like 'Ellgren', a company that makes rugby shirts!

£12m warehouse scheme could create 700 jobs

UP TO 700 new jobs could be created at a warehouse/distribution development near Gillmoss.

International property company Gazely has paid Warrington-based United Utilities £12m for 40 acres of land on the former Walton Farm sewage works, next to the Axis Business Park on the East Lancashire Road.

Gazely, which was advised by lawyers from SJ Berwin, plans to build a warehouse/distribution scheme on the land.

A spokesman for United Utilities Property Solutions said: "We are pleased to have completed the deal with Gazely."

Gazeley said that it intends to develop the project as part of its G Park template.

There seems to be a quite a bit of development going on at the bottom of Spekeland Road towards the railway line - anyone know what it is?

Also - Kev?

I noticed they have already started building on the site of the old Garston
Hotel, but those foundations look mean and small! Surely they aren't building bungalows or something equally vile?

Walton.The former Astoria cinema in Walton Road has been earmarked for a six story building with ground floor shops and almost 50 apartments.The plan has been submitted to the city council.

Toxteth.A developer has asked Liverpool CC for permission to build almost 18 apartments split between 3 blocks on land between Upper Stanhope Street,Dexter Street and Chester Street.It would include a 180 space underground car park.

Vauxhall.Plans for a six story building for offices,Industrial and warehousing units are in the hands of council officials.The scheme by A2 architects,is earmarked for the junction of Waterloo Road and Oil Street.

Netherley.The grounds of the former Lee Manor high school will be turned into a 9 hole golf course,an International standard angling lake,health spa,BMX track,skateboard park and 5 a side football pitches and should start within weeks.

Toxteth.A developer has asked Liverpool CC for permission to build almost 18 apartments split between 3 blocks on land between Upper Stanhope Street,Dexter Street and Chester Street.It would include a 180 space underground car park.


Would that be 180 apartments, hope so, would like to see that area bulk up a bit better than it looks now. It still resembles a slum area, even though they wiped away the slums many years ago.

I think this is the general area.
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/1640/zslumxi3.jpg

Would that be 180 apartments, hope so, would like to see that area bulk up a bit better than it looks now. It still resembles a slum area, even though they wiped away the slums many years ago.

I think this is the general area.
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/1640/zslumxi3.jpg

I think the Northern Line briefly surfaces there - would be a great place for a high density development incorporating a new underground station serving the cathedral area.

Would that be 180 apartments, hope so, would like to see that area bulk up a bit better than it looks now. It still resembles a slum area, even though they wiped away the slums many years ago.

I think this is the general area.
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/1640/zslumxi3.jpg


The general area (not shown in your picture) is just behind St James' Church and to the left. Your picture mostly shows the area south of Mill Street. The bottom of Upper Stanhope Street can be seen to the side of the church with the shoplike structure on the corner. The tinned buildings opposite St James' are scheduled for demolition and Mill Street itself has just had a complete road/pavement makeover. It's looking better than it has done for many years. If you think that the area resembles a slum you should have seen it about 8 years ago when there were far more extreme signs of dereliction! This area is a stone's throw from Parliament Street, Greenland Street etc so my guess is that its future is bright. If these proposals are for non-housing association or mixed accomodation so much the better. The area between Parliament Street/Upper Parliament Street and Stanhope Street/Upper Stanhope Street is ripe for development, largely because there's not much there or what is there could be removed without too many difficulties. A bit further south and to the right of your picture is Cains Brewery. There used to be even more warehouses in this area. Unfortunately many of the big ones have been demolished. The old St James' station is also just to the right. The platforms are still there. I think it was last used round about 1910.

For more info on St James' station check out:

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/l/liverpool_st_james/index.shtml

Would that be 180 apartments, hope so,

Yes that's a typo 180 it is.:ohno: :cheers:

Giant supermarket plan to lead £150m development


A LIVERPOOL market place is to have a £150m revamp, with plans to build the city’s biggest super- market.

It is hoped Great Homer Street in Everton will experience a major rebirth with Project Jennifer, a scheme that is set to transform the area into the city’s biggest district centre.

If plans get the go-ahead, the site will host a 110,000 sq ft Tesco, a new NHS PCT health centre with a doctor’s surgery and dentist, a new library and nearly 500 new homes.

The site will also host a petrol station and non-food shops, as well as space for 300 outdoor market stalls and an indoor market hall.

It is designed so that the supermarket will start at first- floor level, with other shops and car parking spaces underneath.


The 481 new homes – a mixture of flats and houses – will be built to help bring in new families to the area which has seen the population plummet in the last decade.


The plans include an 11-storey block and another six-storey block providing 74 flats.


The new Tesco would dwarf Liverpool’s current biggest supermarket, Asda at Hunts Cross.

Proponents of the scheme say it would provide a massive resur- gence for the area, providing 741 full-time or equivalent jobs and nearly 600 part-time positions.

Tony Fletcher, corporate affairs manager at Tesco, said: “We’re very interested in this develop-ment on Great Homer Street.

“But it is still in the very early days. We have already acquired a site in Toxteth and we’re looking to invest further in Liverpool.”

The outline plans were put before councillors last month.

Cllr Jane Corbett said: “I’m really excited by this project. The people have Everton have waited a long time for it.

“But this has to be genuine regeneration to enhance the lives of the local community rather than gentrification. It’s important that this isn’t just a supermarket but a true district centre with health and leisure facilities, a library and a thriving market.

“It is also very important that we get sustainable residential housing to strengthen the community and not just to attract new developers in from outside who will buy apartments to rent out.


“Market traders have kept Great Homer Street alive over the years. A supermarket will bring people into the area, but I would question whether it has to be quite that large.

“We have to remember there are a lot more detailed discussions to take place around the residential element of the scheme further down the line.”

Part of the expansion plans include a major overhaul of existing residential areas.

A number of properties in the Marwood Triangle area of the site have been earmarked for demo- lition while others will be renovated.

Dave Richardson, chairman of Marwood Triangle tenants and residents association, said: “We are happy with the plans but we’re concerned that the people it is meant to help will be pushed out to make way for it.

“There’s plenty of room for the tenants and residents to stay alongside the developers.”

Local resident Agnes Dunn, 69, of Skirving Street, has lived in the area all her life and now owns a four-bedroom house on the site of the proposed development.

Mrs Dunn said: “From what I gather, my home will be demolished.


“If Project Jennifer is really going to help the community, then they should refurbish homes, rather than getting rid of them.”


Some residents have been petitioning the council to install a new library on the site.

Andrew Williams, 31, said: “The library plays a crucial role in the community and it’s a facility that every member of the community can use no matter what age they are.” The scheme has been planned as a joint partnership between Liverpool city council and St Modwen Properties, who have drawn up the outline plans.

Chris Newsome, of St Modwen Properties, said: “This is a vitally important scheme for the regeneration of north Liverpool.”

If given the go-ahead, work will start in May, 2008, and would be complete in August, 2012.

would definetly be a welcome addition to this area!

That sounds like a killer - suburban development in a key city district.

A giant supermarket would have a massive impact, destroying any hope of building and knitting new communities.

That sounds like a killer - suburban development in a key city district.

A giant supermarket would have a massive impact, destroying any hope of building and knitting new communities.


I share your concern. If there isn't any open air parking then I might be won round. It's the vast open air carpark a la New Mersey Retail Park in Speke that's the killer in an inner city area. A difficult one to call. Any other proposals for this area?

Gift horses?

Taken from LCC Masterplan document for Project Jennifer, Toady I think you can see your worst fears confirmed that is one big car park!! I'm not sure if the detailed planning application has gone to committee yet but when it does I think this will get the green light. The council has put a lot on this (and it will also be the nearest big drive-in supermarket to downtown, serving the people who live in all those flats!!) and of course Sir Terry is also a member of the Liverpool Vision Board.


http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7267/tcm21344731copymn0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

this has taken nearly 10 years to get together. It has stymied every other project in the district and of course will fail to deliver anything of value for the people who live ther.

I love the vast expanse of tarmac that is carefully designed to tie Scotland Rd and Great Homer St together. Can't they put the car park above the Tesco, like the old Morrisons in Southport or something?

Surely the car park is lrge enough for a New Goodison. Where better for Everton to play than, er, Everton?

this has taken nearly 10 years to get together. It has stymied every other project in the district and of course will fail to deliver anything of value for the people who live ther.

very similar to the disastrous similar regeneration scheme of croxteth/gillmoss and the ramshackled houses left behind there. have to agree about the car park also. surely these eyesores can be built underground etc. they also take up valuable space which could be set aside for some nice green park or something.

Fuck me that's appalling, who thinks of these things never mind promotes them.

Keep the poor poor while you suck the money out of their pockets. How the fuck is a multi national supermarket with a giant open air car park going to 'add value' or enable the area to develop culturally and economically? Never mind that but it requires people to have cars to make it work.

I wonder why the planners are demanding car parking on downtown schemes? It's backward, buy a downtown home for convinience of amenities but you'll have to use a car because the services are are placed in the new suburbs - the old inner city. The planners are either thick or bent.

Giant supermarket plan to lead £150m development
A LIVERPOOL market place is to have a £150m revamp, with plans to build the city’s biggest super- market

It is designed so that the supermarket will start at first- floor level, with other shops and car parking spaces underneath.

Must agree, the plan posted by Doug, looks dreadful, but note the above, is this some new thinking:ohno: maybe when the planners saw all that Tarmac they thought they were looking at the runway extention at JLA:nuts:

http://www.ststephens-hull.com/data/daytime_lookdown.jpg

^^ Well, it's getting better.

What makes people think that this is really going to happen now? It seems to have had the mother of all gestations.

I think I remember Toady's pic from the Hull thread. That's where it be, I think. The Toad can confirm but I guess he's posted the above as an example of how this could be done, rather than how projet Jenifer is actually going to pan out.

I could live with the car park in second render. My guess is that Tesco probably has a small range of designs for it stores - variations on a theme. As Woody points out the design shown in the first render is at odds with the description of how the car park will be arranged so I'm hoping the second render is more accurate. Sods law being what it is, Everton will get the long and flattish Tesco with the never ending tree-lined car park.

This is an ancient render of the St Stephen's development on Ferensway, Hull. There are more details on this on the Hull thread.

The project is to be finished in september and is part of a larger redevelopment of land to the north of Paragon Station. A more recent render has it looking like this:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h57/johnsjc/St20Stephens20Hull.jpg

Aye, I whipped it.

Wanted reaction to it before unveiling it's location.

It's better but still a massive slab of steel and concrete that would divide and seperate communities and activity without giving a genuine focal point.

What a fucking joke, why not put the car park underground or multistorey?, frees up space for more housing/offices and civic buildings, LCC will never learn and a car park is the easiest way out.

One of the things I hate about Lpool is the unnecessary dereliction - where buildings are just left to rot with the effect of blighting an entire street and eventually area. It's even more galling when the properties are owned by LCC. Would you believe it - LCC doesn't even know what properties it owns?
Oh - that's what you would have predicted. Thought so :yes:

£714k computer system to sort out city property chaos

By Sam Lister,
Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL Council is to spend £714,000 buying a new computer system to tell it what properties it owns in the city. Officers say it is difficult to work out how much land belongs to the local authority because its records are split across different databases in different formats. Some are believed to be on handwritten cards.

The council owns thousands of buildings across the city and has been accused of creating degeneration by failing to keep track of them. Liverpool's Liberal leader Steve Radford last night claimed the chaotic system had helped create some of the city's most run-down areas He said: "The records of a 16th-century rural library would be more up-to-date. The documents are all over the place, and the council doesn't even know what each department has hold of. The lack of clarity over what land it owns has led to areas of this city degenerating."

The new system will also give the public access to information about what the council owns and the records will include data on health and safety matters about buildings, such as if it has asbestos or if there has been any problems with legionella.

Liverpool Direct Limited has chosen Tribal Group, a leading public sector support service providers, as the preferred software supplier. Councillors are expected to rubber-stamp the plans at tomorrow's executive board meeting, which will give LDL permission to sign the deal. A pilot programme should be in place by March 31, which will allow staff to test out the new system. The full roll-out will then take up to 18 months. The £714,000 price tag includes support services along with the cost of logging all of its property with the Land Registry.

Cllr Keith Turner, executive member for resources, said: "It is not a case of the council not knowing what property it has. Historically, different parts of the authority have maintained their own register of properties. It is time-consuming and inefficient to check through all of these if, for example, we want to know what properties we own in a specific area. Having one database will also mean that we will be able to be more efficient about ensuring all our properties comply with legislation. The cost of the system is not just about the databases but about the professional support we will receive and the cost of registering properties with the land registry. We believe in the long run it will be saving the council money. We have been aware of the need to do this for some time, but we wanted to ensure that we get the right system, so we have been looking at the best authorities and are convinced that this is the best solution for Liverpool."

Well why not do something to tackle this with the 21C?, or if everyone in Liverpool complained that it would get fixed as the council would be investigated

City’s £150m dream that could come true


A 20-YEAR battle to breathe new life into a deprived Liverpool community reaches a climax next week.

A £150m blueprint to transform the area around Everton’s Great Homer Street into a modern town centre is earmarked for councillors’ backing.

Community leaders have fought for two decades to reverse west Everton’s decline after successive housing schemes saw its population plummet.

Now, after four years of hard work, the result – Project Jennifer – will go before Liverpool council’s planning committee on Tuesday.

If approved, ageing buildings around Great Homer Street will be bulldozed and replaced with 21st-century shops, businesses and community facilities.

Liverpool’s biggest supermarket, rumoured to be a Tesco, elevated on stilts with customers using a travelator to reach the entrance.

A market hall and outdoor space for 300 stalls, for traders displaced from the old “Paddy’s market”.

A doctor’s and dentist’s surgery.

A library, with ground-floor shops.

A mix of small and large shops, with apartments above.

A public transport interchange opposite Everton Park sports centre.

Almost 500 new houses and flats in Great Homer Street, Scotland Road and Marwood Triangle, and the refurbishment of Marwood Towers.

New industrial units in Dryden Street.
Community leaders are excited by the project, but some local businesses have objected, fearing uncertainty over their own futures.

Many will have to be re-located under the plan, which covers more than 50 acres of west Everton.

A number of homes will also have to be demolished, and the council and developer St Modwen have been urged to consider refurbishing more homes than currently planned.

Andrew Williams, 31, of Portland Place, Everton, has led a campaign for a new library. He said: “Community facilities must be the core of any development like this.

“I want to see the biggest and best library possible, because it is the only facility used by every age group.”

City’s £150m dream that could come true


A 20-YEAR battle to breathe new life into a deprived Liverpool community reaches a climax next week.

A £150m blueprint to transform the area around Everton’s Great Homer Street into a modern town centre is earmarked for councillors’ backing.

Community leaders have fought for two decades to reverse west Everton’s decline after successive housing schemes saw its population plummet.

Now, after four years of hard work, the result – Project Jennifer – will go before Liverpool council’s planning committee on Tuesday.

If approved, ageing buildings around Great Homer Street will be bulldozed and replaced with 21st-century shops, businesses and community facilities.

Liverpool’s biggest supermarket, rumoured to be a Tesco, elevated on stilts with customers using a travelator to reach the entrance.

A market hall and outdoor space for 300 stalls, for traders displaced from the old “Paddy’s market”.

A doctor’s and dentist’s surgery.

A library, with ground-floor shops.

A mix of small and large shops, with apartments above.

A public transport interchange opposite Everton Park sports centre.

Almost 500 new houses and flats in Great Homer Street, Scotland Road and Marwood Triangle, and the refurbishment of Marwood Towers.

New industrial units in Dryden Street.
Community leaders are excited by the project, but some local businesses have objected, fearing uncertainty over their own futures.

Many will have to be re-located under the plan, which covers more than 50 acres of west Everton.

A number of homes will also have to be demolished, and the council and developer St Modwen have been urged to consider refurbishing more homes than currently planned.

Andrew Williams, 31, of Portland Place, Everton, has led a campaign for a new library. He said: “Community facilities must be the core of any development like this.

“I want to see the biggest and best library possible, because it is the only facility used by every age group.”

Community leaders have fought for two decades to reverse west Everton’s decline after successive housing schemes saw its population plummet.

What do you expect if you demolish more occupied homes than you replace?This is still going on across the city.As Tony Sebo said,Everton from a distance now looks like the Cotswolds.

So does that mean that the car park is going under the superstore? I think I prefer an incongruent piece of Welsh countryside in that location to an enormous carpark feathered with snapped sycamores.

Superb looking development up on Everton Brow, with a city backdrop.

Much better than those semis next door.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5877/znetherfieldapartments12gt.jpg


Also this block of blitz effect terrace is now being restored at last.
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2417/zgeorgianshawst48dk.jpg

Good work JUXT, Everton brow is a slumbering beast at the moment, great to see new investment taking shape, and I'm loving those city-scapes!

Spot on. That's a great little building. It's like a spot of LA condo living. Do you know what it is?

Spot on. That's a great little building. It's like a spot of LA condo living. Do you know what it is?

Its definately apartments, this area could do with a lot more of this type of development.

Its definately apartments, this area could do with a lot more of this type of development.

Exactly. Just the right location for quality development of this type.

Actually all housing should have that quality.

Roof-terrace, warm-nights, vapour-trails above, and that great view of Liverpool from The Brow.

Surely the car park is lrge enough for a New Goodison. Where better for Everton to play than, er, Everton?

Good call mate. Never even realised they were using that side of Greatie.
It is an excellent site facing Everton Park sports centre and the footy pitches on Everton Park.
The combination of the location and Tesco thing must be cause for the club to research this as an option.

Project Jennifer was given planning permission at yesterday's committee meeting. This image from the DP website has changed quite a lot from the image I posted a couple of weeks ago.


[/Ihttp://img204.imageshack.us/img204/221/projectjennifer1vc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks Doug... er where is this exactly?

Scotland Road is the white one at the top and Great Homer St is the one running through the middle. :)

Lots of development going on in my stomping ground at the moment. At least 5 major housing developments have sprung up in the last 12 months within a 2 mile radius of each other, on land that had stood vacant for years, proving that the time is ripe for developers to make the most cash...

A couple of new projects listed here:

New Surestart and NHS health centre on Earl Road

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5633/imgp2725bo1.jpg

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New L7 housing development, using vacant land between Earl Road and Picton Road

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This picture shows where these developments are happening, the red area highlights the L7 development, the yellow area is where the new NHS centre is being built, the dark blue area shows the streets which are going to be demolished to make way for further new developments, and I'm not sure if the light blue area is included in that plan, but it sure as hell should be because it's currently some of the worst housing in the city. (The green line is Smithdown Road)

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2854/l7bj7.jpg

LCC is currently building a £15m Olympic sized swimming pool to replace the old Picton Baths.

This is a great addition to the city as a whole (which doesn't currently have an Olympic sized pool) as well as to Wavertree. Because the pool will be run by LCC it's going to be part of the Lifestyles gyms and will include a 20m community pool. Liverpool has a great tradition of producing excellent swimmers, so it's great to have a new facility like this so close to the city.

From the LCC website:

Work is well underway on the new facility at Lifestyles Picton in Wavertree, and it will be completed next November in time for European Capital of Culture 2008.

Council leader Warren Bradley said: "The pool will be a valuable facility, not just for our up and coming junior swimmers who are potential medal winners of the future - perhaps at the 2012 Games in London, but also the local community.

"The pool will allow us to bid for major swimming championships so that local people can cheer on our athletes in their home city."

It includes a 20 metre/four lane community pool and 400 seat spectator arena, and replaces the worn out 80 year old Picton pool.

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Saw a notice about this recently, and got these images from the website http://www.bryant.co.uk/NorthWest/TheDeck/Harbour

Looks like an interesting development for Runcorn, turning a dissued shipyard into a highly desirable living pad.. nice designs too (although it seems a shame that they've neglected to include balconies, although final design will probably change slightly)

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5287/image10oe2.jpg

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Tom, I really think it's vandalism to knock down those terraces. They can all be converted, given roof-gardens, made into modern first homes- there's a company making waves in the press right now who are doing this (forget the name).
Also, the terraces, unlike new-build, actually have a bit of character.

The little estate you circle in light blue, is indeed one of the most depressing patches you can ever hope to see, and it's these we should be replacing.

Tom, I really think it's vandalism to knock down those terraces. They can all be converted, given roof-gardens, made into modern first homes- there's a company making waves in the press right now who are doing this (forget the name).
Also, the terraces, unlike new-build, actually have a bit of character.

The little estate you circle in light blue, is indeed one of the most depressing patches you can ever hope to see, and it's these we should be replacing.

I totally agree Villiers.. although I'll be interested to see what they propose to replace them with. The sad fact is that the Earl Road end of Wavertree has always (since I've known it) been a lifeless no mans land. Investing in the existing terraces could have worked, but this is one of the few occasions where an entire area could do with a new masterplan.. the L7 development is a much needed boost, whatever the methods used.

The existing terraces are horrible, but it's a question of cause and effect, has the area always been a lifeless deadzone, or did it become that way because the council marked it out for regeneration and started actively 'depressing' the area by boarding up their own housing and thus lowering house prices etc... A few years ago a church I go to requested a grant from the council to regenerate the Earl Road 'park' (which is actually just green wasteland) with new football pitches and play areas, but were turned down because the area was marked for 'future regeneration' and so the council refused to spend any money on it.. crazy.

Having lived in those terrace houses for years I love them, and they are not only full of character but are also very well built (unlike a lot of cheap new builds)... I'll watch this development with interest... I just hope that developments have moved on since they built that area in the light blue triangle... whoever designed this should be made to live in one of these house.. I also hope they've learnt that the 'enclosed, circular close' idea doesn't work either.. The area on the other side of Earl Road above the light blue triangle is a classic example of creating 'dead end communities'. There's only one way in and the whole place is totally cut off from the rest of the community. You'd have think Brookside would have been evidence enough that 'closes' are a bad idea, unless you live in a nice sunny Australian subburb, then they're great!

As a kid we lived in Bartlett St, off Lawrence Rd for 3 years before being transferred to a new estate, and you're right, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these houses- more than that in London where I live, in Islington, in Stoke Newington the lovely chattering classes break an arm and a leg to live in them....

As a kid we lived in Bartlett St, off Lawrence Rd for 3 years before being transferred to a new estate, and you're right, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these houses- more than that in London where I live, in Islington, in Stoke Newington the lovely chattering classes break an arm and a leg to live in them....

I live not far from there now. They're great houses, and there's a fantastic sense of community in a lot of those streets, because instead of hiding away in their back gardens (which most of us simply don't have) people sit out on their front steps and chat and watch the kids playing together in the street.

Our street are a law unto themselves... whenever there's a kids birthday, they hire a bouncy castle and inflate it right in the middle of the road, getting a couple of cones and bollards and literally blocking off the street for most of the day! People can't believe it when i tell them, but it's great, genuine community spirit. I'm not pretending it's some sort of utopian paradise, the houses are small and there's plenty of depravation to been seen, but there is a sense that it's 'your street' and if you live on it that makes you as much a part of that street as you want to be. Whereas in most other areas it's a case of 'your house' which happens to be in 'a street' or close or nook or drive or whatever.

We're moving to a slightly bigger house in similar terrace street nearby soon and although I'm looking forward to the space, I know I'll miss the sense of vibrancy I've had in our street. That's why I think that 'Bread', though nostalgic and occasionally twee, actually gave a much more accurate description of living in Liverpool than the likes of Brookside ever did.

1,000 jobs in park pipeline

PREPARATION work starts within days on a new Edge Lane international business park capable of creating 1,000 jobs.

The site of the former MTL bus depot will also link three key commercial developments, transforming the eastern approach to the city.

It will be at the heart of the neighbouring Liverpool Digital on the former Marconi site, Wavertree Technology Park and the former Littlewoods printing hall being redeveloped as luxury apartments and office space by developer Urban Splash.

It will act as a catalyst to attract investors and jobs from companies in the science, technology, digital, creative and IT sectors.

Infrastructure work begins this month and will continue until April 2008, creating 150 construction jobs.


Funding for the £10.2m development scheme has come from the North West Development Agency (£4.6m); national regeneration agency English Partnerships (£1.3m) and the European Objective 1 programme (£4.3m).


Regeneration agency the Liverpool Land Development Company will deliver the infrastructure package to prepare the land.


Paul Lakin, head of developments with the NWDA, said: “Building on the presence of the WavertreeTechnology Park and Liverpool Digital, this development has the potential to become a site of regional significance for the science and technology sectors.”


He added: “The agency is committed to working in partnership to bring about the regeneration of the Edge Lane corridor and this project will form an important part of the wider vision for the area.”


David Waugh, Liverpool Land Development Company chief executive, said: “The Edge Lane project will improve the environment for local people, create a new high-quality gateway into Liverpool and support the drive to attract investment and jobs to the city.”

Superb looking development up on Everton Brow, with a city backdrop.

Much better than those semis next door.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5877/znetherfieldapartments12gt.jpg


Also this block of blitz effect terrace is now being restored at last.
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2417/zgeorgianshawst48dk.jpg

went to view an apartment in that white building the other week. The terrace on top is shared amongst the residents and the place is superb. It was a case of waking up to the skyline with ceiling to floor bedroom windows. The only prob was the other room wasnt much cop so either myself of my flatmate would get a shit deal..........great building though, and it was when it was mega windy the other week, so we were clinging to the wooden beams like windsocks!:lol:

These are the new railings going up at Otterspool Promenade
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/3088/railingsotterspooliy1.jpg

The new pathway that's being constructed
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/8428/newpavementotterspoolpk5.jpg

Also a new entrance is going to be created by Jericho Lane,new benches are on their way and a childrens playground looking out over the Mersey which is well advanced,a definite improvement all round.:cheers:

Great pictures Paul, thanks for the update.. Otterspool prom has for a long time been one of our most under utilised assets in this city, great to see a bit of improvement (even if it's only really the sort of basic improvement any council should regularly be making on this kind of site).

I look forward to being able to stroll along it sometime soon.

THE site of Liverpool's only ice rink is to be redeveloped as part of a multi-million pound regeneration project.

The rink, in Prescot Road, Kensington, closed down some years ago and the building was eventually demolished, despite a campaign to preserve it.

Now a planning application has been submitted to the city council to build on the corner site, close to the junction with Beech Street.

Plans for the development include retail space, office space, health care services, a fire station and a number of residential apartments.

Local councillor Louise Baldock today welcomed news what will be called the Kensington Neighbourhood Centre.

Cllr Baldock said: "Local people have been promised this centre for years, at last something might really happen. The Labour Government has ploughed millions of pounds into the area and this will help tremendously to smarten the place up.


"I hope it will provide much needed quality shops and I will continue to campaign for a bank here too which we also desperately need. If it does now finally go ahead it will be a great boost and will go a long way to rebuilding some lost confidence following years of delay and decay."

Green business park to create 300 jobs

WORK will begin shortly on a new £10m green business development in Fazakerley.

The Brookfield Business Park scheme on a 10-acre site in Higher Lane will create 130,000 sq ft of new light industrial units designed to meet high environmental standards. It is expected to generate up to 300 new jobs.

Developers Priority Sites are working in partnership with Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC), the organisation spearheading the regeneration of four key gateway routes into Liverpool including the A580 East Lancashire Road corridor.

The business park, which will have an attractive landscaped setting, will occupy the sites formerly occupied by Fazakerley Open Air School, the Clifford Holroyd Special School, and the Armstrong Lyons building.

The clearance of the Armstrong Lyons industrial unit will enable a new access road to the business park to be created off Brookfield Drive. The new scheme was devel- oped by LLDC after consultation with the local community and will have a strong environmental focus, linking in to the adjoining Fazakerley Ecology Park.

The business accommodation has been designed to meet the requirements of expanding local companies and firms wanting to move to Fazakerley from other parts of Merseyside and elsewhere.


Phase one of the development will include 57,100 sq ft of space in units from 3,000 sq ft to 8,000 sq ft. A further 73,000 sq ft will be created as part of phase two in units from 2,500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft.


Priority Sites' development director, John Boanas, said: "We have had strong support from the Fazakerley community and are very proud to be bringing forward an affordable scheme that will have a positive impact on the local environment.


"Our units are designed to suit the needs of today's businesses, and by incorporating a high level of sustainability into the build structure, occupiers can reap the added benefit of potential energy cost savings."

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3192/isla20gladstoneqn7.jpg

How the Isla Gladstone conservatory in Stanley Park will look.

Looks good, what with LFC building their new stadium in the park, i think the park and its contents will be well maintained and monitored, and not be subject to gang vandalism.

yeah ban all them hoodies who have wrecked the joint!

I've been wondering what they were doing there for ages,I knew about Stonebridge Park in Gilmoss but this one has had me puzzled.

The plots will be set within a high quality parkland environment incorporating lakes and watercourses associated with the River Alt and its Sugarbrook tributary, both of which bisect the site. Gillmoss Sewage Treatment Works wil be screened by a mounded landscaped buffer and linked to the A580/Lower Lane junction by a plaza.

The landscaped elements of the scheme will complement LCC actions to establish the Fazakerley Ecology Park around the treatment works and Fazakerley Hospital and the Environment Agency’s proposals for the River Alt Linear Park. It is anticipated that when fully completed the project will have remediated 29 hectare of land, provided 1.8 km of new highway and 1.6 km of upgraded highway, established 15.12 hectare of serviced development plots and created a new 2.74 hectare park.

The Earle Road SureStart and Health Centre is moving along at quite a pace, it's going to have a good impact on the area visually (replacing a lot of derelict wasteland) and socially.

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3583/imgp2974fp7.jpg


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The new olympic swimming pool in wavertree park is starting to look impressive

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Tom, nice pics, I had a brief view of the site last sat. from the train. A very welcome new facility for the city. The World Firemens Games in 2008 will be using this pool, so it should reap plenty of global publicity.

Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 14:29 GMT

Lottery money rescues buildings

The Beatles failed an audition at the West Derby mansion
Two major building restoration projects in Merseyside have been given a £1.2m lifeline by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Lowlands mansion in West Derby, where The Beatles failed an audition, and a police station on Lark Lane in Liverpool, were chosen by the fund.

Both buildings were showing signs of structural decay and local communities welcomed the financial investment.

The fund has also supported Sir Paul McCartney's childhood home and St Georges Hall.

The West Derby Community Association was awarded £975,500 for their plans to restore Lowlands, a grade-II listed Italianate style mansion which was built in 1846.

Ambitious project

It was saved from demolition by a local councillor in the 1930s and was sold to the West Derby Community Association in 1957.

From 1957 to 1966 the basement of Lowlands was home to the Pillar Club. The Beatles, when they were the Quarrymen, famously failed an audition there and George Harrison played there as a 15-year-old.

The building is currently used as a community centre but it is in need of urgent repair and only the lower floors are useable.

Mrs Pat Blair, chair of the West Derby Community Association, said: "The community has backed us all the way in this ambitious project which will see Lowlands returned to its 1890 appearance."

St Michael's and Lark Lane Community Association have been given £268,000 to restore The Old Police Station.

This Liverpool landmark was built in 1885 and served as a police station until 1974 when it was decommissioned.

Since then it has hosted children's clubs, adult education classes and youth work sessions

Source: BBC Radio Merseyside.

Tom, nice pics, I had a brief view of the site last sat. from the train. A very welcome new facility for the city. The World Firemens Games in 2008 will be using this pool, so it should reap plenty of global publicity.

I have to agree, it's looking great. I will miss the old Picton pool, but at least it hasn't been knocked down, and is now a one stop shop. The Council also kept many of the internal features.

Hopefully the new Olympic pool (first on Merseyside I believe) will encourage merseytravel to get on with plans to reopen Wavertree Station, which is next door.

I have to agree, it's looking great. I will miss the old Picton pool, but at least it hasn't been knocked down, and is now a one stop shop. The Council also kept many of the internal features.

Hopefully the new Olympic pool (first on Merseyside I believe) will encourage merseytravel to get on with plans to reopen Wavertree Station, which is next door.

Joe, the pool is the first Olympic pool in the city. Up to now our swimming team (which has produced many Olympic competitors) has had to travel to Wigan or Manchester to train, which is rediculous!

Wavertree station would be a fantastic addition to the area, there are thousands of people within a miles radius of that station site, Wavertree is one of the most densly populated areas of the city, and with the new pool it would make perfect sense to have a station there.

They've already cleared the site, but the trouble is the land is too valuable now. I know a few developers are very interested in getting their hands on it, but in the long run a station has to be the best option for the area - sadly I don't think it'll happen now.

Kick-off for facelift of Anfield terraces


THE refurbishment of derelict homes in a rundown Liverpool neighbourhood is about to start.

Teams of builders are set to move into Tancred Road, Anfield, five years after the last resident moved out.

The street’s terraced homes were boarded up and originally it was planned to demolish them, along with other properties in the Rockfield Road area.

But surrounding residents insisted they wanted to see the houses modernised and brought back into use - and that work is about to begin.

It is hoped two show homes in Tancred Road will be ready for viewing by June.

The work will be carried out by the Affordable Housing Development Company (AHDC), which was chosen by residents, Liverpool council and Arena housing.


AHDC chairman Dr Derek Smith said the aim was to develop a strong community by providing quality houses to encourage former residents to return to the area.


He said: “We are offering a chance to buy into a street where everyone has the chance to share pride in where they live.


“We want to help rebuild communities and that is why we will always give first choice to local people. We aim only to sell to owner-occupiers.”


The refurbishment of houses in Tancred Road, which once suffered high levels of anti-social behaviour, is the first stage in a three-year programme.


Almost half of the 243 terraced homes in the Rockfield Road area are empty, and the council will take action to make sure private owners of empty homes improve to the same standard as AHDC.


Elsewhere in Anfield, about 1,700 ageing houses are due to be demolished and replaced with modern properties over the next few years.

Joe, the pool is the first Olympic pool in the city. Up to now our swimming team (which has produced many Olympic competitors) has had to travel to Wigan or Manchester to train, which is rediculous!

Wavertree station would be a fantastic addition to the area, there are thousands of people within a miles radius of that station site, Wavertree is one of the most densly populated areas of the city, and with the new pool it would make perfect sense to have a station there.

They've already cleared the site, but the trouble is the land is too valuable now. I know a few developers are very interested in getting their hands on it, but in the long run a station has to be the best option for the area - sadly I don't think it'll happen now.

Tom, Reopening Wavertree Station is actually in the local transport plan. I believe the old entrance is between the two railway bridges on Wellington Road, so I would think it could still be reopened no matter what is built on the pool side of the line.

Demolition of 1,000 city homes gets go-ahead

THE Government yesterday backed controversial plans to bulldoze more than 1,000 homes in Liverpool.

Secretary of State Ruth Kelly recommended three sets of Compulsory Purchase Orders should go ahead after a public inquiry.

It paves the way for regeneration plans in Anfield, Breckfield and Edge Hill.
But she asked for more information to be provided on the Picton plans and will rule on that within 21 days.

The government report stated that while some individuals would suffer that was not a reason to stop the scheme.


Cllr Steve Radford, Liberal group leader who led the campaign against some of the CPOs, said: “We are appalled at the way this Government is treating working class people.


“To say that the suffering of individuals is not a good enough reason is something you would expect from the Thatcher government.


“Everyone living in a terraced house in the city should be worried because this could be them in the future. There has been a policy of deliberate dereliction in this city.”


Objectors forced a government public inquiry over plans to demolish the houses and replace them with new ones.


They claimed the multi-million pound project had been pushed through without proper consideration of alternative options such as renovating the houses. New Heartlands is the biggest housing clearance programme in the city since the 1950s and 1960s when massive areas such as Scotland Road were bulldozed.


The CPOs will cover homes around Breck Road in Anfield and Breckfield. Although more than 1,000 home owners will be sent CPO notifications, it is hoped most of those will be able to reach an amicable deal with the council. The CPOs will only be enforced if residents refuse to go.


Labour Party regeneration spokesman Cllr Paul Brant said: “These CPOs are necessary in order to play a part in improving the quality of homes and regenerate these areas.


“In Toxteth where residents have been re-housed to new build homes they are delighted with them. If the scheme had not gone ahead they would continue to live in substandard homes.


“This scheme will give people an improved quality of life.”


Cath Green, assistant executive director for Neighbourhoods and Housing for Liverpool Council, said: “The Secretary of State’s decision is welcome news because it means we can move forward with investment that will improve the environment and increase housing choice for people in Anfield/Breckfield and Edge Hill.


idents over the next few months.


“We are encouraged by the Secretary of State’s comments regarding Picton and will look to provide the assurances requested so that Picton residents enjoy the same improvements to their neighbourhoods as those in Edge Hill and Anfield/Breckfield

Whoops, carry on ignoring me. :ohno:

These are the houses under threat in Picton (wavertree, between Earl Road and Smithdown road)

Perfectly decent terrace houses... which the council have left to rot.
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Is it just me or does this statement sound like the sort of thing you'd say when you move some rabbits into a new hutch 'In Toxteth where residents have been re-housed to new build homes they are delighted with them.'?

Let's not forget that it wasn't too long ago that someone probably claimed to be 'delighted' to be forceably rehoused into this idylic new build in Toxteth

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7430/dsc00584xa1.jpg

The only reason these people are living in 'substandard housing' is becuase the council has deliberately neglected the houses so that they end up in this state. Building new houses is not the answer. Rebuilding the community is. There are thousands of good quality decent sized terrace houses which would be CHEAPER to completely rennovate, than destroying the community so that some developer gets a pocket full of cash to build some bland, poor quality, souless rubbish which will be an eyesore within a decade.

I would rather they had imagination and do what "Urgan Splash" are doing to terreaces in Gtr Manchester somewhere, and completeley reconfig the buildings, add an extra floor, merge 2 into 1, make the road into a car free open space etc. The new build will be bland low level housing that will need replacing in a fraction of the time of the old stuff has lasted.

A lot of the problem with old housing comes from the fact that these properties are no longer 'aspirational housing'. They are too small, lack gardens or the car parking spaces of more modern properties. Buildings like the ones in Tom's photograph were previously kept alive by students but the recent trend for city centre student accommodation has reduced that market.

I like that Urban Splash idea that Juxtapol mentions. However, new house building is always going to be required in some measure. New properties will have greater energy efficiency and more modern facilities.

It is hard to blame the design of the house for the problems that new building in Toxteth is experiencing. It may just be down to the history of that particular property. All the same, the vibrancy of the community is an important factor and that is why carpet demolition of old properties and their replacement with completely new estates does not always work.

Modern housing does have a blandness compared to some built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras but that is true for both public and private housing. However, we will need to replace these older buildings sooner or later so this is a problem that needs tackling.

I agree with Martin but it doesn`t stop it being rather sad that yet more comunities fall to the bull dozers......:bash:

Plan for £13m observation tower moves a step nearer

A BID to build a landmark £13m observation tower in Seaforth is gathering speed.

The 100ft structure would replace a radar tower and would include a visitor centre and equipment enabling the public to track the tides and ships.

An observation platform, with room for 200 people, would provide unrivalled views of Antony Gormley’s iron men, the Sefton coastline, Liverpool waterfront, the River Mersey and the Welsh hills.

And the project also includes the construction of a £6.7m landing pier and access for a proposed ferry link to Crosby, as the Daily Post revealed earlier this month.

Entitled “The Observatory”, the project is supported by Sefton Council, Mersey Basin Campaign, Mersey Waterfront, Peel Ports, the North West Development Agency and Liverpool Biennial.

A feasibility study carried out by Mersey Waterfront sets out the costs of the scheme and a timetable for the development.


Iain Taylor, research and development manager for Mersey Basin Campaign, said: “This new detailed study confirms that this project is very achievable.


“The observation tower would be a first class attraction, on a par with anything the Liverpool city region has to offer.


“We’re at a very exciting point in the project and we have to keep it moving forward.


“At the moment we’re trying to figure out which design route to go down, but we’re hoping for something ambitious and spectacular.


“This year is about trying to establish the right design and getting funding approved.”


It is hoped the development will be partly financed through public money and partly by a loan.


Mr Taylor said: “The tower will generate an income to look after itself as visitors would pay a modest admission fee. We felt it is a significant enough proposal to take on some level of debt.”


Subject to securing funding, the tower could be in operation as early as spring 2010.


The current building, which basically holds a radar unit in the air, would be demolished in July 2008 with a temporary structure built for the unit.


A detailed design for the new tower would be completed during 2008 and the structure would be built by 2010 and fitted out ready to open to the public in March of that year.


Mr Taylor said: “A management company consisting of all the key stakeholders involved will be set up to create the attraction.


“Now that the Gormleys are staying in Crosby you only have to imagine the scenario: people visit the statues and then see this fantastic tower and want to go up it.


“If we also get the ferry landing stage and the proposed Water centre at Crosby marina, it would completely regenerate the area.”


The current tower may be home to a light display starting later this year and continuing into 2008 if funding can be organised.

Just on aside about this. On my epic, and rather geographically confused bike ride around the Moss, Cheshire lines, Leeds Liverpool Canal and back over the Moss to Formby bike ride at the weekend (I got lost) - on buying a bottle of pop at Formby bypass Tesco's filling station, almost back home, a nice family of folk with creamy, upland Lancs accents asked me if I were local and how to get to the statues in Crosby. Of course I was happy to help, even though their teen-aged lad had a Man U top on. Who wouldn't bet on the fact that they'd never been to Crosby or north Liverpool in general before? Or, maybe, even Liverpool itself.

The statues seem to have had a bigger effect on attracting people from other areas than anything else has for quite a while.

Yeah, I've had people I know down south ask me about the Gormley statues too.

Joe, the pool is the first Olympic pool in the city. Up to now our swimming team (which has produced many Olympic competitors) has had to travel to Wigan or Manchester to train, which is rediculous!

Wavertree station would be a fantastic addition to the area, there are thousands of people within a miles radius of that station site, Wavertree is one of the most densly populated areas of the city, and with the new pool it would make perfect sense to have a station there.

They've already cleared the site, but the trouble is the land is too valuable now. I know a few developers are very interested in getting their hands on it, but in the long run a station has to be the best option for the area - sadly I don't think it'll happen now.

i think reopening sefton park station would bring far more advantages. its a short walk from the new swimming pool and would is also handy for penny lane/smithdown/allerton road. the only problem is that any new station would really need an entire new fleet of trains and a faster more frequent service before people consider abandoning their cars/buses

Those new houses in Toxy, become empty and are not reoccupied quickly by the RSL so they get vandalised. The problems are mainly antisocial, and the lack of Police and youth clubs is the real issue. Also certain people in the community are allowed to fly tip and generally make the area a shit tip and should be made not to, or they loose their homes.

Re, Paul D,

"And the project also includes the construction of a £6.7m landing pier and access for a proposed ferry link to Crosby, as the Daily Post revealed earlier this month."

What absolutely FABULOUS news :banana: :banana: :banana:

Now if Crosby gets a Ferry landing Pier, New Brighton just has to be the next step as a ferry from `Crosby to New Brighton` etc would be a real asset to cross river growth and use.

The wooden structure of the new Olympic Pool looks increasingly impressive

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2347/dsc00875ou4.jpg


http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1493/dsc00876ys8.jpg

Kelly gives green light to £150m facelift plan

LOCAL Government Secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday gave her backing to the biggest-ever facelift in the North Liverpool area.

It means plans can now go ahead on a £150m project in Everton’s Great Homer Street, home of Liverpool’s famous Paddy’s market.

Expected to start in Summer 2008, the scheme – Project Jennifer – by St Modwens Developments will cover 45 acres and will include 480 new homes, a new library, a market hall and 190,000 sq ft of retail units, including a supermarket.

The supermarket is expected to be operated by Tesco and at 80,000 sq ft, would become the store chain’s biggest outlet in Liverpool.

The project is expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the North Liverpool community. Liverpool city council’s regeneration executive member, Cllr Peter Millea, said: “The department’s decision recognises how important the scheme is to kick-start vital new investment in the north of the city.

“I think we all look forward to seeing the creation of a new sustainable community within the Great Homer Street area and the further investment and opportunities that it will undoubtedly bring.” The plans will also include a community health centre, as part of 40,000 sq ft of community facilities.


The historic Paddy’s market, which attracts 300 stall holders every Saturday, will be relocated locally, along with a number of other businesses.


The council’s planning committee gave its approval to the ambitious plans some months ago.


But, because of the scale of the development, the scheme had to be referred to Ruth Kelly.


She had the power to order an inquiry, but, by declaring that she does not wish to intervene, the scheme can now proceed as planned.


Residents and companies have been assured by the developers that they will be kept within the same area.


Chris Newsome, of St Modwens Developments, said: “We are delighted that the Department of Communities and Local Government has accepted the council’s decision based on the merits of the scheme.


“We aim to transform the area into a vibrant centre for people to live and work.”


Following consultation with residents and businesses, St Modwens will continue to negotiate with local land owners to acquire the land necessary for the development.

Sod-cutting starts on industrial units which will create 300 jobsMay 16 2007

by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

REGENERATION specialist Priority Sites has started work on the creation of 130,000 sq ft of “green” commercial premises at Brookfield Business Park, Liverpool.

The new £10m development in Higher Lane, Fazakerley is set to create up to 300 jobs once occupied.

Representatives of Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC), the organisation leading the regeneration of four key gateway routes into Liverpool, joined the Priority Sites management team at a ceremony to mark the first sod cutting.

The high specification industrial units will be built over two phases of development and are designed to appeal to a wide range of occupiers, with business space ranging in size from 3,000 sq ft to 8,000 sq ft. The first phase is expected to complete in early 2008.

Both Priority Sites and LLDC have taken steps to ensure the new business park also has a strong environmental focus, to support the work at the adjoining Fazakerley Ecology Park.

The units, occupying the site formerly used by Fazakerley Open Air School, will achieve a minimum BREEAM rating (Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Method) of very good.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

All good stuff :cheers:

Green lights and Green Commercial .....

Seed fund helps software company move offices May 16 2007

by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

A FIRM specialising in enterprise software has moved from Manchester to Merseyside with backing from Merseyside Special Investment Fund’s Liverpool Seed Fund.

Blue Prism, now based in Newton-le-Willows, produces a piece of software called Automate, used to integrate business processes, primarily in the retail and banking sectors.

A variety of modules covering processes including opening and closing bank accounts, completing audit reports and online applications are available.

Traditionally, many of these processes have been labour intensive due to staff having to access several internal systems. Automate cuts out the need for manual intervention.

The company already has a blue chip client base including Barclays, Co-operative Bank, CIS, Orange, and Npower.

Blue Prism has raised a £1.5m investment package that includes support from MSIF’s Seed Fund, Rising Stars Growth Fund and a syndicate of private investors organised by Endeavour Ventures.

The Mersey Partnership helped the company move to the area, providing advice on location and premises.

The company was set up in 2001 by Alastair Bathgate and David Moss.

Managing director, Mr Bathgate said: “Automating manual processes with our product can be done quickly and cheaply and without a hoard of technical staff. We have also built in the security, stability and scalability required by major corporations such as banking and insurance.

“We are delighted to move to Merseyside which has an excellent support network for ICT businesses. The funding from MSIF has been crucial. We can now develop the product further and expand into new markets.”

The company has already grown to 12 staff and plans further recruitment in Merseyside to build, sell and service its software tool.

Michael Bakewell, investment manager of MSIF’s Seed Fund said: “Blue Prism already has an impressive customer base and is operating in a growing global market.

“We will continue to work closely with them and are pleased to be supporting this exciting business.”

tonymcdonough

Here's a picture of the new Riverside flats going up in Runcorn:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/Widnes/P1000477.jpg

Thanks Stephen, always good to get other parts of the City Region in focus, cheers

Anyone want a picture of the Mersey?

Of course you do.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/Widnes/P1000479.jpg

Not the right place to put it of course, but that's what happens when you get bored the night before going back to work :( either that or have an argument with Stockholm Rovers or something equally as dull

Cool. You can see the particle accelerator thingie at Daresbury there.

Major scheme gets approval

ROYAL London Asset Management has secured outline planning consent for the 800,000 sq ft Atlantic Park mixed-use business park, which is set to regenerate a major part of Dunningsbridge Road in north Liverpool.

The company is likely to invest tens of millions of pounds in the 52-acre site, which links Liverpool’s Freeport with the M57 and M58 motorways.

Outline consent has split the site into key development zones, to maintain flexibility during the build schedule. Work started on the first-phase office building last week, after several months of remediation and infrastructure work. When complete, Atlantic Park will be home to about 4,000 jobs.

Nigel Lax, of Industrial Securities, the development managers appointed by Royal London on the project, said: “North Liverpool has an established industrial and commercial base but has lacked a high quality mixed use business park of the type we’re proposing.

£9m business village targets city success

A NEW £9m business village is being created in south Liverpool, providing 48,000 sq ft of office space.

The Meridian Business Village, in Hunts Cross, will feature 22 self-contained office units. The development will offer both freehold and leasehold properties of between 1,500 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft.

Prospect (GB), a subsidiary of the Liverpool-based Riverside Group and one of the company’s best kept secrets, which to date is better known for its residential developments, is behind the scheme.

Chris Heath, managing director of Prospect, said: “We’re absolutely delighted with our first office development in Liverpool.

“As a subsidiary of the Riverside Group the city obviously has a special significance to us and we’ve been eager to play a part in its growing economic prosperity. There is a strong demand for these types of smaller self-contained offices within the Liverpool area.

The block of flats facing Lower Lane on the East Lancs is being sealed off so it looks like its days are numbered.They were looking for someone to develop the space into apartments recently so I don't know whether they've found someone to do it or whether they're just clearing away another grot spot,either way I'm happy.

These are the houses under threat in Picton (wavertree, between Earl Road and Smithdown road)

Perfectly decent terrace houses... which the council have left to rot.
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6687/dsc00558ri0.jpg


http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1673/dsc00550tf5.jpg


http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6161/dsc00554sj5.jpg


Is it just me or does this statement sound like the sort of thing you'd say when you move some rabbits into a new hutch 'In Toxteth where residents have been re-housed to new build homes they are delighted with them.'?

Let's not forget that it wasn't too long ago that someone probably claimed to be 'delighted' to be forceably rehoused into this idylic new build in Toxteth

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7430/dsc00584xa1.jpg

The only reason these people are living in 'substandard housing' is becuase the council has deliberately neglected the houses so that they end up in this state. Building new houses is not the answer. Rebuilding the community is. There are thousands of good quality decent sized terrace houses which would be CHEAPER to completely rennovate, than destroying the community so that some developer gets a pocket full of cash to build some bland, poor quality, souless rubbish which will be an eyesore within a decade.


Those victorian terraces are really let down by those dodgy paint jobs :ohno: cover them in cheap pebble dash and voila! you have the perfect disaster short of the new stuff being built in their place, although i have to say the type of brick those old houses use aren't my most favourite but they really do add a sense of Urban-ness to the place.*
Liverpool really does suffer from this and to be honest by building these flatpack suburban houses 3 feet from the centre ruins it and is only going backwards and unless Britain sees a mindblowingly fantastic new modern version of a Terrace townhouse then we might aswell cherish what we've got.

*Looking at those pictures i can see a million things that i could do to help and renovate and yet I feel utterly helpless.

Rant over.

RESIDENTS are being urged to attend a public meeting to discuss the future of a notorious eyesore in their community.

The event has been arranged so people can have their say about proposals for the one-time Venue nightclub and Carlton cinema, in Green Lane, Tuebrook.

Last year, campaigners convinced Liverpool council to back a scheme to build apartments on the Venue location, despite planners saying it should be refused for being outside a regeneration zone.

The original developer has now sold the site to a new firm, which is keen to include the former cinema in a larger proposal for shops, about 120 mostly two-bedroom flats and possibly a gym.

The meeting takes place at the Hope Centre, in Snaefell Avenue, Tuebrook, on Tuesday, June 21 at 5pm.

More tower blocks coming down this time in Croxteth, next to the Showcase cinema on the East Lancs Rd. Wonder if this will be an extension of the retail park or for residential.

These do look solidly built, and could look great done up, but maybe there is no market in this area for them...!
http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/4001/zcroxtethtowerdemolitiouo8.jpg

That's part of the Stonebridge Cross development Juxt,you probably noticed that hideous housing estate being demolished over the road in Gilmoss aswell? it's all part of the same development but I'm not entirely sure what that is anymore now Tesco are no longer on board to anchor the scheme?

Great pic Juxty, I wonder if this " nibble away" method will be used on Concourse House ?

I wonder if Tesco might still come in on this site or whether Kirby going ahead (or not) will mean this site doesn't (or does). Another big supermarket could allways still take this site up if a supermarket is what is needed.

On Concourse house, that would be more restricted for demolition, i'm no expert but would they demolish by hand/light machinery, lobbing the rubble down chutes or something...!

On Concourse house, that would be more restricted for demolition, i'm no expert but would they demolish by hand/light machinery, lobbing the rubble down chutes or something...!

Yes they'll probably demolish it in the same way they demolished the Engineering tower, very carefully! They haul the crew up onto the tower and then they just eat their way down, literally taking it apart piece by piece. At one point they hoisted a small JCB up onto the tower which looked slightly surreal!


http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/7905/imgp1858ys1.jpg


http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1992/dsc00929yp7.jpg


http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/5465/dsc01014pv4.jpg


http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/2536/dsc01226ir8.jpg


http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/4243/dsc01239kq7.jpg

Good shots Tom, there is also plenty of room there for demolition as opposed to Concourse which is surrounded by Railway and road.

A demolition team is setting up outside The Crown Pub on the East Lancs Road,they seem to be demolishing all the eyesores in this area now in time for 2008.Altbridge Park flats are well on their way to being demolished and Langholme Heights by the cemetery is sealed off ready for demolition.A couple of rows of that derelict estate in Gilmoss have vanished recently aswell and the rest will go when the remaining tennants find new homes,all in all it will make a huge difference to that approach into the city.

I also noticed the Crown pub with contractors, is it actually being demolished though...!

I also noticed Knowsley councils plan to demolish it's pubs continuing with the Bluebell pub now demolished, it was inevitable, what with it's dereliction and eventual attacks of arson.

It would be sad if the Crown is demolished. It's actually a nice building, especially the stone reliefs by the doorways etc.

What would it be replaced with? A couple of rubbish modern houses?

They originally wanted to put apartments there but the council refused them,then there was the fire,probably deliberately started?

its meant to be a listed building thats why theres been fires too make the building in such bad condition the council will then let it get demolished, the church next door is going to i think.

Went for a drive around the city yesterday and though I'd update on a few developments. Firstly the Crown pub is still standing, and unless something is taking place at the rear, out of sight, nothing has happened. The tower block on the East Lancs pictured above is now nothing but a pile of rubble. There was a JCB eating away at the pile, so I expect the site to be clear soon.

The former Esso site on Queens Drive near the Jolly Miller remains fenced off with zero activity, despite Tesco having planning permission for a Tesco Express and Petrol Station since the end of last year. On a very similar note, the former Esso site on Wavertree High Street, again with planning permission for a Tesco Express (no filling station on this one), remains devoid of any activity also.

In the same area the former Dingwall Autos car servicing centre near Picton Clock next to The Lamb pub has now been levelled, and hoardings erected around it. Planning permission was granted for a three-storey apartment building at the front of the site and two mews houses at the rear in May last year, so it's nice to see the development getting started. It will also be nice to see something even a little more in keeping with that area, than the former Dingwall Autos building which was always totally out of character.

Finally the former site of a row of shops on Smithdown Road between Grant Avenue and Penny Lane remains vacant. The site was cleared many months ago, and fencing put around it - which has subsequent been blown over in a few storms we've had. There is planning permission granted here for an apartment building.

Overall it was nice to see work start on the Dingwall Autos site, and the continuing demolition of tower blocks continues to smarten that section of the East Lancs. However the complete lack of action on the other sites - particularly when some are owned by organisations as large as Tesco is quite disappointing.

Dixie Dean Field has been fenced off. Has the last legal appeal of the residents has been kicked out, could they could be building that North Liverpool academy in Breckfield? Does anyone have any info at all on this site?

What do folk think?

Dixie Dean Field has been fenced off. Has the last legal appeal of the residents has been kicked out, could they could be building that North Liverpool academy in Breckfield? Does anyone have any info at all on this site?

What do folk think?

Tony, quite some time ago now, ie, over twelve months ago if not longer a render of the proposed academy was posted somewhere here on the forum, which showed quite a futuristic building with a `front` that looked not unlike the helmet from `The Rocketeer` ........ which in itself would be rather interesting up there on top of the hill.

Though perhaps not to everyones taste and the design may well have changed by now anyhows......:cheers:

New hopes for 08 start on Garden Festival site
Aug 14 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

BUILDING work on a development at Liverpool’s derelict International Garden Festival could start next year, after a date was set for an inquiry into the plans.

Developers Langtree McLean last night said the early announcement of a date for the public inquiry, set to last for eight days from October 30, paved the way for work to start in 2008.

Last month the Government “called in” the controversial application for 1,308 flats and 66 houses on land which has fallen into neglect since the 1984 festival.

The £250m plan also includes restoration of 56 acres of parkland at Otterspool – including the Japanese and Chinese gardens – which Langtree McLean intended reopening in time for the city’s Capital of Culture celebrations.

But Ruth Kelly, in her role as Communities and Local Government Minister, said she decided to call in the application because it involved planning issues of “more than local importance”. She considered that the proposals might conflict with national housing guidelines, but the decision prompted fears a lengthy inquiry could considerably delay the start of building work.

Managing director of Langtree John Downes said: “We still have a chance of getting some of the regeneration done in 2008 now.

The scheme has faced fierce opposition from Save the Festival Gardens campaign group who want the whole site as public parkland.

New hopes for 08 start on Garden Festival site
Aug 14 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

BUILDING work on a development at Liverpool’s derelict International Garden Festival could start next year, after a date was set for an inquiry into the plans.

Developers Langtree McLean last night said the early announcement of a date for the public inquiry, set to last for eight days from October 30, paved the way for work to start in 2008.

Last month the Government “called in” the controversial application for 1,308 flats and 66 houses on land which has fallen into neglect since the 1984 festival.

The £250m plan also includes restoration of 56 acres of parkland at Otterspool – including the Japanese and Chinese gardens – which Langtree McLean intended reopening in time for the city’s Capital of Culture celebrations.

But Ruth Kelly, in her role as Communities and Local Government Minister, said she decided to call in the application because it involved planning issues of “more than local importance”. She considered that the proposals might conflict with national housing guidelines, but the decision prompted fears a lengthy inquiry could considerably delay the start of building work.

Managing director of Langtree John Downes said: “We still have a chance of getting some of the regeneration done in 2008 now.

The scheme has faced fierce opposition from Save the Festival Gardens campaign group who want the whole site as public parkland.

This one just seems to go on and on.

The scheme has faced fierce opposition from Save the Festival Gardens campaign group who want the whole site as public parkland.

Why can't these people understand that the site simply wouldn't be financially viable if the whole site was used as parkland? Having read most of the planning document that was doing the rounds a few months ago, I got the impression that the developers had been put in a difficult position. They needed to hit a critical mass of housing and some retail on the site in order to make it viable. But at the the same time they needed to ensure that the new builds did not disrupt the beauty that the gardens will hopefully soon regain. I think the developers are making the best of a bad situation, and those from the 'Save the Festival Gardens' group are being very naive if they think someone is going to come along and spends millions on restoring and maintaning the gardens with no financial return for themselves.

And in other news -

PLANS to demolish terraced streets in a Liverpool community have finally been approved after months of delay.

The government has rubber-stamped a legal order issued to residents in the Picton area of Wavertree so homes can be pulled down and rebuilt.

In April, compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) for parts of Anfield and Edge Hill were given the go-ahead, meaning hundreds of residents could be forced to sell up.

But the government asked for extra information about two roads in Wavertree – Cantsfield Street and Tunstall Street – before deciding whether Picton should be included.

After reviewing the proposals to bulldoze and rebuild terraced streets, communities secretary Hazel Blears has now confirmed the order.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/08/14/end-of-the-road-for-homes-fight-100252-19622143/

This area has been in a terrible condition for many years and it's good to see some common sense prevail. Effectively conducting slum clearance isn't a 'one-size fits all' solution, but in this instance it is needed.

Why can't these people understand that the site simply wouldn't be financially viable if the whole site was used as parkland? Having read most of the planning document that was doing the rounds a few months ago, I got the impression that the developers had been put in a difficult position. They needed to hit a critical mass of housing and some retail on the site in order to make it viable. But at the the same time they needed to ensure that the new builds did not disrupt the beauty that the gardens will hopefully soon regain. I think the developers are making the best of a bad situation, and those from the 'Save the Festival Gardens' group are being very naive if they think someone is going to come along and spends millions on restoring and maintaning the gardens with no financial return for themselves.

Indeed Chris,

What people have now forgotten is that it was the founding principle of holding `Garden Festivals` to regenerate `Brown Field sites of great decay` and after the festival to turn the land back into `Commercial` use.

It was the nimby attitude of some of the new residents around the retained festival gardens that did much to harm the much smaller `Festival Hall` bowling, resturants and kiddie park as they objected to having visitors in the area as they considered any such activity as being unsuitable.

I am in no way advicating that the remaining parkland or gardens should now be bulldozed in line with the original intentions (ie,eg, The Britannia Inn was only originally build for the specific duration of the LIGF `84 but has remained viable......)

I see no reason why there is so much objection to these current proposals, although I know some people have concerns regarding the designs and quality of some of the new buildings but on the plus side most of the new homes / apartments from what I`ve seen are grouped together on the promanade / riverfront and I also hope that they could spur on the `Mersey Ferries` to once again support access to the Ferries at high time direct to the Riverside promanade, which was used through out most of the period of the LIGF `84.

It remains a great shame that the £3m Festival Hall has fallen to the bulldozers.

A wasted oportunity

Indeed Chris,
It was the nimby attitude of some of the new residents around the retained festival gardens that did much to harm the much smaller `Festival Hall` bowling, resturants and kiddie park as they objected to having visitors in the area as they considered any such activity as being unsuitable.

I agree totally with that. Despite all the years of dereliction, the worst thing to ever happen to the Festival Gardens site was the building of houses on the inland part of the site. The new residents want a wonderful park right on their doorstep, but don't want anything there that would make the park finacially viable.

In retrospect I think the best way forward for the Festival Gardens would have been to turn the entire site into a pleasure gardens. I'm not suggesting Alton Towers Mark II on our waterfront, but around the world there are a number of pleasure gardens that just have a few family rides - carousel, steam train, slides - not greatly dis-similar to the original concept, but with perhaps just a few more rides - see Tivoli Gardens or Bakken both in Denmark. These rides would make just enough money to maintain the gardens. In an ideal world, this set up would still be possible on the remaining part of the site. However as you say, the new residents put the kybosh on virtually anything that is planned for the site.

It remains a great shame that the £3m Festival Hall has fallen to the bulldozers.


In years to come I firmly believe as a city we are going to really regret letting that one get away. It was a modern icon, and to see it torn apart for scrap metal was a great shame.

[QUOTE=Pietari;14807435]
I see no reason why there is so much objection to these current proposals, although I know some people have concerns regarding the designs and quality of some of the new buildings but on the plus side most of the new homes / apartments from what I`ve seen are grouped together on the promanade / riverfront and I also hope that they could spur on the `Mersey Ferries` to once again support access to the Ferries at high time direct to the Riverside promanade, /QUOTE]

This is the render thats shows the park and the grouping of the apartments............

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/1456/gardenfestivallargevr7.jpg

The Park looks brilliant, but I am not happy with those "box`s" they look typical David McLean drab ,boring ,un-exciting designs. The wow factor is in the Park not in the buildings.:ohno:

The Park looks brilliant, but I am not happy with those "box`s" they look typical David McLean drab ,boring ,un-exciting designs. The wow factor is in the Park not in the buildings.:ohno:

I seem to recall reading in the planning report that the developers had two serious problems with this site. Firstly, because of this part of the site's former use (landfill), there are rules governing putting living accomadation on ground level - for the most part you can't do it. Therefore they were unable to build traditional houses like were permissable on the other side of the site where methane emissions are much smaller. Even if they were allowed to build traditional houses, the critical mass required in order to make the site financially viable would have meant much more of the site being built on. In this instance it would almost certainly have been thrown out due to over-development. (interestingly also something this development has been accused of anyway by the nimby's)

Faced with these constraints the only way to build was up with apartment blocks, but they couldn't go too high hence the large number of blocks. The problem with these blocks (and I don't think it's a problem confined to David McLean's) is that 95% of these type of blocks are generally devoid of any architectural interest. That image does appear to show something of a clash between beautiful gardens and somewhat suspect apartment blocks (I've seen worse though). However if these blocks are the price to pay to have the Festival Gardens brought back into public use, and give Liverpool another public park, then I say it's a price worth paying.

I think this is about compromise really its the only way it will work
the plans certainly seem to offer park land and a lake
kat
:)

It`ll breath a lot of new life into the area one way or the other......

That primarily is what the nimbys do not want.

wouldnt those flats have been built on the site of the dome?

^^

Yes, more or less. They are also supposed to be built on the former car park as well. Interestingly that render doesn't show the difference in grade between the car park and the level of the former dome. The only part of the site that isn't already totally concreted over is the proposed site of the blocks adjacent to the river.

Seems like too good a location to waste on average designs like those, they should at the very least be going for something more along the lines of the 'Deck' devlopment in Runcorn

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9154/image8wy5.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7026/august0716nn5.jpgI thought they looked more like those along the kingsdock?
the white ones in a square?
kat

Liverpool FC.TV Take On New Home Ground At Matchworks II

July 25, 2007
The Chamber, Blogging Liverpool Business.
http://liverpoolchamber.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/liverpool-fctv-take-on-new-home-ground-at-matchworks-ii/

Award winning property developer Urban Splash today announced LiverpoolFC.TV, a joint venture between Liverpool Football Club and ITV Plc, is the latest tenant at Matchworks II, Speke Road, Garston, Liverpool.

LiverpoolFC.TV is the media arm of the football club and has taken two units at the award winning site totalling 11,120 sq ft on a six year lease. The space will be used as a TV studio and will also be home to the production arm of the website, which with over a million fans logging on each month is one of the most visited football club websites in the world.

Stephen Michael, General Manager of LiverpoolFC.TV said: “After a long search for appropriate premises, we were delighted to settle on the Matchworks. The space is very contemporary, hugely flexible and has proven to be perfect for our new headquarters and television studios. We are very much looking forward to getting established in our new home.”

“We’re pleased to welcome LiverpoolFC.TV to Matchworks II and their creative use of the space reflects the versatility of the accommodation we have to offer here – and there are plenty of fans in the office who are very excited about our latest signing! said Lynn Haime, Associate Director, Urban Splash Work. “We’re now over 60% let in the scheme with interest in the last few units at Matchworks II and also in our new Matchbox which will be ready to occupy later this year.”

Urban Splash has five units remaining at Matchworks II ranging from 2585 sq ft to 9282 sq ft. Rents are £3.50 per sq ft for studio/workshop space and £7.50 per sq ft for fully fitted, high quality office space. Ample on site car parking is provided at no additional cost.

Also on the same site is the contemporary Matchbox, the first new build by Urban Splash in Liverpool and will provide 19,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation. Urban Splash believes the landmark building will be an excellent location for a prestigious headquarters and it will be ready to occupy from the Autumn.

Pictured above are Lynn Haime, associate director, Urban Splash with Stephen Michael, General Manager of LiverpoolFC.TV outside the unit at Matchworks II, Garston.

Finally the former site of a row of shops on Smithdown Road between Grant Avenue and Penny Lane remains vacant. The site was cleared many months ago, and fencing put around it - which has subsequent been blown over in a few storms we've had. There is planning permission granted here for an apartment building.


Looks like either this site has been sold to new owners, or the current owners have had a change of heart since planning permission was granted a while back.

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07F/2458
346/356a Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 5AN

To erect 4 storey mixed development comprising doctors surgery and pharmacy at ground floor with 17no self contained apartments above together with associated basement car parking

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I think this is probably a better proposal, as the surgery and pharmacy will bring some life to the area, as well as providing services to the local community.

Go-ahead hope for flats at city gem
Aug 30 2007 by Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo

FRESH plans to refurbish a rundown Victorian mansion and build flats in its grounds have been unveiled.

The proposal for Crofton, in Aigburth, comes nearly three years after a previous controversial scheme was rejected by Liverpool council amid a storm of protest.

Residents successfully fought to stop four new buildings being constructed in its grounds, while heritage experts claimed some of the 19th-century villa’s classic features would be lost forever.

This time, developer Darby Macy wants to convert Crofton itself into 12 flats, refurbish its outbuildings and build nine new homes.

That would take the total number of dwellings on the North Sudley Road estate up to 28, far fewer than in the last proposal.

Councillors are now being advised to approve the scheme, because it would help preserve Crofton for future generations.

But some residents have still objected, describing the villa, originally built for shipping magnate Alfred Holt, as “the jewel in Aigburth’s conservation crown”. Others are worried about extra traffic and the safety of children at Sudley infants school, opposite the 2.5-acre site.

One resident in nearby Dundonald Road said: “Everyone wants to see the house developed because it is gorgeous, but people are not keen on the new-build side.

“It is a lovely piece of land and they want any development to be in keeping with the area.

“There is not as much opposition this time because there are fewer properties in the new section and no underground car park.”

The developer says it is not economically viable to convert the estate’s existing buildings without building new properties to finance restoration work.

Council planners believe the scheme should be approved by the planning committee next week. A report says: “Future investment is required to preserve the long-term outlook of these historic assets.

“Such investment in the fabric of the buildings would provide significant conservation benefits in terms of securing the long-term future of the buildings.”

Render of the new incinerator at Runcorn (from this weeks Widnes World!)

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/robinsonworld/Liverpool/Scans051.jpg

Sorry no details of hight or anything, but it's apparently "not the view we want", that;s a render from the anti lot BTW.

MULTI-MILLION pound plans to restore Liverpool’s former garden festival have taken a crucial step forward.

Liverpool council must now wait until the verdict from next month’s public inquiry before it knows if restoration work can start on the gardens, woods and grasslands.




link to full Echo news item (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/09/29/festival-site-plan-closer-100252-19865935/)

The Crown Pub on the East Lancs Rd has now been demolished,it was a bit mad driving down there today and seeing the area without such a dominant building but it's opened up a view of the great looking church next door,no doubt they'll build on the plot though,personally I prefer it as it is.

Langholme Heights wont be there much longer either,when they're gone there'll be no tower blocks by ours anymore.

The Crown Pub on the East Lancs Rd has now been demolished,it was a bit mad driving down there today and seeing the area without such a dominant building but it's opened up a view of the great looking church next door,no doubt they'll build on the plot though,personally I prefer it as it is.

Langholme Heights wont be there much longer either,when they're gone there'll be no tower blocks by ours anymore.

i noticed the nibbler had snuck up behind the last tower block on way home tonight - its been weird watching the other 3 up the road being taken down piecemeal over the last few months.

The Crown Pub on the East Lancs Rd has now been demolished,it was a bit mad driving down there today and seeing the area without such a dominant building but it's opened up a view of the great looking church next door,no doubt they'll build on the plot though,personally I prefer it as it is.

That's quite a shame. As you say the building was quite dominant, and architecturally speaking was fairly interesting. I suppose after the multiple arson attacks, and being open to the elements for so long, the fabric of the building must have suffered. I suppose demolition was inevitable.

That's quite a shame. As you say the building was quite dominant, and architecturally speaking was fairly interesting. I suppose after the multiple arson attacks, and being open to the elements for so long, the fabric of the building must have suffered. I suppose demolition was inevitable.

I was brought up by the Crown on the block between there and Littlewoods on Walton Hall Ave. It changes every time I come back - Littlewoods has gone and now the Crown - you'll be telling me Waterworths has closed next:(

A BRIDGE carrying the main West Coast railway line over a busy Liverpool road is to be repainted in time for Capital of Culture celebrations.

The bridge, which spans the A562 Smithdown Road is a battleship grey and pockmarked with rust patches.

Network Rail, which will be carrying out the work, has joined forces with Liverpool council to fund the £75,000 project because the road is one of the main gateways into the city centre and could be used by thousands of visitors during the celebrations.

The bridge will now be repainted a “subtle” green colour.

Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s area general manager, said: “We want to help create a good impression of the city on all the visitors coming to the many events taking place.”

One lane of Smithdown Road will have to be closed in each direction for up to six weeks from today while work takes place.

A BRIDGE carrying the main West Coast railway line over a busy Liverpool road is to be repainted in time for Capital of Culture celebrations.

The bridge, which spans the A562 Smithdown Road is a battleship grey and pockmarked with rust patches.

Network Rail, which will be carrying out the work, has joined forces with Liverpool council to fund the £75,000 project because the road is one of the main gateways into the city centre and could be used by thousands of visitors during the celebrations.

The bridge will now be repainted a “subtle” green colour.

Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s area general manager, said: “We want to help create a good impression of the city on all the visitors coming to the many events taking place.”

One lane of Smithdown Road will have to be closed in each direction for up to six weeks from today while work takes place.

That's about 50 ft from my flat. The lane reduction is sure going to be a pain in the arse, but if it's needed then so be it. I'm not sure why they are just painting it green when they could maybe do a little more e.g. Liverpool08 livery or something.

In terms of creating a good impression, this route would be much better as a way into the city centre than Edge Lane. They could come down Queens Drive, Smithdown then onto Ullet/Princes Road.

That's the way I tend to take visitors anyway, so that they go away with the shiniest impression of the city as possible.

In terms of creating a good impression, this route would be much better as a way into the city centre than Edge Lane. They could come down Queens Drive, Smithdown then onto Ullet/Princes Road.

That's the way I tend to take visitors anyway, so that they go away with the shiniest impression of the city as possible.

Waterways off yoliverpool done a similar thing which I think was really great of him.

I went to the Lake District for over a week in July with some French people. On the way up we stopped off in Chester for a night, which they liked. I decide to drop into Liverpool on the way to the Lakes. I never told them. They thought Liverpool was a poor slum not knowing anything about the place apart from the Beatles.

I entered via the Runcorn bridge and went to Woolton showing them the village and John Lennon's house, then Paul McCartney's house, Strawberry Field, then through the leafy suburbs with huge mature oak trees everywhere and through parks to Aigburth then along Riverside drive to the Albert Dock for coffee. They were very impressed (one is from Paris) with the Albert Dock and with the level of construction, and wondered what the church was with the birds on top. I was giving running commentaries: the French wall, the dock system, the American connections, the 1.3 million Irish who entered in the famine, etc. The three Graces impressed them. They were amazed at the size of the cathedral - I told them the world's largest tower and largest gothic arches. They were impressed with the red colour not having seen red sandstone churches before - never occurred to me it was that different. I pointed out the world's largest brick building too - the the Tobacco warehouse.

I stopped outside Oriel Chambers and pointed out it that it was the first steel framed glass curtain walled buildings in the world and all modern building are generally based on it. One said, "it is a very important building then". The were impressed at seeing the White Star Line Building (the Titanic).

I told them about most of the centre being a World Heritage site and buffer zone. They said how come Liverpool has all these wonderful buildings and supposed to be so poor. I told them it was one on the richest cities in the world at one time - they were surprised but said "it all fitted as poor cities do not have buildings like there are here". We went out via Riverside Drive, Rose Lane, Penny Lane and Queens Drive and the M62. We drove through miles and miles of Liverpool and not a slum in sight anywhere. They liked the red sandstone walls around buildings in the south end of the city.

On the way home to France, I overheard them saying to others that they were very impressed with Liverpool and never expected it to be so nice.

That's about 50 ft from my flat

Buggedboy must live downstairs from me! :D

cant quite understand how it costs 75K... shocking