Islington is a much neglected part of town, there have been a few forummers mentioning the potential of this area and maybe now it has started? Planning application 05O/3657 refers to a scheme in Kempston St. (not sure which end) for 6 and 11 storey apartment blocks for 109 flats with retail and parking on the ground floor along with an electrical substation. It also mentions the creation of a public square at Surface car park, application byTrustees of V. Huglin Carpets Ltd. anyone ever heard of this company??

With Opal Court on the Prince of Wales pub site nearing completion and now Kempston St. this could be the start of big changes for the Islington area.



http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4526/kempstonst17gz.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Yeah, that area is VERY neglected. There is much potential for starting afresh.

Student flats sounds like a good idea, but aren't there enough being built anyway?

I'm not sure if these are student flats??

Yeah, you're right: I stuck "student" in for no apparent reason. :?

Anyway, downtown living... is there enough?

This site{London Road Area} does require major re-development. It would be interesting if a property developer submitted a masterplan for this area. It could consist of a new shopping centre and may be even two or even three towers. The heights could start at 25 upto 40 storeys. One site in the London Road area, would be the replacement of the old JMU tower with a 40 storey tower. An ice ring could also be included in any masterplan. It would be interesting to hear what people have to say.

The masterplan suggestion sounds good but I think maybe this area would need 2, one for either side of Islington. It is a big wide road and likely to become busier in the future as the Hall Lane improvements kick in. As for shopping I suppose improving on what is already there, mainly London Rd. itself, seems the best way forward. The ice rink idea is great I'm just not sure that this would be the best location.

Maybe now the road plans have been done and dusted, trams and hopefully the royal will soon be sorted out then real long term development of Islington.

The development of a masterplan for the 'Islington Quarter' (as they call it) is already underway. It is an initiative by developers and local landowners. See this document (http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/Published/C00000282/M00004552/AI00018709/$REG20IslingtonLondonRoad.docA.ps.pdf) - though there's not much to it as yet.

Lathom thanks for the doc. as you say not much detail there but at least the area has been officially recognised as ready for regeneration. Just one down point, another bloody quarter!!! aaagghhh!! Islington Quarter!! how many quarters is that now??

More than 4, that's for sure :)

Lathom thanks for the doc. as you say not much detail there but at least the area has been officially recognised as ready for regeneration. Just one down point, another bloody quarter!!! aaagghhh!! Islington Quarter!! how many quarters is that now??

Doug, What the Plan does`nt say is that this area could also be designated as an öfficial Red Light area, whoops sorry...........Zone of Tolerence :eek2:

I guess that makes sense as it already is

The DP reports today of a £10m development in Moss St. comprising 58 flats with 3 retail on the ground floor. 80% of the properties have been pre-sold and the 3 retail units are also let, very positive signs for the the area.



http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8382/dsc014337ux.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Great news for that part of town. With Opal Court facing this area could be on the up. Its a busy part of town and so the retail aspects should do fine.

Doesn't this development face the Roy Castle Centre, with Opal Court diagonally opposite, across Islington? :?

I might be confused tho.

This development is in Moss St. facing Opal Court, to the left of the image is Shaw St.

I think it is right near the royal at the bottom of the hill where the little industrial estate is.

You're confused squirrel, it's the delapidated site opposite Opal Court, Roy Castle is at the junction on Daulby Street.

Great to see this area hit so hard by bad planning and planning blight coming through.

Looks as though it fits in wel with the surrounding buildings, too

This development is in Moss St. facing Opal Court, to the left of the image is Shaw St.
Opal court went up quick and its frontage was retained do we have any pics?

I often am confused. Cheers for the info. I had a wander round that area when I was last home. Wasn't paying close enough attention, clearly.

Speaking of roy castle i bet he would of been pleased with the total ban on smoking.

^^ Sright.

Tommy, I originally put thes pics on the Liverpool apartment thread, I don't supoose it will do no harm to re-post on this thread. Scaffolding is now down on the Prince of Wales pub and it looks great!


Opal Court

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2172/opalcourt12mt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8274/opalcourt27ei.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/6884/opalcourt38rg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Moss Street, this new development is on the right by the post box.


http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6531/mossst14wp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It'll be great to see the existing street plan used in that area to regrow the neighbourhood. Once that's up and running the pressure to utilise Islington further will grow.

Thanks Doug i thought they might of been on there.

Suprised they're not knocking down the buildings to the left on the new Building on Moss Street.

What are they building at the End of Prescot Street, just up the the road from TJ Hughes? Just over the road from that nice white and green art deco one that's empty?

Link to news story about that new £10m development on Moss St, mentioned above by Doug. I like it, it's bold design for an very run down area that is slowly coming up.

Click here (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/business/news/tm_objectid=16704711%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=%2dpound%2d10m%2dscheme%2dstarts%2dafter%2ddeveloper%2dsnaps%2dup%2dsite-name_page.html)

The picture Doug posted.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8382/dsc014337ux.jpg

You can get some good pics of Old hall st area from certain points in islington

The DP reports today of a £10m development in Moss St. comprising 58 flats with 3 retail on the ground floor. 80% of the properties have been pre-sold and the 3 retail units are also let, very positive signs for the the area.



http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8382/dsc014337ux.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We did say that we would do a walkabout in this part of town, maybe sometime in the summer we should venture up London Rd and see whats happening. A few photos for the archive might prove handy before this area is regenerated. I did read awhile back that the development plan may be taken up by Liverpool Vision, perhaps Doug you may be able confirm if this is fact.

I love that part of town...tons of potential for a mega urban district.

The buildings to the right of the new proposals have been left half derilict for years because the fellow who owns the gym started it without planning permission... so instead of negotiating with him to get a suitable scheme passed they crucified him instead... as a lesson in not pissing round with nomarks with great power I suppose!

The art deco building...formerly the co-operative store is no called Borden Court and is only empty on the ground floor... the rest is taken up with student flats. I had an office there for a few months in 2001... come to think of it I still have lots of crap I've left in there!!!!!!

The owner has some interesting plans to use the building for all sorts of community and micro enterprise initiatives... he is a truly interesting fellow.

Woody, I'm not sure if Liverpool Vision have taken this area under their wing?? I will send them an e-mail next week to check on that.

Reading Tony's comment about the old Co-Op building on London Rd. I think this would have made a brilliant place for Quiggins to relocate to, it's just a pisser that the tram won't be running past the front door!!!

Front page DP, landlords and developers in the Islington district have set up the Islington Regeneration Company with the aim of developing a 25 acre site behind TJ's, the combined developments are worth £300m and interestingly Liverpool Vision are backing the plans.

Downing are one of the companies involved in this plan their involvement should give this area a big push forward. TJ Hughes MD, Robin Dickie welcomes the plan "We are a big part of this district and we would certainly welcome any re-development of it"

Brilliant news. This area is ripe for regeneration and has an opportunity to carve out its own identity. Watch this space.

Yeah spot on, this is further evidence of the ripple effect, here is the link.


http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17024360%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=%2dpound%2d300m%2dmakeover%2dfor%2drundown%2dislington-name_page.html

More good news.

The development of that patch ought to lead to the repofiling an development of New Islington in the long run, reconnecting the city centre with the inner city - recreating the downtown infrastructure and blowing away the donut.

This is massive news. :cheers:

This is significant Isn't it,that whole area is criminally under used so I can't wait to see how they're going to intregate it with the local community.Liverpool is on the up,this is the ripple effect of regeneration we could have only dreamed of at one time. :cheers:

My friend sold his building so that will likely be part of this scheme!

This coulds ber fantastic news.... and with EH having egg on their faces we may get the chance for something really substantial that will revive Everton and the areas south of Pembroke Place!

Woody, I'm not sure if Liverpool Vision have taken this area under their wing?? I will send them an e-mail next week to check on that.

Yes they have - there is a quite a sizable display in the Liverpool Vision Offices.

Also covering the area used as a bit of a red light district.....

This is significant Isn't it,that whole area is criminally under used so I can't wait to see how they're going to intregate it with the local community.Liverpool is on the up,this is the ripple effect of regeneration we could have only dreamed of at one time. :cheers:

Between this announcment and the one regarding the Central Business District it looks like we might once again have a joined up city pushing outwards and reconnecting to the likes of Pall Mall and Leeds Street, Everton and West Derby Road etc.

Only for the good after so many wasted years of dereliction forced upon the city centre due to the house clearances and inner city ring road project.

Good news day in todays DP, yet again we beat the paper for breaking news. We did report last year that a group of private developers had approached the city with a plan for this area and that Liverpool Vision were keen to oversee the regeneration of this part of town. Now that it has been announced, lets hope for some real progress.

any more news on this one, seems to have gone quiet.

City centre plans in spotlight

HUNDREDS of businesses and residents were finding out how their neighbourhood might be developed today.

Copies of a document setting out what sort of building work might be acceptable in Islington have been sent out.

The document covers the area bounded by New Islington, Moss Street, Norton Street and London Road, in the north-east of the city centre.

The report can be viewed at the council’s Millennium House, in Victoria Street; Liverpool Vision, in Old Haymarket; Central Library, in William Brown Street; and PERC Nursery, in Lambert Way.

Alternatively, go online at www.liverpoolvision.co.uk/documents/masterplans.asp

There doesnt actually appear to be any documents relating to Islington in that link. I all seems to be Baltic Trialnge stuff. The Echo scores another winner for duff info then. Speaking of which, that "Lime St tower" article in todays paper actually relates to the Chieftan, Skelhorne St project, having nothing to do with the Gateway project at all.




City centre plans in spotlight

HUNDREDS of businesses and residents were finding out how their neighbourhood might be developed today.

Copies of a document setting out what sort of building work might be acceptable in Islington have been sent out.

The document covers the area bounded by New Islington, Moss Street, Norton Street and London Road, in the north-east of the city centre.

The report can be viewed at the council’s Millennium House, in Victoria Street; Liverpool Vision, in Old Haymarket; Central Library, in William Brown Street; and PERC Nursery, in Lambert Way.

Alternatively, go online at www.liverpoolvision.co.uk/documents/masterplans.asp

They're a waste of space,it looks like it's all systems go for Islington now though,fantastic.

Islington set for a makeover

A forgotten quarter of Liverpool’s once expansive city centre is closer to a multi-million pound makeover.

The London Road area used to be as busy as the main shopping centre until hundreds of thousands of people quit the city in the 1950s and 1960s.

Now plans have been drawn up that will see new shops, homes and leisure facilities as well as car parking to entice people back to the “top end of town”.

A masterplan outlining the phased regeneration of the area has been drawn up by the newly-established Islington Regeneration Company and is now under consideration by the city council.

It recommends that the area enclosed by London Road, New Islington, Moss Street and Norton Street should have a combination of commercial, retail and residential use as well as a multi-storey car park.


The existing shops facing London Road - including the highly successful TJ Hughes - will largely be retained with redevelopment taking place elsewhere, apart from Stafford Street where refurbishment is proposed.


Cllr Peter Millea, the city council executive member for regeneration said: “This is an area which is ripe for development. The council is conscious that any plan should aim to allow existing companies to be retained in the area where this is practicable.


“We are doing more work on the masterplan along with Liverpool Vision, but it presents a good framework to realise the potential of the area.


“I think we could use some imagination and not be confined by the current lay-out of the area. For example, there are very wide verges on Islington and New Islington and it may be possible to use those for development if a business wished to expand. This should not greatly affect traffic flow, if at all, and could provide increased opportunities for regeneration.”


The new regeneration company has been set up by Downing Developments, Pencare Developments and businessmen Alfie Finnegan and Gerard Murphy. It has been established specifically to develop what is now being called the Kensington Quarter.


The compared hired consultants as a first step towards drawing up a master plan. It envisages a seven en-phase development programme for the quarter, which was at one time earmarked as a potential controlled-zone for prostitution.


Cllr Mike Storey, the council’s executive member for special initiatives welcomed the prospect of the area being improved.


“We have been talking for some months to the parties involved and believe we now have a good formula for a way forward. I am delighted that this long established part of our city centre will play a big part in our future.”


Currently 600 businesses, residents and other stakeholders in the area are being consulted about a planning framework which will help guide the style, size and type of development suitable for the Islington area.

Islington set for a makeover

A forgotten quarter of Liverpool’s once expansive city centre is closer to a multi-million pound makeover.


A masterplan outlining the phased regeneration of the area has been drawn up by the newly-established Islington Regeneration Company and is now under consideration by the city council.

It recommends that the area enclosed by London Road, New Islington, Moss Street and Norton Street should have a combination of commercial, retail and residential use as well as a multi-storey car park

“I think we could use some imagination and not be confined by the current lay-out of the area. For example, there are very wide verges on Islington and New Islington and it may be possible to use those for development if a business wished to expand. This should not greatly affect traffic flow, if at all, and could provide increased opportunities for regeneration.”

The new regeneration company has been set up by Downing Developments, Pencare Developments and businessmen Alfie Finnegan and Gerard Murphy. It has been established specifically to develop what is now being called the Kensington Quarter.




Currently 600 businesses, residents and other stakeholders in the area are being consulted about a planning framework which will help guide the style, size and type of development suitable for the Islington area.


Progress at last, but with over 600 "stakeholders" it was never going to "a 5 minute job". Bit baffled as to why this area is being called Kensington Quarter" when everybody calls this area Islington

Progress at last, but with over 600 "stakeholders" it was never going to "a 5 minute job". Bit baffled as to why this area is being called Kensington Quarter" when everybody calls this area Islington

It isn't. That's an Echoism. They are clearly holding a competition of incompetence.

It isn't. That's an Echoism. They are clearly holding a competition of incompetence.

So is an Area Action Plan being produced Lathom?

So is an Area Action Plan being produced Lathom?

A draft Planning Framework (http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/Published/C00000282/M00005796/AI00031655/RT43IslingtonPlanningFrameworkAnnex1.pdf) has been.

A draft Planning Framework (http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/Published/C00000282/M00005796/AI00031655/RT43IslingtonPlanningFrameworkAnnex1.pdf) has been.

Thanks for that. I wonder why they don't use the usual title for such documents. It's a very high quality document, and seems to be really comprehensive, especially considering it is for such a comparitively small area. I'd also says it's about time. That area of the city centre may as well not exist to a lot of people who visit the city, and the way it leads in to the magnificent Cultural Quarter gives it a good chance of success in the future.

Not many areas of any city in this country can claim to have easy access to outstanding museum, art gallery, library, shops, cinema, theatre, etc. I like the objective to make the area truly mixed use. Although, I hope this will involve housing for families as well as the 1 and 2 bedroom stuff. It's a shame about the trams really. On one of the images the area looks so continental it makes me want to go there and drink coffee alfresco before taking a stroll down to St George's plateau.

I also like that the document proposes the development of continuous street lines with active frontages, along with better connectivity for road vehicles. At the moment the area suffers from over predestrianisation.

Does anybody know if Islington still has those inter-war, art deco blocks of flats, which have the dungeon-like arch ways? I love those things. A lot of catholics used to be housed in that area but I don't know if that's still the case.

Urbanised, I'm sure you are referring to St Andrew's Gardens aka the Bull Ring, whose main block (the circular one) still stands proudly after restoration in the mid-90s, though most of the residents chose to move to the semis that were built alongside it when all the other blocks in the area were razed.

However, this is on the southern side of London Road, whereas most of this new development concerns the northern side of London Road towards Islington. The New Islington dual carriageway does a fine job of spiriting thousands of vehicles every hour in and out of the city centre, but cuts off the residential area of Islington (Soho St side) from its local amenities in the London Road area. There are 2 pedestrian crossings to help residents, but the second of these was inserted after lobbying by Hope University, concerned about access to their Everton (Islington!) campus. Certainly this new quarter should look at linking into the new developments earmarked for the Shaw Street area (and even St Anne Street), as the 'West Everton' area has been ghettoised in the past 30 years.

I agree that `West Everton` has been a ghetto for some years despite the park and a few additions however with `Project Jennifer` (Everton) and the `Pall Mall / Leeds Street` developments along with `Islington` there is a very real chance that the heart of Liverpool that was ripped out so dramatically for new highways and slum clearance might just show how the outer(?) city centre can be rejoined up once more.

Let`s hope it`s all imaginative, that`s one parayer I hope is answered very soon.

The city centre must reach out and regrow all those severed connections to all the major arteries into and out of `Downtown`.....

On the fringes of Islington, but this group of buildings is very slowly seeing life come back. The new build to the left on Moss St is above the hoardings now, the terrace further up is looking worse though, i'm wondering why they don't clear the site because it is a terrible advert for Liverpool 2008, maybe it is listed...!. Bring on New Islington.

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/8711/zlondonrdbankpd0.jpg