CITY eyesore Concourse House has been wrapped up in time for Christmas. Read
Why couldn't they just paint the boarded-up windows in different colours.
The result would have been quite interesting.
A big banner for Capital of Culture!
That's already been done on the Listed ABC cinema.
White House pub/Banksy rat:
Work has started to clean this up. The boarded-up windows were getting painted.
Jan 5 2008 by Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo
PRESSURE is being piled on the multi-millionaire owner of Liverpool’s three worst grot spots to tidy them up.
Last year, Isle of Man-based property developer Albert Gubay was threatened with legal action if he did not clean up the trio of notorious sites in Edge Lane.
They are the derelict Rugs 2 Go and Klaussners stores, the ex-Advent car showroom and a huge pile of rubble which was once the Traveller’s Rest pub.
Mr Gubay’s firm, Derwent Holdings, wants to incorporate them into a £200m overhaul of neighbouring Edge Lane retail park, which he also owns.
But at a meeting yesterday, city councillors made fresh demands that the tatty sites are tidied up for Capital of Culture year.
They are worried about the perception they leave on motorists coming into the city centre from the M62.
A court case to thrash out a solution was due to take place in November, but has now been adjourned, possibly until March.
Cllr BerniTurner, executive member for the environment, who also represents Old Swan, said: “The carpet store is in an appalling state and I believe it amounts to systematic destruction.
“Residents in Old Swan have to put up with these eyesores every day and they attract gangs of young people.”
Cllr Paul Clein said: “It is outrageous that a series of sites along a main route can be left in this state.
“It is an important year for Liverpool and hundreds of thousands of people will come into the city centre along Edge Lane.
“If the current law does not allow us to do something, we should say something loud and clear to the government.”
Councillors also asked if the sites could be boarded up with artwork, in the same way as derelict houses at the west end of Edge Lane.
But the council’s regeneration director John Kelly said that would be very difficult.
He said: “We would have to erect the hoardings incredibly high and, to make it safe, go back from the pavement into Mr Gubay’s land.”
The three Edge Lane sites topped a list of the city’s official top 100 eyesores in 2005.
nick.coligan@liverpool.com
Just looked thru some of the photos way back in this thread, i'm amazed how every building seems to have roller shutters not just on its doors but on its windows, is this citywide or just in certain areas, it looks terrible to me, makes the places look like prisons
div>
Windows (as well as doors) are boarded up on empty properties to discourage people from getting in.
This is usual practice.
Shops (which are still in business) have their windows protected with roller shutters when they are closed.
Downmarket new supermarkets (ie Kwik Save, Lidl, Netto, etc.) try to avoid having windows in their buildings.
Yes, it does make neighbourhoods look depressing.
I don't know if anyone read it in the paper a couple of days ago, but the owner of the land seems to be getting made out to be some sort of evil man who doesn't care, this couldn't be further from the truth. He is a highly successful businessman who has major redevelopment plans for edge lane retail park, but the council dismissed them as being too ambitious. Only LCC could dismiss something as being 'too ambitious'.
He has now offered to plug the £20m shortfall in COC funding as long as the council give him planning permission to redevelop the sites. I think it would be in the councils best interests to accept his offer.
I think he is leaving the sites as they are because this is his only bargaining tool to get the go-ahead for his plans. If he demolished the buildings and tidied the sites up, the council would have won and he would find it even harder to get his plans approved.
If anyone is to blame for the state of the sites it's the council, not Albert Gubay. His plans look and sound fantastic but for some reason beyond my comprehension the council won't approve them.![]()
The entrance to the ABC Cinema Lime Street and The Whitehouse pub Berry Street, have wooden frames around them. This means hoardings/artwork will be erected soon.
I agree shutters make the place look depressing and in reality they don't stop thieves getting in, they just go in via the roof, taking off a few tiles etc. I seem to recall the Liverpool Chief Police Constable stating that these shutters reminded him of Beirut on a bad day. Really speaking they are not necessary.
However, they are not just a Liverpool phenomenon of course, they are UK wide. Indeed I saw them on TV last night in some of the less salubrious areas of the USA.
They could do with some kind of banners / paint job on the back of the Municipal buildings... there used to be an annexe in this spot but it was bombed in the war... in my opinion they should turn it into a park, retaining the car park underground if needs be.
Tycoon warns council: You won't force me out of Liverpool
Jan 8 2008
THE multi-millionaire owner of three of Liverpool’s worst “eyesores” last night said he would not be “driven in despair” to sell his land holdings.
More...
Yes. A requirement of the Insurance companies rather than the police:
Norman Bettison condemned what he called the "roller shutter culture" which he believes makes the city appear less safe than it is.
He said insurers forced shops and small businesses to use ugly aluminium shutters to prevent burglaries at night and plastic barriers to stop shoplifting during opening hours.
Here
Last edited by geoffrey; 01-08-2008 at 09:21 AM.
Bookmarks