Readers will recall that in March 2016 St Modwen Ltd purchased the majority of properties on both sides of Moor Lane, Crosby with the intention of carrying out a major regeneration project. The properties had originally been acquired by Sainsburys for a new supermarket development, which did not take place.
St Modwen demolished the popular First Stop DIY store in order to construct the first new building in the Village for many years, now occupied by Peacocks clothes store and a Vets practice. Other buildings were refurbished to bring them back to their original condition and created a mix of bars, cafés and restaurants as well as card and gift shops.
In March 2019 St Modwen offered their investment for sale and in January 2020 Sefton’s Cabinet Member reported that:
“St Modwen have now disposed of the majority of their interest in Moor Lane, Crosby Village (excluding Telegraph House site) to a London based property company Farcastle Limited who will manage the blocks on Moor Lane that have been refurbished and let on short-term leases. Sefton are continuing dialogue regarding Telegraph House with St Modwen’s.”
Since 2016 St Modwen had been planning to flatten Telegraph House and create a prominent site for a new food retailer, complete with its own car parking. After 4 years of dialogue St Modwen have clearly been unable to make appreciable progress with Sefton Council. We discovered that last week their property agents, Avison Young, had planned to market the site by auction on 21st May 2020, at a guide price of £500,000.
The site was sold privately, prior to the auction date, for an undisclosed sum. The name of the bidder has not been revealed and it is not known whether the site is to be comprehensively redeveloped (as recommended in the Council’s Crosby Investment Strategy), or simply continue with short-term lettings for a variety of small businesses.
It is disappointing, but hardly surprising, that after 4 years St Modwen have thrown in the towel.
Sefton Council has failed to support or contribute towards any significant private sector investment in Crosby Village and has failed even to maintain its own dismal and unattractive car parks and closed the public toilets. The Council will doubtless plead economic hardship but it received over £137,000 via the Section 106 planning process to be spent on enhancing the Village. This money was intended to be spent on sustainable capital projects but where has that money gone? A few fairy lights, some benches and a handful of new trees – not to mention the ill-fated Christmas Tree.
Last July the Council spent £80,000 on an Access and Accessibility study, using specialist transport planners and engineers. However, the results from this expenditure have not been made public, even though the study was intended to look at car parking, traffic circulation and bus stops.
If this Council is serious about encouraging private investment into Crosby Village it needs to demonstrate its own commitment to play a part and maintain and enhance the land which lies within its own responsibility. If it cannot afford to maintain the car parks, public toilets, trees, verges and lighting then perhaps they should look to selling them or working in genuine partnership with companies who are keen to invest in the regeneration of the Village.
As an example of commitment to properly maintained car parks the Council need look no further than places such as Waitrose or Tesco in Formby, or any of the sites owned by Aldi and Lidl. These retailers take pride in owning and maintaining their own car parks and have realised that an attractive, well-maintained, well-lit and landscaped car park enhances the overall shopping experience.
Commenting, Chairman of Sefton Central Conservative Association & Blundellsands Ward candidate for 2021 Martyn Barber said:
"It is time that Sefton Council held serious discussions with companies such as Sainsburys, the proposed developers of Central Buildings, Farcastle Ltd who own most of Moor Lane, the new owners of Telegraph House and with the other smaller businesses and residents to identify the role each can play to stimulate the redevelopment of Crosby Village."
