Toxteth District

[Kev]

EXPERT designers plan to transform a rundown row of shops with Capital of Culture cash.

They have been told to breathe new life into an ageing parade of businesses in Lodge Lane, Toxteth.

Long-standing residents and shopkeepers were asked for their memories of the area so that local history can be incorporated into a string of new shop fronts.

City leaders hope it will bring more customers into an established shopping area in time for Capital of Culture in 2008.

They also believe a tidy-up may dis-courage vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

It follows criticism that too much culture cash is being pumped into the city centre and highbrow arts events.

The Culture Company wants to spend £100,000 on Lodge Lane, and the Shops Upfront scheme could get the go-ahead tomorrow.

It is based on a hugely successful project in Glasgow, which helped create jobs and a venue for cultural evenings and art displays in a deprived area.

As well as removing ugly rollershutters, graffiti and grime, artists will come up with some clever designs to mark Lodge Lane's historic past.

The street crosses the northern half of the former ancient Deer Park of Toxteth, a vast royal hunting ground laid down by King John in 1207.

The row of shops to be refurbished, numbers 157-171, was once a livery stable called Sefton Park Mews.

Project co-ordinator Sonia Bassey said: "Local people are vital to this project and we have invited them to bring the past to life by sharing their memories of this heritage- rich neighbourhood.

"It is expected the scheme will attract more people into the shops, boosting business and improving the area."

Lodge Lane businesses today praised the scheme, which should start in the next few months.

Newsagent Gamal Abdallah, 40, said: " Hopefully it should get more customers in and brighten up the street. It is about time they put money into the area."

Bashir Alwan, 26, co-ordinator of Lodge Lane-based Merseyside Yemeni Community Association, said: "Our design of Arab horses and camels should look good.

"It is going to draw people in and make them curious. Arabic-speaking people here will feel they have more in common with us."

Anna Webster, 29, co-ordinator of Liverpool Yemeni Arabic Club in Lodge Lane, said: "Young people have been involved in the project to demonstrate what they want to see. They have been using mosaics, arts and crafts."

Carol Hannell, 35, from The Local offlicence, said: "People will feel safer if it is brighter and cleaner out there, especially at night."

[Howie]

So the Culture Co. have noticed that the boundaries of Liverpool extend beyond Lime St. and the Waterfront - too little, too late!

[lindylou]

I wish they'd get down to where I live !!

[Kev]

SHOP owners in Toxteth have been working with professional artists to give their premises a new look.



In an effort to fight off the vandals, creative and colourful artwork has been painted on the shop fronts.

The roller shutters, graffiti and grime have been stripped away and replaced with new and trendy designs.

A similar scheme has been carried out in Glasgow and Liverpool Culture Company now hopes the success in Scotland can be repeated on Merseyside.

The project, Shops Upfront, is funded with European money and this has helped to transform eight properties in Lodge Lane.

Alicia Smith, project manager at the Liverpool Culture Company, said: "The shops look amazing and it's a real surprise to see the difference between the before and after pictures."

Partners in the Shops Upfront project include the Liverpool Culture Company, Liverpool council's regeneration team and South Central Neighbourhood Management team, together with Agency Services and the Liverpool Biennial.


Shop front restored without the artwork.

[Max]

The Ghetto!

Was up homie?

[Bunnyman]

OMG Max. You're so white!

[Max]

[Kev]

MORE than 100 would-be entrepreneurs have benefited from a scheme in Toxteth to help get new businesses off the ground.

BizFizz was set up two years ago under the supervision of urban regeneration charity, the Civic Trust. It is based in the Toxteth TV centre, which offers TV and video production training for young people.

It employed a business coach, Stephan Nichols, to attempt to stimulate economic development from the bottom up by aiding the transformation of good business ideas into viable enterprises.

This week, as Toxteth marked the 25 years since the riots left the area devastated, a special event to celebrate the success of the project was held at the Kuumba Imani Millennium in Princes Avenue.

Now several of the people who have built successful businesses after receiving help want to give something back by offering their own support and expertise to the project.

Ian Harvey, from the Civic Trust in Liverpool, said: "People living in areas like Toxteth face major barriers to starting their own business so Stephan will try to address the individual needs of each client and tailor the help accordingly.

"What he does for one client might be completely different to what he does for another."

Underpinning Mr Nichol's role is a board of established business people who attempt to help the would-be entrepreneurs take their ideas onto the next level.

There are still major challenges faced by those who live and work in the area, 25 years on since the riots. Socio-economic inequality is still a significant barrier to upward mobilty among the local population.

Following the riots Liverpool and Toxteth, in particular, became the test-bed for a series of initiatives that transformed the face of urban Britain. However when it comes to unemployment, deprivation, health and education Toxteth is still towards the bottom of the deprivation index.

Initial funding for BizFizz will soon end but those behind the project hope new money can be found quickly.

Paul Squires, BizFizz manager at the Civic Trust said: "BizFizz is an entirely local initiative designed to stimulate economic development by aiding good business ideas into viable enterprises."

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

[wallasey]

I was around Lodge Lane last week, and i have to say, more needs to be done apart from re-invent shutters. The area is full of bare patches of waste land FGS! Once a grand victorian throughfare, it is now degraded and miserable. The 60's estates that border onto it do little for the area too.

I wish that the city would try and re-build our throughfares so that they resemble what they were like back in their hey-day. I saw that something is being done on Kensington but most of that is just a clean up rather than a re-build.

We need to take a look at what these great victorian throughfares can offer. Most of these buildings are full of architectural spender, especially where windows and guttering is concerned and where there are gaps, we should fill them in with buildings that are in keeping with their surrounds. Not some plain brick building or some tacky glass and metal structure. The latter may look great in the CBD, but in the suburbs and surrounded by terraces, they look horrible!

Hope I make sense!

[lindylou]

The same around Anfield. Oakfield rd, Breck rd, Townsend lane. All in a terrible state of decline.

[wallasey]

Yes. Walton Breck Road still has a side of a commercial building patched up with some sort of rippled material. It's been like that for more than a year now!

[Kev]

Twenty-five years after the notorious Toxteth riots, Tony Barrett asks how much things have really changed?

IN THE wake of the Toxteth riots Lord Scarman published his report from the official inquiry into the disturbances.

Among his findings was the following: "The riots were essentially an outburst of anger and resentment by young black people against the police. (But) the police do not create social deprivation; while good policing cannot remove the causes of social stress."

In clear language, Lord Scarman was telling the world that social injustice was the root cause of Toxteth's problems and the riots were aviolent reaction against the state.

The question is, 25 years on from the popular uprising, have the problems which caused the riots now been removed?

As far is the statistical and anecdotal evidence goes they most certainly have not.

Atrawl through census records and awhole raft of national reports into poverty suggests one thing - Toxteth is still being crushed under the weight of socio-economic inequality.

When it comes to unemployment, deprivation, health and education the area is always towards the bottom of the pile.

And, perhaps most importantly, those who live in Toxteth feel left behind and are still waiting for promises made aquarter of a century ago to be fulfilled.

Community leader Pauline Davis, from the Granby Residents Association, is among those who believe not enough has been done to improve Toxteth since the riots.

"You have to look at the business side and we still have no supermarkets, no banks and not enough jobs,"she says.

"There is no proper infrastructure, no proper planning and it has to be said that there have been few changes for the better in Toxteth over the last 25 years.

"You get tired of hearing promises that are never kept. The decline is continuing because there are too many basic things that have been overlooked.

"Unemployment is far too high. I'm unemployed myself and I received aletter from the job centre the other day telling me about ajob that might have been suitable for me at the Women's Hospital.

"I rang up about it but they were no longer taking applications because they had had so many.

"People want to work but the opportunities just don't exist.

"And this has an impact on everything, even people's health. Heart attacks and stress related conditions are rampant around here." more

[Scousemouse]

* The average household income in Princes ward is £18,641 - 4,000 below the city average.

* Around 63% of households in the Princes Park area have an income lower than £10,000 a year.

Does that mean that the other 37% are struggling by on £33,350 a year - £10,500 above the city average?

[Bunnyman]

I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. It's a smart but edgy area in parts. You do get wealthy people who like the large houses/luxury apartments and short commuting distances to the city centre, as well as the despondently poor crammed into small houses in the side streets.

They do this every five years or so. I remember the last time; they dragged Heseltine up for an interview with the Echo. They devoted an entire week to it, basically saying **** all has improved in the time since.

[Kev]

I find driving to work the beauty of the area in some parts breathtaking, the buildings, the area around Princess Park for example. The regeneration needs to happen much quicker, some of the buildings have been empty and derelict for many many years, but then again some parts of Garston Under The Bridge have been too