If you controlled Liverpool?

16130 Views 122 Replies 29 Participants Last post by Tom Hughes, Feb 18, 2011

LiverOdysea

Discussion Starter · Oct 11, 2010

If you controlled Liverpool what would you realisticly attempt to achieve in the short to medium term?

I would actively encourage growth of the Maritime sector, Some of you may have read my ideas for the use of Albion House (although in theory this could be anywhere) If not here is a recap...this building should become a Maritime centre, the home of Mersey Maritime, dedicated to assisting Liverpools maritime sector, with meeting rooms, conference facilities and small offices. It should have a small specialist team who can assist Liverpool's many small forwarders and agents to remain competative.

I believe it should also be used by LJMU's Maritime Courses, of which there are a few, for study and to improve the quality and facilities of the courses.

Secondly I would close LJMU's Byrom Street and move the Police HQ to the site. Consolidating and moving LJMU's Byrom Street & Lairdside operations to Stanley Dock, as a new Docklands campus. Ripping out the interior of the tobacco warehouse and starting again. A station in between Moorfields and Sandhills serving the campus.

Cheap Student accomodation could be built and there is ample car parking space. Also allowing LJMU to modernise a logistically hard site (by leaving it.)
This would kick start the redevelopment of the central docks area.

The city should also try and slow the development of large 'out of town' office facilities to try and coax businesses into the city centre.

As every city attempts to take a bite of the culture market, Liverpool should turn to its Maritime Industries to lead its strong and sustained revival.

I also believe Liverpool should try and turn to its Graphics and Wealth Management Businesses but cant say I know enough about these, to write anything.

Whats your thoughts. If you controlled Liverpool what would you do?

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1 - 20 of 123 Posts

JohnnyLeigh

· #2 · Oct 11, 2010

I had a crazy (?) idea for the tobacco warehouse the other day after reading that futuretimeline website;
Why not make it an urban farm? A hydroponics food growing facility, seems perfect for it.
Farmscrapers are supposedly the next big thing why shouldn't Liverpool stick its neck out and pioneer it?
It would be a very 'green' thing to do, provide jobs, increase local sustainability and bring a gorgeous, criminally neglected building back into use.

Crazy? Interesting? Practical?

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Neilsatiscitycentre

· #3 · Oct 11, 2010

1) Stop the planned construction of the mid price hotel on the site of the Golden Phoenix on Hanover St, and build a 3/4 storey building with a basement car park and a superb food market at street level to rival anything in Europe

2) Build a huge lido style swimming pool as close to the Pier Head as possible, equipped with retractable roof for the sunny days we get now and again

3) Improve the ferry service across the Mersey by building more ferry terminals on both sides of the river, purchase smaller, but faster ferries similar to the ones they have in Lisbon, introduce a very frequent timetable which runs through the night

4) Build a multi purpose arena which could house 1 or both of the city's football clubs at the Clarence Dock

5) Build a new station between Moorfields and Sandhills to serve it

6) Build new underground stations around the city centre at such places as Chinatown, near the university, at the junction of Church St and Whitechapel

7) Demolish Queen Square bus station and rebuild it underground in the style of the transport interchanges in Madrid freeing up a huge amount of space

8) Introduce 24 hour road cleansing and road sweepers in the city centre

9) Build a huge area of top quality social housing with balconies or roof terraces on the site of Everton Park

10) Move Radio City out of St John's Tower and open the country's best restaurant there

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Medici

· #4 · Oct 11, 2010

Build Lutyens' Catholic Cathedral in Everton and invite Pope Benedict XV1 to come and open it.

Rock Savage

· #5 · Oct 12, 2010

Medici said:
Build Lutyens' Catholic Cathedral in Everton and invite Pope Benedict XXXXV1 to come and open it.

In about the year 2500ad :nuts:

Rock Savage

· #6 · Oct 12, 2010

Medici said:
Build Lutyens' Catholic Cathedral in Everton and invite Pope Benedict XXXXV1 to come and open it.

In about the year 2500ad :nuts:

openlyJane

· #7 · Oct 12, 2010

I agree with a few of Neil's suggestions, for example - re-open and create new train stations around the city centre and also out into the rest of the city - such as at West Derby& Childwall.

I would also like to see ferry services to more locations - such as the soon to be re-opened festival gardens at Otterspool and to New Brighton; but also out to Waterloo, where I would like to see the observatory scheme brought-back to life - creating another visitor attraction and local amenity on that stretch of coast.

I would like to see an exhibition hall on the king's Dock site, plus, maybe, a winter garden with aviaries, &/or a go-karting track.

I would prioritise The Lime Street area and refurbish the Adelphi Hotel. I would see this area as an 'arts quarter' - with start-up space for young artists and designers, plus galleries and art outlets; and also more vintage shops, wholefood outlets and cafes. Maybe The old Rapid store could retain its current biennial usage in the guise as the 'start-up artist' space.

The knowledge, university and college sector would expand down this way.

The Scandanavia hotel at China Town would become a Chinese centre and museum, hosting cultural events and exhibitions - and Nelson street would be revitalised.

There would be a new gallery housed in one of the fine mansions on Faulkner Square, and some of the surrounding buildings would be converted back to fine residences in single ownership.

The students would be relocated out of the Great Western Building to rejuvenated areas up on Mount Pleasant and Brownlow Hill, and some other more sensitive use would be found for this magnificent building.

Dream on I say!!!

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Medici

· #8 · Oct 12, 2010 (Edited)

Rock Savage said:
In about the year 2500ad :nuts:

True, I would be more inclined to be practical really. I think a huge social housing programme in inner and north Liverpool would be more realistic. This would kick start a recovery in the construction industry and have spin offs for other areas of the private sector, whilst giving ordinary people and families much needed homes.

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Evertonian

· #9 · Oct 13, 2010

If I was supreme lifelong dictator of Merseyside I would do the following.

1. Completely revise Liverpool Waters to make it a much more mixed scheme. This would contain a 60,000 seat waterfront stadium for Everton FC with the ability to be multi-use and stage concerts. Also a large public park and a rapid rail station, possibly re-opening Waterloo Tunnel to serve the new office, retail, historic, accomodation and sports districts created.

2. Increase the capacity of the rail network where practical in general and interconnect this with a tram network, changing the current Merseytram proposed routes to one City Loop and one line running north to south along the waterfront/city centre taking in the docks/Liverpool Waters.

3. Build an 80,000 seat stadium with a revised design for Liverpool Football Club in Stanley Park.

4. Raise a Merseyside wide tax to pay off the Mersey Tunnel debts and remove the tunnel tolls.

5. Build a road and rail bridge over the Mersey to relieve pressure on the tunnels.

6. Build a pier at New Brighton and run an extended ferry service to there.

7. Smash criminal gangs and impose (real) life sentances for gun handlers and anyone caught in posession of offensive weapons.

8. Take over and mass demolish slum housing and areas of deprivation and return the land to nature/parkland until the owners/developers pull their fingers out of their arses.

9. Turn over some disused docks to the manufacture and shipping of new green technologies.

10. Assasinate my shit-list of pro scousers who I can't stand (Tarbuck, Cilla, Pete Price, Jimmy Corkhill....most of the people who "starred" in that 'Dear Mr Hicks' video).

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Moropool

· #10 · Oct 13, 2010

Medici said:
True, I would be more inclined to be practical really. I think a huge social housing programme in inner and north Liverpool would be more realistic. This would kick start a recovery in the construction industry and have spin offs for other areas of the private sector, whilst giving ordinary people and families much needed homes.

Do we really have a massive undersupply of homes in Liverpool?

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Medici

· #11 · Oct 13, 2010

Moropool said:
Do we really have a massive undersupply of homes in Liverpool?

I don't know but if I controlled Liverpool I would place anyone who opposed my plans under house arrest and silence dissent.

Gareth

· #12 · Oct 13, 2010

How about not boarding up houses that have little or nothing wrong with them and then going on to whine about a housing shortage?

Evertonian

· #13 · Oct 13, 2010

I'd also get rid of the comic books known locally as the Liverpool Echo and Daily post.

HollyBlack

· #14 · Oct 13, 2010

Recreate a half-tide river entrance for use by pleasure boats at high water.

One of Liverpool's unique advantages is that half-tide docks are feasible for boats and small ships due to the exceptionally large tidal range. It should be exploited for pleasure craft as it was for commercial sailing ships a century ago.

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Babaloo

· #15 · Oct 14, 2010

Ensure high density housing within the area bounded by Queens Drive. All 'High Streets' to be maintained - at least three storeys high with retail along their length: no bodged conversions into social housing or intermittent bungalows or semis. Every mainland European city of note manages this and so did we once.

Encourage Liverpool based shipping companies that will make Liverpool the conduit between Europe and the US (and if the ice melts) Japan and China.

All the usual stuff about the knowledge economy and culture.

Build more hotels - Liverpool is one of the few cities in the world that has a strong sense of place and this is gold dust in an age in which cities are increasingly interchangeable and lacking in distinctiveness.

Tidy up the entire area within the Queens Drive boundary so that not a single derelict, unrenovated building is remaining. Plant more trees. No more lego structures, instead much greater use of stone and if red brick is used it should be used imaginatively to astound us!

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Dreamer

· #16 · Oct 14, 2010

Ok, heres mine
Promote Liverpool to be the European centre for pharma/biochemical development, hi-tech engineering, knowledge, science, finance and gaming.

Developing and cutting a slice of any new cutting edge trade where Liverpool could get in on the action and make money and jobs

Do a Canary Wharf model on vacant plots in town and the CBD, in the 21st century there is no place for bomb sites, promoting and giving tax breaks to encourage developers and occupiers to build on empty plots, giving height limits for each plot so developers know what they can build to.

Bring back all vacant housing back in to use, sell for a £1 to owner occupiers as an incentive

Fine all RSLs for failing to ensure their houses are used as homes and not blights on neighbourhoods

Employ or have community champions, who ensure local streets are clean and free of broken class, flytipping, general shite which can bring an area down.

Ensure all at risk buildings are saved, and continue face lifting on all city centre buildings

Promoting local shopping areas and helping local business to stay in business, areas such as County Road and Old Swan, Allerton Road etc, to be designated as local hubs and developed with new paving, access and transport

Expand local stations in town and outer areas, its a joke that there are not station on Gainsborough Road and Smithdown near the mistery, and Rocky Lane in Tuebrook, expand lines so there are stations in China Town, Canning and Kenny.

Develope and expand the port of liverpool and associated warehousing and transport

Create a proper Liverpool Lobby Group which would push and lobby everything for Liverpool, from highspeed rail to recycling

Ban all bungalows and shite low density housing in all urban areas

Finally, try and end and stop allowing the scum element of this city giving it a bad name, and trashing areas, and generally bringing areas down

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golden66

· #17 · Oct 15, 2010 (Edited)

The priority for L'pool must be to revitalse parts of the city centre to encourage tourism and attract people in big numbers from the Greater L'pool area and beyond to live and work in town. So here are a few points.
1.Replace St. John's Precinct with a high quality European style square. It would link to St. Johns Gardens,Church St.,Williamson Sq.,Queen Sq.,Playhouse/Royal Court,Central Village and Lime St. station.
It would contain high quality continental cafes,restaurants,shops;luxury hotel,opera House,L'pool Phil,Auction House etc.
A central feature could be a golden Liver bird/water feature.
2.The Futurist becomes the site of the new St. john's precinct. The Futurist facade could be retained but everything else can go except the corner pubs. Pedestrianise Bolton st,lower skelhorne/copperas Hill have shop frontages.Extend shopping area to vacant plot next to Bolton st.
On opposite side of Lime st. build st. john's Market in the style of a continental market.
Pedestrianise Lime st. to link to Futurist.
3.Replace 051 centre,sorting office,mscp,vacant plot behind adelphi with a sports quarter. It could have an ice rink,skateboard/bike park,5 a side football,tennis courts,olympic standard swimming pool.
4.Turn Renshaw st upto chinatown into a portobello market at weekends.
5.Turn London rd into a Petticoat lane market at weekends.
6.Infill ropewalks with georgian style housing for tourist stays.
7.Replace low density cheap housing eg.Baltic and brownlow hill with high density continental housing and ground floor businesses.
8.create city centre park eg.great george st going into baltic.
9.scandinavian hotel could be used as an hospitality centre for chinese investment.
10.loop HS2 train line to exchange st. .this area needs to be a european business hub by attracting chinese investment,relocation of govt depts. and l'don HQ's and businesses. linked to L'pool waters.
11.build shanghai tower and efc stadium as soon as possible in L'pool waters.
12.extend underground
13.exhibition hall
14.relocate people from poor suburbs to town.Provide incentives.
15.expand airport by removing speke.
16.increase ferry stops eg new brighton,garden festival.
17.extend cruise liner facility to at least 4 cruise ships at a time. Then new world sq. site could be used for turn around.

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openlyJane

· #18 · Oct 15, 2010

golden66 said:
The priority for L'pool must be to revitalse parts of the city centre to encourage tourism and attract people in big numbers from the Greater L'pool area and beyond to live and work in town. So here are a few points.
1.Replace St. John's Precinct with a high quality European style square. It would link to St. Johns Gardens,Church St.,Williamson Sq.,Queen Sq.,Playhouse/Royal Court,Central Village and Lime St. station.
It would contain high quality continental cafes,restaurants,shops;luxury hotel,opera House,L'pool Phil,Auction House etc.
A central feature could be a golden Liver bird/water feature.
2.The Futurist becomes the site of the new St. john's precinct. The Futurist facade could be retained but everything else can go except the corner pubs. Pedestrianise Bolton st,lower skelhorne/copperas Hill have shop frontages.Extend shopping area to vacant plot next to Bolton st.
On opposite side of Lime st. build st. john's Market in the style of a continental market.
Pedestrianise Lime st. to link to Futurist.
3.Replace 051 centre,sorting office,mscp,vacant plot behind adelphi with a sports quarter. It could have an ice rink,skateboard/bike park,5 a side football,tennis courts,olympic standard swimming pool.
4.Turn Renshaw st upto chinatown into a portobello market at weekends.
5.Turn London rd into a Petticoat lane market at weekends.
6.Infill ropewalks with georgian style housing for tourist stays.
7.Replace low density cheap housing eg.Baltic and brownlow hill with high density continental housing and ground floor businesses.
8.create city centre park eg.great george st going into baltic.
9.scandinavian hotel could be used as an hospitality centre for chinese investment.
10.loop HS2 train line to exchange st. .this area needs to be a european business hub by attracting chinese investment,relocation of govt depts. and l'don HQ's and businesses. linked to L'pool waters.
11.build shanghai tower and efc stadium as soon as possible in L'pool waters.
12.extend underground
13.exhibition hall
14.relocate people from poor suburbs to town.Provide incentives.
15.expand airport by removing speke.
16.increase ferry stops eg new brighton,garden festival.
17.extend cruise liner facility to at least 4 cruise ships at a time. Then new world sq. site could be used for turn around.

I, certainly, like the idea of a city centre park - certainly more greenery needed. Tree-planting along The Strand. I hate to see it described as a dual-carriageway bisecting the city - I would like to see it as more of a boulevard.

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Evertonian

· #19 · Oct 15, 2010

golden66 said:
The priority for L'pool must be to revitalse parts of the city centre to encourage tourism and attract people in big numbers from the Greater L'pool area and beyond to live and work in town. So here are a few points.
1.Replace St. John's Precinct with a high quality European style square. It would link to St. Johns Gardens,Church St.,Williamson Sq.,Queen Sq.,Playhouse/Royal Court,Central Village and Lime St. station.
It would contain high quality continental cafes,restaurants,shops;luxury hotel,opera House,L'pool Phil,Auction House etc.
A central feature could be a golden Liver bird/water feature.
2.The Futurist becomes the site of the new St. john's precinct. The Futurist facade could be retained but everything else can go except the corner pubs. Pedestrianise Bolton st,lower skelhorne/copperas Hill have shop frontages.Extend shopping area to vacant plot next to Bolton st.
On opposite side of Lime st. build st. john's Market in the style of a continental market.
Pedestrianise Lime st. to link to Futurist.
3.Replace 051 centre,sorting office,mscp,vacant plot behind adelphi with a sports quarter. It could have an ice rink,skateboard/bike park,5 a side football,tennis courts,olympic standard swimming pool.
4.Turn Renshaw st upto chinatown into a portobello market at weekends.
5.Turn London rd into a Petticoat lane market at weekends.
6.Infill ropewalks with georgian style housing for tourist stays.
7.Replace low density cheap housing eg.Baltic and brownlow hill with high density continental housing and ground floor businesses.
8.create city centre park eg.great george st going into baltic.
9.scandinavian hotel could be used as an hospitality centre for chinese investment.
10.loop HS2 train line to exchange st. .this area needs to be a european business hub by attracting chinese investment,relocation of govt depts. and l'don HQ's and businesses. linked to L'pool waters.
11.build shanghai tower and efc stadium as soon as possible in L'pool waters.
12.extend underground
13.exhibition hall
14.relocate people from poor suburbs to town.Provide incentives.
15.expand airport by removing speke.
16.increase ferry stops eg new brighton,garden festival.
17.extend cruise liner facility to at least 4 cruise ships at a time. Then new world sq. site could be used for turn around.

All superb suggestions and it's looking likely from todays positive news that number 9 is looking very likely to actually happen.

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Dreamer

· #20 · Oct 15, 2010

Tourism is important and should remain so, but we need to move away from this being one of our biggest revenue streams. We need to push and develop new industries which create large amounts of jobs and associated support structures. Shipping, transport, energy, finance and manufacturing/science are and must be our way forward to becoming a wealthy and constantly growing city.

Get this right, and everything falls into place as a result

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