Islington set for a makeover
div>
A forgotten quarter of Liverpool’s once expansive city centre is closer to a multi-million pound makeover.
The London Road area used to be as busy as the main shopping centre until hundreds of thousands of people quit the city in the 1950s and 1960s.
Now plans have been drawn up that will see new shops, homes and leisure facilities as well as car parking to entice people back to the “top end of town”.
A masterplan outlining the phased regeneration of the area has been drawn up by the newly-established Islington Regeneration Company and is now under consideration by the city council.
It recommends that the area enclosed by London Road, New Islington, Moss Street and Norton Street should have a combination of commercial, retail and residential use as well as a multi-storey car park.
The existing shops facing London Road - including the highly successful TJ Hughes - will largely be retained with redevelopment taking place elsewhere, apart from Stafford Street where refurbishment is proposed.
Cllr Peter Millea, the city council executive member for regeneration said: “This is an area which is ripe for development. The council is conscious that any plan should aim to allow existing companies to be retained in the area where this is practicable.
“We are doing more work on the masterplan along with Liverpool Vision, but it presents a good framework to realise the potential of the area.
“I think we could use some imagination and not be confined by the current lay-out of the area. For example, there are very wide verges on Islington and New Islington and it may be possible to use those for development if a business wished to expand. This should not greatly affect traffic flow, if at all, and could provide increased opportunities for regeneration.”
The new regeneration company has been set up by Downing Developments, Pencare Developments and businessmen Alfie Finnegan and Gerard Murphy. It has been established specifically to develop what is now being called the Kensington Quarter.
The compared hired consultants as a first step towards drawing up a master plan. It envisages a seven en-phase development programme for the quarter, which was at one time earmarked as a potential controlled-zone for prostitution.
Cllr Mike Storey, the council’s executive member for special initiatives welcomed the prospect of the area being improved.
“We have been talking for some months to the parties involved and believe we now have a good formula for a way forward. I am delighted that this long established part of our city centre will play a big part in our future.”
Currently 600 businesses, residents and other stakeholders in the area are being consulted about a planning framework which will help guide the style, size and type of development suitable for the Islington area.
Bookmarks