By Dan Kay Comments
£260m Anfield regeneration plans revealed (VIDEO)
24 Jun 2013 20:00
Scheme hopes to revitalise North Liverpool with new homes and business premises as well as a new LFC stadium
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Liverpool FC, Anfield stadium
Major plans for a £260m regeneration of Anfield have been revealed.
The ambitious scheme will see hundreds of new homes, new business premises, a revamped stadium for Liverpool FC, a village square, a hospitality academy hotel with 100 beds and a “pedestrian-friendly” avenue gateway cutting through Stanley Park right up to the football ground.
Around 300 vacant or derelict houses will have to be demolished to make way for the plans, which will include the refurbishment of around 500 homes.
Around 250 new homes will be added to the growing Parks housing estate development.
Residents who have lived in uncertainty for more than a decade have been given their first glimpse of the plans, which are being spearheaded by the council, the Reds and housing association Your Housing.
The project, which should take around five years to complete, will be the biggest single regeneration push in the city after the multi-billion pound Liverpool Waters development.
VIDEO: Look inside one of the new Anfield homes and learn more about the plans
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, who has been in high-level talks with Reds owner John Henry and housing chiefs for more than six months, said the people of Anfield had been “let down badly” in the past, and deserved to see their community restored to its former glory.
The football club’s plans will account for up to £150m of the £260m price tag for the project. The Reds will remain at Anfield and expand the stadium on its current footprint.
The rest of the investment will go on new roads and infrastructure, renovated housing and newly built homes.
Around 700 new jobs will be created, and Stanley Park will become home to a ‘food hub’, including what the ECHO understands to be a market garden growing local produce.
Mayor Anderson said: “We’ve been thinking that you can’t just have house building and refurbishment just on their own. There can’t be any regeneration without regenerating the wider community.
“That’s why we’ve established this partnership with Your Housing group and the Club, and it was absolutely essential that we did that.
“Despite the government pulling the housing market renewal (HMR) money, we are making progress anyway, with political determination and vision.”
So far, more than £40m of improvements have already been made in the area, including some new housing developments by Keepmoat Homes, the Isla Gladstone Conservatory in Stanley Park, the Four Oaks Primary School and Mere Lane health centre.
But Mayor Anderson said despite progress so far, he was determined to make sure no promises were made that couldn’t be delivered, adding: “I’m absolutely determined not to allow officers who work for the council or the Club or anybody to exaggerate what will be achieved.
“For far too long people have been given the impression that things would change and improve, but they didn’t.”
Brian Cronin, Chief Executive, Your Housing Group, with Mayor Joe Anderson
The ECHO understands that the council’s contribution to the overall cost will include around £13m of government funding, and a large proportion of the value of the scheme is tied up in land and property owned by the council.
Money the club must provide in return for planning permission – known as “Section 106 money” – will also go towards the cost of the project, and potentially any European funding that was given on the condition Liverpool FC built a new stadium in the park, which could be around £7m.
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Archive pictures of Anfield football ground, home of Liverpool FC
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While the overall project incorporates Anfield stadium being enhanced, the Club is keen to make sure it wins the support of local residents.
But while it owns a number of houses in Lothair Road – immediately behind the ground – and Your Housing (formerly Arena) owns many more in the Rockfield Road area, there are some properties owned by private landlords which the council is currently in talks about purchasing.
Lothair Road in Anfield
Council sources said if the owners were not willing to sell at a reasonable price then the authority would not be afraid to resort to using its compulsory purchase powers.
Residents who were last night invited to a meeting at the Isla Gladstone conservatory to look at the plans will be given six weeks to feed back their views, before more concrete proposals are worked up and an official consultation held, with planning applications expected to be lodged next year.
Brian Cronin, chief executive of the Your Housing group, said: “A lot has already been achieved in Anfield through the determination of community leaders and residents – and those people should rightly take pride in their achievements.
“But there is still a huge amount to be done to realise our wider vision, and we will continue to work with Liverpool City Council and the local community to ensure a positive outcome for Anfield and its residents, who can now begin to look forward to a positive future for the area.”
Residents can see more at
www.anfieldproject.co.uk.
Liverpool FC detailed more of their plans to residents at a meeting on Monday evening - you can read a statement from LFC managing director Ian Ayre here
