A bummer that we have to feel like this
Revised plans for land to the rear of Central Station will be announced this week.

Farewell then, big fella, it would have been nice to get to know you!

As we said last week, it is sad that we are likely to be depressed with what in any other context we imagine will be an excellent replacement scheme, but there was simply no sane reason as to why the tower version should have been rejected. Surely now enough is enough?

A clear statement, with immediate effect, that in future, large scale proposals for downtown Liverpool will be welcomed and assisted through the planning process must be made from the very top of the council.... unless their aspirations for their city are as stunted as the recent developments that have been needlessly compromised? We'll give you news on the new proposals as soon as we get any. Sad!

Coming out on Parr?
We hear that a deal has possibly been agreed that should see all parties happy. No more news for now, but we will be sure to let you all know as and when things can be confirmed.

Something healthy going on in downtown Parr St

Capital of Culture Collection
The Artworks Print Club and the Capital of Culture Collection are taking place at 3345 Parr Street from Thursday till late April.
The collection features work by the renowned artists Alex Corina and Chris Vine and celebrates Liverpool's spectacular cultural renaissance and transformation.

Exclusive limited edition gliclee prints of the images from the collection are only available through the print club, so why not join and become a downtown patron of the scouse arts. Get along and check out what's going on. Synergy, culture, wealth creation and rebirth... what more could you want from downtown Liverpool?

Ah, remember the old days?
No doubt the current action by public sector workers, having probably inconvenienced most those very folk who will have to stump up and make sacrifices in order to preserve public sector pensions, will bring back memories of the winter of discontent, dead remaining unburied and other irritations suffered by the workers.

We wonder if it will also revive memories amongst those who sanction such tactics of the consequences last time they targeted those who pay their wages? No doubt David 'Dave' Cameron will be watching with great interest as his dream journey to No10 becomes ever so slightly more of a reality? Comment on today's actions from 'leaders' across the metropolis have been bizarrely muted, don't you think?

A vibrant Bold St back on the up
Downtown's Bold St, once one of the grandest shopping districts in Europe, underwent decline that reflected the absoluteness of the city's economic failure during the latter decades of the 20th Century.

Evolving: From prime residential to swish shopping district, Bold St on it's way to becoming downtown's haunt of the wealthy

However. Entrepreneurs have been investing back in the street for a number of years now, no 'regeneration grants', no area 'designation', just incremental growth. Bold St is a fine example of how it is the confidence and gumption of small business investing their own time and money that is vital to breathing life back into depressed districts.

At it's peak, even Royal patronage was a regular event, though usually more discreet than for this 'formal' visit

Just walk the length of Bold St (spending some cash whilst you are there, of course) and you will see how the new is working with companies who helped the area through the bad times. Microzine, Utility, Lotus Rooms and the Soul Cafe, amongst others, have joined the likes of Cafe Tabac, News from Nowhere and The Medici Gallery to create the platform for a healthy future... another great downtown neighbourhood on the up.

Back on the up, lots of new investment by entrepreneurs, though the picture is not simply black & white!

Loads of downtown pictures
If you like the pics we have used above then check out these two magnificent sites.
The Mersey Gateway
Liverpool City Council Archives

So successful they are doing more
Due to unprecedented demand the Civic Trust have announced an extension to the Paving the Way programme, free community workshops that have helped community groups across the metropolis acquire skills and knowledge in various aspects of regeneration work such as project planning and fundraising.

The 2 new workshops take place on 10th April and will be delivered by The Planning Inspectorate and Enterprise MPC. Places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis and they expect a high demand so please book as soon as possible. This is just the sort of real community self help programme we love to see. Additional info from Ian Harvey on 0151 231 6908

Footfall is the vital ingredient
It must be a concern for the City Central BID team that the only footfall Church St currently attracts is retail specific. As this is finite, dreaming up really imaginative ways to increase the numbers of folk passing by will have to be a top priority once the basic management regimes have been fully secured.

Retail therapy is hard going for some. This young fellow takes the opportunity to try out the furniture in the Met Quarter

There are tremendous opportunities opening up for Church St as L1 comes on stream and the next edition of Just Liverpool explores some of the options. Make sure you get hold of a copy.

You don't have to sing for your supper
any longer, you can catch it straight from the Mersey once again! This little gem of a downtown story passed us by, but when we say downtown and it's waterfront is an attraction for a vast range of interests, we weren't kidding. Get a big piece of paper and list some of the things you can think of that goes on downtown - much more than clubbing and shopping?

Take a look
There are loads of websites highlighting the theatres, arts, and culture of downtown Liverpool... here's just one of them. Pretty good... use those institutions or lose them!

Picture this
The home and photographic studio of Edward Chambre Hardman, at 59 Rodney St has just won a prestigious European Award for best practice in urban conservation. From 22nd March the new 'Discovery Room' will be open. The room houses some of Hardman's best photography reflecting Liverpool's social and cultural history.

Take a look at the door plaques whilst looking on Rodney St for Hardman's gaff

Well done to the National Trust, who have done a great job in restoring and ensuring that the public can experience such an asset. Be sure to get along sometime, it is well worth it... a great downtown attraction.

Holy Pope, he'll love this area
Sauntering round downtown's Hope St district Sunday was utterly inspiring. Lots of things to do as always, but the recent works around the Catholic Cathedral really seems to have brought the place to life... just busy... lots of people, smiling, enjoying their city. It is a culmination of the revival of a district in no small measure built and promoted by that stirling group, the Hope St Association.

Business such as the Hope St Hotel and 60 Hope St have helped to bring the area on to a new level that has diversified and intensified the fantastic mix all urban areas need to thrive.

There is speculation that Pope Benedict XVI may follow in the footsteps of his predecessor John Paul II by visiting Liverpool. Even he should be impressed with this great downtown neighbourhood.

Some clarity please?
News reaches us of an intriguing interview in Property Week (subscription required) with Council leader Warren Bradley. We will try to dig out the significance about what his statements actually mean for substantial development downtown.

Don't doubt it folks - it's all simply a matter of taste, there is no science to heritage claims. This was deemed 'appropriate', in scale and style!

Cloaked in 'feel good' spin it never the less lets slip that the Lime St tall bdg zone has been removed and a number of tall buildings submissions have been substantially reduced in response to pressure from the usual suspects.

We must remind ourselves that these bodies have NO STATUTORY POWER at all, they hold sway simply because we allow it. We blindly accept their bias notions as gospel... how long will these anti city policies be allowed to continue? Downtown renaissance is a worldwide phenomena. Please Council Leader Bradley don't let the city lose any further opportunities to catch up and build a long term future too... for this is what is at stake.

EXACTLY what we want to see
Moving on to the next and most important phase of the downtown living renaissance has been a constant calling of this site. Now Windsor Developments are about to do just that. Downtown could comfortably treble it's population in ten years if planners let the market judge the demand for family apartments.

Downtown Barcelona, Paris, NYC? take a look at the top left of the image

We have neglected the growth taking place around the Baltic Triangle a little, but the latest scheme as revealed in this morning's Daily Post is the most important step taken in the city for years. The paper's leader column gives unequivocal support... and so do we... brilliant stuff!

and there's more
Also in DP, news that work gets underway making the tunnel links from the Strand to the Liverpool 1 schemes vast underground carpark. This is a fantastically complex engineering project that must be recorded for posterity.

At the other end of the scale we hear that the last remaining of the 'walkways in the sky' that bridges the Strand/Goree just up the road at downtown Pierhead (see story in next column). These will be replaced by 'super crossings' of the type that people can actually use. Fond memories of this in many ways.... but in the name of good urbanism, good riddance!

A move in the right direction?
Council leader Warren Bradley today gave his commitment to becoming the city's 'Business Champion'. We applaud his sentiments and hope, as he sets his targets for enterprise led renaissance, that he takes on advisors who know both the city and the reality of the business environment. Councillors proffering themselves as 'Business Leader'? We need an infusion of enterprise into politics and not the other way around.

They should have one every year
Just a little advance notice, particularly to our overseas community of downtowners to make plans to be around the city for at least some time during Liverpool's fantastic Biennial this year. Serious stuff that has been central to the city maintaining it's reputation worldwide as a place of serious cultural worth. Make a note of the website for now.

Worth a trip in itself
As you make your way around the brilliant new Met Quarter in downtown Whitechapel keep an eye out for an exquisite piece of sculpture. We mentioned this piece a few weeks ago, but seeing it 'live' as it where, after it's restoration we were simply knocked out.

Stunning detail; Post Office Memorial [credit Friends of Liverpool Monuments]

Commemorating the bravery of members of the Post Office killed in war it rightly takes centre stage in what is a brilliant restoration and imaginative adaptation.. The MET. For those of you who may not know, the building used to be the central postal centre at a time when Liverpool was the thriving centre of world trade. Be sure to take a walk round the outside of the building and take in the detail of the older portions of the structure.

Give your spin on downtown architecture
Every year we have the national initiative of Architecture Week. Takes place between 16-25th June. This year the initiative's first two days correspond with the end of Downtown Week so why not get involved with BOTH? We are looking at putting on another walk during the week as well as doing some stuff for Downtown Week... so why not think of doing something as well?

Downtown's great story can be read in it's architecture - help to celebrate it by checking this out

Getting as much recognition of downtown, it's superlative landscapes and vibrant present is an essential part of building downtown into the future and generating as much activity and diverse initiatives play a central part... Downtown, don't you just love it?

Helping future generations
Work on expanding the internationally important School of Tropical medicine got underway. Site preparation that includes the demolition of a number of old buildings will soon see an elegant building rise on the site in downtown Pembroke Place.

New building will help people around the world

Largely financed by Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation we also note that they are additionally funding some of the research work that will take place here. We can only cheer this fantastic enterprise and hope that downtown entrepreneurs rediscover how to build those worldwide links as the school can still do.

What are you giving up for Lent?
Be sure to make room in your diary for the Lent Series of lectures taking place at the Sailors Church at downtown's Pierhead till Easter. There are thousands of events like this taking place year-round at the heart of our great metropolis... check some of it out and take part?

If a picture paints a thousand words


'Save our skyline' the graffiti says... the building to the left says it all about those notions as far as we are concerned! [Click image to enlarge]

Let's show the buggers!
Downtowners will not be surprised to hear that, again, that well known repository of intellectual rigour, The Guardian, has slipped off its PC mantel in yet another sneering piece about Liverpool. It would be interesting to discover who is briefing them, but, in the meantime, Scouse cultural dynamo, Liz Lacey of LCAD, took the time to try and educate them a little.

We expect that Liz's attempt will fail: so antagonistic and ingrained are the attitudes of that paper to all things Liverpolitan, but let's show the buggers by making 2008 the best year long festival of high, low, underground and counter culture the world has ever seen!

Big ask? Maybe, but, now that the Culture Company understand that their job is not to micro-manage every event during the year themselves, like some kind of quasi-Soviet behemoth, we are sure that the vast pool of talent that is scouse culture will respond by hosting, creating and performing so much diverse creative activity that even we will be amazed!

Making 2008 a success is down to us; it is down to you. It is up to everyone in our mighty metropolis to tap every ounce of talent we have and get out and do stuff. There has been an excess of blagging and bitching, boasting and bemoaning, one way or another, about '08 but we know what we have to do--we just have to DO IT.

Marking time downtown
The landscaping of Temple Sq (between Dales St/Victoria St) is nearing completion and should provide a nice place for downtowners to visit during breaks. This is a natty little project that has been developed incrementally over nearly ten years.

Centrepiece of the scheme is a giant sundial - we will get a picture as soon as we can - nice idea, the finished article though looks a little like it came from one of those catalogue companies you get stuff for your garden from.

A man of many talents
Just take a look at yet another spectacular pic of the Unity project in downtown Chapel St.

This has been provided by ace downtowner, Scottie Roader, passionate Scouser and all round talent, Ron Formby, who actually provided last week's picture of the same development that had such fantastic pink skies. Check out the Scottie Press website and help to support his 'Tourism in Vauxhall' and 'Canal Birdlife' projects. Cheers Ron!

Maybe, one day!
Only when this section of the 'Invest In Liverpool' website has four or five pages will we know that :
A. The city has arrived
B. Those strange city killing ideas that currently infest our planning department will have been dropped

Bags of good downtown news here
If you missed Neil Hodson's latest exclusive for the Echo's Biz section then you missed a cracker. Hotel conversions, conservation and investment of vital interest downtown...all in one story! If nothing else, downtown entrepreneurs should be sure to get hold of the Echo on Mondays and the Daily Post on a Wednesday... great stuff.

Spring is in the air
It may not seem so at the moment, and we could just have been a little prior in saying last week that the weather is good enough for downtown workers to get out and explore their local district...but!

The Friends of St James Gardens (behind the Anglican Cathedral) are resuming their Saturday morning maintenance sessions and would welcome any volunteers who fancy going along. The snowdrops, daffodils and primroses are flowering in this great downtown space and the company is always interesting. Email Rebecca or just simply get along, from 9.30 and 11.30 a.m.?

Going native downtown
Downtown based creative ensemble 'Mercy' have announced their major projects for the coming year. Some really good and adventurous stuff of the type we like to see downtown.

Slowly building a 'city that never sleeps'
Here is an excellent example of the type of initiative that will make downtown really improve.

Downtowners who desire a more sophisticated experience, or simply wish to get their money's worth out of a Friday and Saturday night out whilst avoiding the more raucous handbags and glad rags side of downtown might want to check out the new Bohemia night at York Street's excellent St Petersburg restaurant.

Waiting round for the first bus in the morning will now be so much more civilised.

We must say we're feeling pretty tempted ourselves by the promise of an open-minded alternative late-night culture club, even more so when we hear it will be stuffed full of delicious St Petersburg food, a whole variety of 'noctambulist' entertainment and a suitably unconventional crowd. Doors open from midnight until 5am every Friday and Saturday night from March 3rd. Just the type of stuff that downtown should have much, much more of - See ya there.

Seaport to e-port, entrepreneurs have to show the way
A free seminar on e-commerce is taking place at FACT in downtown Wood St 8th March. All downtown entrepreneurs should look at what skills or information that they could share with others... and do the MANDO thing - nice one! Be sure to check out a flick when the seminar ends... you couldn't do that in a business park now, could you?

In the picture
No, not one of those really naff 'social diary' pieces, rather an opportunity for downtown creatives to showcase their skills and help to build downtown's community. We may submit some of our TYKL pics (not!)
Check the web for more details.

Mersey mandarins mull the micro to macro for the mighty metropolis
Check out the latest figures from The Mersey Partnership's ongoing series of economic reviews about the city-regions health, wealth and well-being.

Downtown is shown to be at the heart of great, ongoing improvement, but the survey also reveals some underlying concerns. As we have cautioned many times before on this site, buoyancy is not permanent revival.

Celebrating downtown's uniqueness
Raising awareness of this years Downtown Week gets underway shortly and downtowner's should do all they can to help root the initiative in the downtown calendar and make it a truly valuable downtown promotion/marketing tool and celebration for the city.

11th - 18th June

Downtown's great - don't you just love it? Getting as many people as possible downtown during the week generates more spend and more visitors, so if you are a downtown entrepreneur, run a venue or activity then let folk know about the week... it is in your interest!

As our contribution to growing Downtown Week, we will promote the extra activities that are created specifically for the week. There are already more of those promised than there were last year, so why not consider doing something extra as well?