Kirkby doesn’t need additional investment – apparently

Knowsley Council recently responded (Knowsley News) to an Echo article about Kirkby missing out on government cash for town centres (Liverpool Echo).  The council’s article reveals a disturbing attitude towards Kirkby which fails to acknowledge its own decades of failure.

Before we go further, let’s be honest with ourselves: the money from the Government’s Town Deal Fund went disproportionately to towns where the Member of Parliament was a Conservative MP.  Kirkby is part of the Knowsley Parliamentary Constituency (Wikipedia), which is the safest seat in the UK (Voter Power Index), with a Labour MP, and was not going to attract the support of the current national government.  This mates-rates approach to investing in communities is a sad indictment of the current UK Government, but Kirkby was not even put forward for consideration.

Why?

It may astonish fellow residents of Kirkby to find out that – in the words of Knowsley Council – “no bid was made for Kirkby because the money wasn’t needed.”

You. Read. That. Correctly.

The. Money. Wasn’t. Needed.

…

According to Knowsley Council, Kirkby does not need anymore investment, and so they won’t apply for it.  Now, of course other town centres need investment – better still they should be run and developed in a way that creates wealth within town centres that allows them to invest in themselves.  Kirkby has had a particularly rough 20 years though, with the loss of multiple retailers and facilities, and damaging consequences for the fabric of our community.

That Knowsley Council took the decision to purchase St. Modwen’s assets in Kirkby Town Centre and kick start regeneration is to be applauded – a bold move that we hope works out for the best.  It is however worth remembering that St. Modwen were originally involved starting in 2001, designing a set of plans then very similar to what they developed again when they returned in 2015, upon which the current plan being delivered by Knowsley Council is based.  The original plans were rejected in 2005 by the council because it wanted to pursue the Destination Kirkby plans by Everton and Tesco.  Knowsley Council could have delivered the current Morrisons scheme over a decade ago and chose not to.

The Knowsley Council article also reminisces of the investment of recent years:

• A bus station upgrade that was delayed-and-delayed due to the failed partnership the Council had with Tesco;
• A ‘refurbished’ Kirkby Centre, that destroyed the huge dancefloor, stage, function rooms and bars, all because the deal with Tesco for a new library had fallen through and a new home was needed for it;
• Public art, which included £320, 000 on the much hated “Kirkby Tree” (Liverpool Echo);
• The new St. Chad’s Health Centre completed around 2012 – built on the site of the former Market Trader club which was demolished in the late 1990s, but which also led to the dilapidation and eventual demolition of the old health centre building, which is now a temporary car park;
• Highway improvements – important but a fairly run-of-the-mill activity you’d expect from a council;
• A ‘new’ Kirkby Market, to house the contents of the former InShops and the old outdoor Kirkby Market – a net decrease in small-hold retailers, and a build process which was much delayed by 9 months and which caused severe disruption to store holders.  The market hasn’t recovered from this 6 years later.

Furthermore, Knowsley Council say, “Anybody who actually visits the town centre can see that the regeneration is actually happening, …”

We were left scratching our heads after reading this article.

Sure, you can see the results of past investment, and you can further welcome the new retail build that is underway, and the plans for the cinema.  But Kirkby has gone without a major supermarket since the closure of ASDA in 1979!  Since then, we have endured repeated failures to bring a major supermarket back to the town.  Throughout this we have seen closures, demolitions, disruption and wasteland aplenty.  Current regeneration efforts are focused only on some parts of what once made-up our town centre.

Just to ensure we weren’t going mad, we took a walk along Cherryfield Drive recently (on 21/12/2020), starting near the Kirkby Leisure Centre, through the southern end of Kirkby Town Centre, and up along the sites of the former Kirkby Civic Buildings and Swimming Pool…

… First, we have another building which is set to be demolished – see our article on the old RSPCA building – without any clear plan for what will replace it, or any credible attempt by the council to allow the community to bring it back into use…

… Then we have the vast swathes of derelict wasteland, which starts with the now-flattened old Golden Eagle Hotel/Cherryfield Nursing Home and Dickie Lewis’s bar and restaurant…

… And continues with the Cherryfield Crescent housing estate, the residents of which had their housing compulsory purchased and forcibly relocated to St. Kevin’s Drive in 2014.  Part of it is now a temporary car park, but most of it is a messy wasteland hidden behind long lengths of blue fencing along with…

… The former Council for Voluntary Services building in Kirkby, gone…

… The Royal Naval Association building, gone…

… The old Town Centre garage, gone…

… The huge Kirkby College campus, mostly gone…

… And what remains, under-threat of demolition…

… The entire Kirkby Civic Buildings complex, demolished and grassed-over, leaving only the remnants of foot and vehicle access…

… And the former site of Kirkby’s Olympic-sized swimming pool and health suite, also demolished and grassed-over.

Most of this land lays fenced and unused, a sad testament to the 20+ years of failures.  But – again – in the words of Knowsley Council “no bid was made for Kirkby because the money wasn’t needed.”  So it seems Knowsley Council thinks:

• Kirkby doesn’t need more investment;
• Kirkby doesn’t need a bigger stimulus to return our town centre to the vibrant place it once was;
• Kirkby doesn’t need another helping hand to ensure the local population actually has sufficient facilities to meet its needs.

In short: Kirkby has had enough.

And, Kirkby has had enough.

Enough of the tyranny of low expectations.

Enough of Knowsley Council failing to acknowledge it has even made mistakes, let alone apparently learn from them.

Enough of being treated like a play thing which can be used and abused to suit the fancies of council officials and external investors.

Knowsley Council was right about one thing in their article: “Kirkby town centre provides a great location – it is easily accessible by road and public transport, and is attracting a lot of interest from other potential investors and companies.”

We think it can continue to attract investment to develop a town centre that meets the needs of the local population and draws in people from beyond, creating a self-sustaining local economy.  This could include commercial units, apartments, renewed further education and innovation facilities, new community facilities and extensive community sports facilities at the heart of our town – as we proposed in February 2020.

We do not think a huge new housing development on the land south of Cherryfield Drive is a sensible step to rebuilding the heart of Kirkby Town Centre – and it would be an affront to those who were forced out of their homes in Cherryfield Crescent in 2014 to do so.

During the pandemic, Vision Kirkby has been giving Knowsley Council some space so it can focus on its highest priorities with the presumption that they would be focused on combating COVID-19 and delivering the current Morrisons-anchored development.  But their article has revealed their attitude to Kirkby.

The metaphorical gloves are now off.

Happy New Year

Vision Kirkby