The Downtown Organisation, Liverpool

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Hello Downtowners -

It was great to see so many of you, despite the rain, at the Metropolitan Cathedral for our last downtowner's meeting. Quite a number of new faces showed up too… always nice. Also, weren’t the performances later on really fantastic? Let’s have more international quality like that for downtown.

When we started on this downtown journey two of our main aims were to change perceptions about what the downtown of Liverpool can achieve and also to ensure that the ‘brand’ quality of downtown Liverpool became synonymous with vibrancy, culture and PLACE. 'To restore Downtown as the natural place to be, to live, to do business, and take pleasure'. Whilst we have had great fun, many hurdles remain, so let’s ratchet things up a little in the coming months for downtown?

Thanks Too to all of you for helping us reach our milestone of ONE MILLION hits to the website in just 12 MONTHS

Downtown

Clang, Clang, Clang!
After many years, the downtown fire station is being demolished and the team are moving to St Anne St. This is part of the plans to make way for Grosvenor’s Paradise development. Farewell then to Canning Place, a great little building.

Tram Line Two
Merseytravel are now consulting on proposals for line two of the proposed tram system for Liverpool. As this will have a profound effect on downtown as well as how it links with the rest of the metropolis then please ensure that any views you have are registered www.merseytram.co.uk

Crosstown Traffic
On the issue of roadworks and future movement downtown, the Council are now posting weekly updates on downtown road and transport works. Take a look at the section from the LCC website and put it in your 'favourites' tray.

New Buildings
You may have noticed our article on the site about poor finishing and workmanship on many downtown developments. You will also have noticed that the march of the low-grade, four-storey brick box is also developing momentum downtown. Some of these have strange, silver, extra storeys above (but we aren't supposed to notice them, so please keep it quiet!). Another consequence of the 'low-rise' policy being imposed downtown. Wonder what happened to all of the good architecture the heritage world was supposed to provide?

Old Buildings
News that the Council are pursuing a Compulsory Purchase Order for St Andrew's Church of Scotland heritage site in Rodney Street is interesting...we wonder what they have in mind for it...offices, apartments.....a church, even! Let’s see how it stacks up in our new age of limiting development. How much GRANT will it need? As a point of interest, did you know that healthy, vibrant cities - the ones that provide jobs, quality of life and wellbeing for their residents - are not applicable for hand outs, and we wonder how we intend to ensure we maintain our status of gizza grant.

Building up our downtown communities
A new resource (and TV channel for those on cable or satellite) is available that has all sorts of community building advice and inspiration. Go to Community Channel for more details.

Remember, that by limiting downtown development we are limiting the capacity of our downtown communities to improve their urban quality of life and excitement! What will be the long term impact of the under-development we mention above? The need to maximise how and what downtown can generate can be seen by looking at Liverpool on the ODPM website. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that not everything in the downtown garden is rosy!

Scallywags on the prowl
A number of downtown companies have recently reported to us attempts (sadly some of them successful) to scam them. The con involves making payments to ensure compliance with the panoply of Health and Safety at Work regulations...DON'T BE FOOLED. If you are approached then check it out with HSE's infoline on 0870 154 5500 or contact Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on 0151 227 1234.

Downtown Review
Just a reminder that the latest edition of Residential Review has come out. Order yours by e-mailing katrina@cityresidential.co.uk. Some good links too!


Head in the Clouds (or Sand)
There seems to be a bit of a panic as to what to do on the Mann Island site proposed to house Will Alsops’ ‘Cloud’ with the latest idea dragged out afresh is for some theatres, a museum and/or something! ANYTHING!

We say that you can only justify building on that site if the scheme is ‘jaw dropping'. 'Jaw-dropping’ schemes cost lots of money…are we going to go round in circles here? Remember all that stuff about empty theatre buildings and the error of building isolated, dedicated cultural complexes? Very 60’s, very zonal…very anti-urban!

Do you really fancy getting your frock or top hat (remember, we are in World Heritage Theme Park now!) blown off, fighting a force ten gale in December…just to go and see a provincial production of Aida or some G&S? No…us neither!

An original proposal was to make it a world class public space…why not? USA Today and in France and why not closer to home? (Aluna project) Better than a second rate ‘memorial table’!!!

City

New Ground for Old/Grounds for Complaint?
For those who have been wondering what all the fuss is about, LFC have produced a new ‘fly-through’ presentation of their new ground proposals…afraid our view is that it just isn’t THAT impressive…we want more…bigger…and nil satis nisi optimum over one half! huh?

Building a City?
Housing strategies remain a conundrum in the city. The City Council impose a moratorium on new development, apart from 3 selected areas…then we have national Government telling us what we can and cannot do with our council stock…outrageous!...Not all gloomy though. In the map that accompanied this article into housing blight the worst problems in the metropolis are in the land of the Royal postcode…CH41

It’s good to talk…er, write
There are lots of website forums now that allow people to discuss all things Liverpudlian. Here are two of the better ones we have come across:
Scouse House
Skyscrapercity

Get on line and start adding to the noise about LIVERPOOL.

Metropolitan Liverpool

Downtown is the Heart of?... Answer the Call
There have been some spectacularly odd reactions to Liverpool MP George Howarth’s call for a Metropolitan-based Assembly, instead of continuing to push the absurdly damaging (for Liverpool) ‘North West Regional Assembly’. City-Regions work, and are the preferred option the world over. We at DL have promoted taking a metro focus with Liverpool at its heart for many years and fully support this latest drive. We urge all of you to sign up and actively lobby for proposition one. Go to merseysideassembly.org.uk or write to him at The House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

It’s de model for Central Park y’ know!
Birkenhead Park’s refurbishment is well underway, with many new design elements being incorporated, most notably a new £1m pavilion

Ye Olde (New) Brighton
Sadly, the NIMBY's are at it again trying to block major development in New Brighton. Whilst we would share concerns about the anchor development being a supermarket (!) we would advise campaigning for quality rather than putting on the rose-tinted specs about New Brighton being a conservation area!

Of the Sea and Ships
Check out the website of Mersey Maritime for a fully comprehensive look at what’s going on with, just about everything actually!
Sign up for their great newsletter too.

International

NYC
Even NYC gets lots of things wrong...difference is that they tend to learn from their mistakes! Some of this stuff is in fact strangely reminiscent of some of the mad ideas proposed for Liverpool in the 60's...some of which are still being applied! NYTimes [note, requires registration]

Canada
On a somewhat different scale, here’s what’s going on in downtown Liverpool, Nova Scotia!

Internet
Yet another site that is a fact -filled celebration of all the wonderful things going on in urban centres now that we have learnt to love cities once again…nothing about downtown Liverpool funnily enough! Doesn’t that tell you anything?

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