Lets get some pics of this developing :p

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."

larryneild@dailypost.co.uk

:)

Speke needs an asda and a tesco like round my neck of the woods.

A £35m police training academy could be built in Speke.

The Merseyside force currently has to pay for officers to be trained across the country because of a lack of facilities in the region.

But bosses said the new centre would make Liverpool one of the top training centres in England and attract funds from other forces taking adavantage of its facilities.

The proposed site, at Estuary Park in Speke, would be turned into a centre of excellence where officers would be trained in crime-fighting, neighbourhood policing and leadership.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke wants Merseyside to merge with Cheshire, meaning the new academy could cater for both forces.

more (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16705606%26method=full%26siteid=50061% 26headline=police%2dhope%2dto%2dbuild%2d%2dpound%2 d35m%2dtraining%2dbase-name_page.html)

RESIDENTS have welcomed the regeneration of two deprived Liverpool communities.

Ninety per cent of housing association tenants in Speke and Garston say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their areas.

The vote comes in the wake of a £100m improvement scheme by South Liverpool Housing and the arrival of new retail parks around John Lennon airport.

SLH chief executive Julie Fadden said: "There is still a lot of work to be done, but these results show that things really are changing in south Liverpool."

IT HAS taken four years of hard work but just a few hours after the final touches werecompleted the Speke Garston Coastal Park hosted its first major event.

The reserve, made up mainly of the former Speke Airport site, has undergone a £5m revamp with new pathways, landscaping, seating, viewpoints for bird watching and a car park being created.

And more than 200 people turned up to mark its completion by taking part in the Walk for Health - two and four-mile strolls round the park organised by the NHS and Liverpool Ramblers.

Iain Taylor, development manager at the Mersey Basin Campaign, said: "This is the first event to take place in the coastal reserve.

"What is really great is that it was organised by the ramblers and the NHS so it was the community wanting to use it rather than us trying to do something.

"We have been working on it for four years. This is one of the few parts of natural coastline in Liverpool and it was such an underused asset.

"Part of the site was the old airfield.

"We are thrilled so many people turned up to the first event, it was a fantastic day."

The plans to redevelop the six hectare site overlooking the River Mersey were jointly funded by Mersey Waterfront, set up to regenerate the coastline, and European cash.

Work is also under way on a new £1.25m boathouse in the coastal reserve, five years after the original building was razed to the ground in an arson attack.

Liverpool Sailing Club had been in limbo since the blaze destroyed its home near the old Speke airport in December 2000.

But the newsail-shaped building should be completed within the next two months.

Sara Wilde, chairwoman of Mersey Waterfront, said: "Historically, this area has seen years of decline and neglect, and suffered serious issues with anti-social behaviour.

"However this scheme, together with the redevelopment of the Sailing Club, is a clear opportunity to create an outstanding public space.

"Renewal of this wasteland will not only encourage local people to take pride in the area, but will help create a better impression for potential investors in the nearby Liverpool International Business Park and Liverpool John Lennon Airport."

To ensure the improvements are sustainable, a management group incorporating land-owners Peel Holdings, the Mersey Basin Campaign and Liverpool City Council has been set up to maintain the site.

The adjoining Estuary Business Park is also being integrated into the new reserve's security, to help deal with potential problems such as vandalism and fly-tipping.

Paul Lakin, area manager for the Northwest Development Agency, which fund Mersey Waterfront, said: "The NWDA is pleased to have been able to provide funding to the Mersey Waterfront to help establish this important scheme. As well to providing an attractive, place for local people to use and enjoy, the nature reserve will benefit the area economically, by improving the image of the Liverpool City Region."

samlister@dailypost.co.uk

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/icliverpool/jul2006/0/8/33AF41A7-9EB2-CE96-ABBBFF65D01EA5EA.jpg

South Liverpool landlords short-listed for major social housing award

South Liverpool Housing (http://www.slhgroup.co.uk/) (SLH) has been short-listed for a major social housing award to find the nation's best community partnership.

The Neighbourhood Awards recognise housing associations that have made their local community a better place to live.

SLH has been nominated as a 'Partner of Choice' by providing positive activities for young people across Speke and Garston.

More (http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=1&newsID=9058)...

Cash crisis hits victim help group
Aug 17 2006
By Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo

A DOMESTIC violence charity will have to cut services if it cannot fill a £40,000 funding shortfall.

The Speke-Garston Domestic Violence Project (http://www.domestic-violence-advisor.co.uk/) has helped almost 1,000 victims rebuild their lives in the past 10 years.

Last year it dealt with more than 140 new referrals, with almost 180 children between them, and nearly 200 ongoing cases.

But the charity's main cash source, the Parenting Fund, is not renewing its grant after changing its criteria. A lottery handout has also run out.

Originally serving south Liverpool, SGDVP now sees women from across the city. Many have attended counselling and lifestyle classes for years.

More (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17578485%26method=full%26siteid=50061% 26headline=cash%2dcrisis%2dhits%2dvictim%2dhelp%2d group-name_page.html)...

EUROPE'S most advanced magazine printing plant in Speke was officially opening its doors today.

The £125m Prinovis Liverpool site on Estuary Commerce Park was hosting 180 VIP guests from around the world at the grand opening celebration organised by its backers, German media giant Arvato Bertelsmann, Gruner + Jahr and Axel Springer.

More than 400 jobs will be created, with the possibility of 600 more, depending on its success.

Thefirst print run beganinJuly, 13 months after construction started, and next week another big contract commences with the first print run of Best magazine, which is normally printed in Germany.

Other major clients include furniture giant Ikea, catalogue group Argos and supermarketleader Tesco. Prinovis's gravure presses are ideally suited to high quality, high volume colour publications, magazines, newspaper supplements, retail publications, home shopping and travel catalogues.

Prinovis chief executive Stephan Krauss said: "Liverpool is a vital piece in the jigsaw for our printing capabilities and we are now clearly on track with providing products and services to UK clients.

"Bythe end of 2007 Prinovis Liverpool will be fully operational with four presses capable of printing 160,000 tonnes of paper a year.

"By the end of 2008 we will be one of the region's largest employers."

Private and public sector agency BusinessLiverpool helped secure the plant in the face of competition from twoother UK locations,and provided a £1m grant.

Source (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/thebusinessweek/regionalnews/tm_objectid=17827771%26method=full%26siteid=50061% 26headline=vip%2dview%2dfor%2dnew%2dpresses-name_page.html)....

As a kid, in between moving from L6 to Canny, we lived in 60A Torrington Drive, Halewood for a couple of years and my only Speke memories apart from the Swimming Baths were the airplanes flying over our masionette so low. You could actually see the passengers faces and quite often they'd wave back to us! Not quite Hong Kong's old Kai Tek airport where we'd actually fly lower than the housing blocks that had their washing hanging out, but low enough!

Anyway, Speke Baths. We used to get there by walking across a field and then over a railway bridge that seperated our estate from Fords Factory. We used to navigate a housing estate before reaching the Baths. This filled us with terror, because there was a lad who lived there who suffered from terrible burns, at least to his face. He was a couple of years older than us and took great delight in running out into the street and sreaming and shouting as us! We used to shiite ourselves and run like fluck until we arrived at the Baths. My other memory was forgetting my swimming cozzy in the Baths. In the old days(!), we were awarded various patches to stitch on to our trunks to show our swimming achievements. Even to this day, I'm gutted about my loss.

Memories! Hope you're still awake!

Speke Retail park rules!:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

I like the part of Garston where it's nearer to Aigburth Vale.

Might go to Speke today and take pics of the wave.

Is their a bridge near the Wave?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnie_t100/288742045/

The pic In the link suggest this was taken from a bridge?

That'll be the rd bridge that crosses into the Jaguar/ Fords.

Ahhh, the weathers too on and off.

I'll go on the next nice day, I've chosen the wave to take next.

You will get godlike pictures of It when I take some on a nice sunny day.

Took day ones on Tuesday but not satisfied with the quality so trying again but sorting some night ones of the Wave up anyway.

Does It count as Halewood as It's past the Speke Sign?

Felt disheartened earlier but pleased now as the Night ones seem worth uploading. It was just all the cycling I had to do to get to the Wave.

I was born in speke in the late 1950s and we used to play down oggy shore. I think it was also known as the cast iron shore. Anyway had some great days down there, my mum wasn't to happy though when I came home covered in mud! But I did start the day clean.

I was in Speke last night and was impressed with the size of the sports centre/ morissons / parklands school area, its huge!

I was in Speke last night and was impressed with the size of the sports centre/ morissons / parklands school area, its huge!

I put the plans on Yo months ago, it is impressive my only concern is that its seems too close to the residential area.

I was in Speke last night and was impressed with the size of the sports centre/ morissons / parklands school area, its huge!

You know you got the Idea for the Wave pic from me.

I'm going to try again sometime, I didn't go on the bridge last time not know where to go and the dark trees looked scary to go through. I went In between the rodes but the light In my pics didn't satisfy me enough to put them on Flickr.

I was in Speke last night and was impressed with the size of the sports centre/ morissons / parklands school area, its huge!


Parklands is amazing, as someone who once worked in one of the old local government offices in Speke I was really impressed by the size of it and amount of different services all under the one roof when I had to pay a visit there in 2005.

I was born in speke in the late 1950s and we used to play down oggy shore. I think it was also known as the cast iron shore. Anyway had some great days down there, my mum wasn't to happy though when I came home covered in mud! But I did start the day clean.

Oglet Shore played a big part in my life too. On the occaisions the tide did come in, my friends and I risked a swim just off the pyramid blocks. My Mother would of killed me if she knew. I can't believe how foolish we had been, not only was the water at that time quite toxic but the currents were very strong and very dangerous.

THE completion of the unique hybrid business space accommodation now available on the Dakota business park in Speke has been announced by Hitchcock, Wright & Partners. more (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/news/echonews/tm_headline=unique-hybrid-has-double-opportunity%26method=full%26objectid=18925291%26si teid=50061-name_page.html)

Info about road improvements to the airport (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/news/echonews/tm_headline=bus-lane-planned-for-city-gateway%26method=full%26objectid=19026108%26siteid =50061-name_page.html).

Hi Guys
l grew up in Speke in the 50s too. Close to Alderfield Drive/ Eastern Avenue end. A great place those days
The cast iron shore if l'm not mistaken was Dingle end.
Oglet Shore was known as the Onk in the 60s No idea why.
l do go back on occassion and am sad to see the dereliction of the Oglet Shore area
Flytipping is a main cause.
lt was a lovely place one time but sadly now l'm ashamed of it.
Hopefully someone will start a campaign to clean it up.
Pam

My dad grew up in Clough Road in Speke. He was born in 1946. Here's some quality photos of him from the old days, LOL!!

Your Dad is just a bit older than me. I had an auntie who lived in Speke in East Damwood road and when we went to visit her from the Dingle it was like a trip out into the countryside on an 82 bus. lol

I remember when I went to see my grandparents in Clough Road as a kid you could smell really strong paint fumes blowing across from Fords. I used to love it. Might explain a lot........:unibrow:

Not many stuff In Speke to take pics of.

All I've seen Is the Wave, the Marriott which Is the old Airport site, All Saints church and the outside of Speke Hall.

All else there was Is rows and rows of council houses, a Morrison's being built and a load of business parks and Industrial grounds which smell of evil.

Speke, as a self contained town was, along with Norris Green, one of Sir Lancelot Keay's developments, built in the 30s as he was remodernising the inner city areas with tenement blocks. It won an award at the time for its layout and became a model for which lots of other European housing estates were to follow and many even further afield. He was responsible for over 35,000 new homes whilst in office.

Not many stuff In Speke to take pics of.

All I've seen Is the Wave, the Marriott which Is the old Airport site, All Saints church and the outside of Speke Hall.

All else there was Is rows and rows of council houses, a Morrison's being built and a load of business parks and Industrial grounds which smell of evil.

Hi Max

I was around in the Sixties when the Old Hutte (http://www.btinternet.com/~m.royden/mrlhp/local/halewood/oldhutt/moattext.htm), the remains of a medieval moated manorhouse of the Ireland family, was swept away to make room for the Ford factory. I agree that the Speke housing estate is soulless and characterless.

Chris

Here we go again with me and my districts. Chris, isn't the Ford Factory supposed to be officially in Halewood though. Would you say Speke is the other side of the boulevard? or is that a bit black and white...?

Here we go again with me and my districts. Chris, isn't the Ford Factory supposed to be officially in Halewood though. Would you say Speke is the other side of the boulevard? or is that a bit black and white...?

Aye you might be right, Ged. No argument from me.

Chris

Weird init? Yet the Speke Retail Park is on the same side as Fords, these ruddy boundaries :rolleyes:

Is one of George Harrison's In Speke on those council houses?

No other type of Council houses In Speke from what I can find.

Weird init? Yet the Speke Retail Park is on the same side as Fords, these ruddy boundaries :rolleyes:

Same side but the retail park Is at least a mile away and closer to Hunts Cross than Halewood.

Hi Max

I was around in the Sixties when the Old Hutte (http://www.btinternet.com/~m.royden/mrlhp/local/halewood/oldhutt/moattext.htm), the remains of a medieval moated manorhouse of the Ireland family, was swept away to make room for the Ford factory. I agree that the Speke housing estate is soulless and characterless.

Chris

I quite like Speke as an example of urban planning. Much more spacious and better laid out than say the contemporary houses of Childwall. I suspect the Speke houses were built to a higher standard than the ones built by private speculators who built what is modern day Childwall.

I quite like Speke as an example of urban planning. Much more spacious and better laid out than say the contemporary houses of Childwall. I suspect the Speke houses were built to a higher standard than the ones built by private speculators who built what is modern day Childwall.

Yeah some of the new stuff going up looks like it'll blow down in a high wind. The 1930s council built stuff may be crumbling down due to lack of maintenance over the years but they were certainly solid when they went up.

Yeah some of the new stuff going up looks like it'll blow down in a high wind. The 1930s council built stuff may be crumbling down due to lack of maintenance over the years but they were certainly solid when they went up.

Aren't South Liverpool Housing refurbishing Speke properties, new roof, windows, kitchen , central heating etc.

I quite like Speke as an example of urban planning. Much more spacious and better laid out than say the contemporary houses of Childwall. I suspect the Speke houses were built to a higher standard than the ones built by private speculators who built what is modern day Childwall.

If the new housing going up in Liverpool is anything like some of what is being built here in the U.S., it may look solid on the outside but the inside is just plywood, drywall, etc., insubstantial stuff. What are the code requirements in Liverpool these days?

Chris

Aren't South Liverpool Housing refurbishing Speke properties, new roof, windows, kitchen , central heating etc.

According to their website they completed a £100million programme in 2004. Sorry I meant many council houses in general are in need of major repair,not necessarily Speke where they went to SLH in 1999.

If the new housing going up in Liverpool is anything like some of what is being built here in the U.S., it may look solid on the outside but the inside is just plywood, drywall, etc., insubstantial stuff. What are the code requirements in Liverpool these days?

Chris

I've seen similar plywood inner walled buildings going up in the rear gardens of property Upper Parliament St, Princes Park, Toxteth. These are so called Mews property which front onto Upper Hampton St. They go for about £250,000 each. Not bad if you can get it.

One of the more frightening buildings I've seen is a 3 storey block of flats building on Smithdown Rd built of timber frame construction with a brick outer skin.

I've seen similar plywood inner walled buildings going up in the rear gardens of property Upper Parliament St, Princes Park, Toxteth. These are so called Mews property which front onto Upper Hampton St. They go for about £250,000 each. Not bad if you can get it.

One of the more frightening buildings I've seen is a 3 storey block of flats building on Smithdown Rd built of timber frame construction with a brick outer skin.

Aye, Taffy, that's exactly the sort of thing I am talking about. The buyers probably think they are getting a substantial building judging by the facing on the outside of the structure. But they might think twice if they saw what was inside those walls! Buyer beware. :(

Chris

Many of the buildings in Hale were built using timber with daub infill and they have seen many generations of Liverpool buildings come and go and they are still standing!

Speke seems almost a tale of two halves - the success of the retail park, airport, estuary park, pharmaceutical plants, the new retail centre being built off Speke Boulevard anchored by Morrison's and the slow but steady development of the area between the retail park and the airport, and the Speke of burnt out shops (bottom of Western Avenue) and the mostly boarded up shops off South Parade. I have noticed the refurbishment taking place - well, what you can see as you drive along Speke Boulevard so maybe it's on the up. But I understand that it's one of the most deprived parts of the city with low home ownership, a high proportion of people of working age on benefits, and there's not much social mobility. People tend to stay there and at least until recently not many people from outside moved in. It's a good thing therefore that the houses are well built with decent guardens. I like the wide roads.

... and it's convenient for the airport ...

Come to think of it, one of my favourite walks in Liverpool is the walk down to Speke Hall when you get past the industrial bits. Especially when the Hall is closed. I like to watch reflections in the lake (ok, pond) and imagine the shore behind the Hall and a river without the eyesore of Stanlow.

THE heart of Speke has been transformed with the opening of a new Morrisons superstore. Read (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/07/10/new-store-set-to-transform-centre-100252-19430996/) :handclap::handclap:

And t'think when aye lived there 'twer alllll fields :rolleyes:

and houses and cars and people and stuff.

Well done Speke, remember morry's do cheap petrol but the queues are silly!

Peace and Happiness.....Gaz.

Greetings from Loughborough, from somebody who lived in the 'posh' end of Speke 1955 to 1980.

The so called 'posh' end was the West End and the 'posh' tag was given by me Mum who lived in Blackrod Avenue until 1995.

My memories of Speke were in the main happy ones. I was always defensive of Speke and still am. Going down the Onk, the Damwoods and Speke Hall.
Endless games of footy on the field by Blackrod Avenue and memories of playing cricket in the summer when all of our Dads would come out and play. Memories of Smithy Lane where there was a branch of the Library, the Crescent and the New Shops( The Parade). I still called them the New Shops when I left the Pool in 1980.

From what I have read,there has been a bit of a renaissance in Speke and I shall see for myself by dropping off there on the way to the match.

Good luck to everybody who still lives in Speke .

All the best

Steve

Hi Steve and welcome:PDT11. Things are certainly moving ahead at some pace in Speke, the trip to the morissons last night confirmed that, it was chocker.

Strange how they have built it between two housing areas. Its being used a s cut through for the troublesome teens :PDT_Xtremez_12:. Lets hope that wears off.

I don't mind the Morrison's In the Belle Vale part of Gateacre.

You can smell da fish though from the fishmonger part.

hi...i grew up in the prefabs in Rycot road from 1951 - 1966.....played in `the orchard`/ on the ralla( a big pond)...the `onk` as it was known(oggy shore) as far as i can remember was nicknamed after a whale was beached down the bottom of dungeon lane...it subsequently died..and the smell was terrible...it `honked`...hence the `onk`....we also used to go to the `figure 8` ..2 ponds which were where fords is now...train spotting/plane spotting/egging/speke hall/the damwoods/the bluebell woods/ so many places to explore......if one of my kids or grandkids done what i did,i`d freak....it seemed natural to explore then....all seems too dangerous now....regards...fiftyfive...

I discovered girls in Speke. :PDT_Aliboronz_11:
I lived at 118 Eastern Avenue. Played on the building site that was the 'Ford Road' as it was being laid.
I remember the old bus canteen at the end of the avenue by the pub, the strongest smelling tea I have ever sniffed. ( A great smell)
I took my first communion at St Ambrose church. Mr brown was my teacher at the school that year. (He was also my uncle by virtue of being my Auntie's husbands brother.)
There was sometimes trouble with gangs fighting around central way and the police took to using 'Black Moria's (Maria's?) to patrol.
I was at the age when Christmas's were the best ever in your life, it must have been around 68 - 69. What a great era.

I worked in Speke for years. I once saw the original plans and how it should have had a promenade down at Oglet and also a cinema. The whole idea was to integrate workers and bosses and provide everthing in the one township. The west side of Speke was always nice when I first went there in the 70s. It's not so nice now but at least the Dymchurch has been improved.