£36m new town centre for South Liverpool's Speke community
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
:)
A £35m police academy in Speke?
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.
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Speke and Garston regeneration
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."
Speke Garston Coastal Park
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