Existing Liverpool Shopping Areas
LIVERPOOL'S main shopping street is to receive a £6m facelift, the ECHO can reveal.
Church Street will be given new paving, lighting and futuristic metal sculptures to bring it into the 21st century.
City leaders fear the pedestrianised route will be over-shadowed by the new Grosvenor shopping centre off Paradise Street when it opens in 2007.
Church Street and Lord Street
THE face of Liverpool's main shopping street was significantly altered yesterday with the chopping down of a number of 30-year-old trees to pave the way for a £5.5m transformation project.
Officials promised that the axed trees in Church Street and Lord Street will be replaced with new mature trees as part of the work.
Work will start in mid-May. The main aim of the scheme is to improve the pedestrian areas with new high quality granite paving, new street lighting, new benches and litter bins and tree planting.
The concept for the scheme is "The Ribbons of Life", representing the social, cultural and economic aspects of Liverpool and its people.
That ribbon theme will be visible in the paving and the street furniture. Sculptures will also reflect this idea.
Preparation work began at the weekend with the removal of the existing trees due to public safety issues and problems with damage from the tree roots. These will be replaced with 33 new mature trees, all nine metres high.
A city council spokeswoman said last night: "The trees had to be removed before the main work begins. The Trees and Woodland management team of the city council carried out a full assessment of the trees' condition.
"Planted in the 1970s, they have proved unsuitable trees for this location and due to their current poor condition there is a risk of branches falling off on to passing pedestrians. The work was carried out on Sunday morning to minimise disruption for retailers, shoppers and businesses.
"We are really upset about the loss of the trees, but they were originally planted in poor conditions.
"This is an opportunity to create a fantastic long term new planting scheme with over 30 mature trees being planted. All the trees removed will be chipped and recycled."
Carl Speight, general manager of the Business Improvement District, said: "This scheme will help to complement the nearby Paradise Project and ensure our prime retail area remains an important part of the city centre.
"There has been extensive consultation with retailers and businesses and we will continue to do all we can to work with the council to ensure any disruption is kept to a minimum."
"It is a very exciting scheme that will bring this vital area up to date and make it an enjoyable and pleasant place to work, to
shop and to visit." The project on Church Street and Lord Street is part of the City Centre Movement Strategy, a £73m scheme to improve roads and public areas of Liverpool city centre, implemented by partners Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, and Merseytravel.
The £5.5m scheme has been funded by the council, the NorthWest Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund, and Cityfocus.
larryneild@dailypost.co.uk