The Labour Leader of Sefton Council has reported recently about the problems facing the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre. The Council bought the centre for £32.5m in 2017 and in June 2018 agreed to borrow a further £3.4m for general works and roof repair. In March 2019 the Council admitted that the Strand was re-valued at £27.22m. It’s current value has not been disclosed but one can speculate that it will have declined further.
In addition to the closure of many of the shops, the Council Leader also mentioned the imminent move by HMRC from the Strand Triad office building, which can accommodate 7,000 staff. This will adversely affect footfall and spending within the centre.
The Leader reported that the Council was looking at plans for the wider recovery of The Strand and the canal corridor. So, what are the grand plans?
This week Sefton Council has submitted a planning application to put a 37sq m “green wall” on Washington Parade to conceal the glazed tiles. The green wall comprises living plants in a mesh structure, requiring water, power and drainage.
The Council have chosen a firm called Oasis Plants to progress this scheme, although it is not known how this firm was selected, or what is the likely construction or maintenance cost. In their technical proposal, Oasis have already stated that they cannot guarantee growing times between November and March. We can assume from this that the planting may not survive during the winter months.
Oasis Plants of Sandbach was formed in 2018 and their accounts with Companies House show they have assets totalling £100.
The Council’s argument for the scheme is that it will:
Help improve biodiversity and air quality;
Provide a focal point and sense of arrival to Bootle Strand in an area of high footfall adjacent to the main bus station and taxi rank;
Be a benchmark project that could pave the way for living walls at other locations in Sefton;
Help with the overall promotion of the Strand Shopping Centre.
Again, this Council has lost sight of the bigger picture. Why apply a cosmetic “green wall” to a building which has outlived its effectiveness?
The Council has also stated that the “green wall” has to be designed around a brass plaque fixed to the wall to acknowledge Bootle’s links to America. Part of the area now occupied by The Strand was a residential area known as “Little America” as many of the streets were named after American States, hence Washington Parade, and Carolina Street.
It is even more curious that our Labour Council insists on retaining the plaque, bearing in mind the “Little America” on which the Strand was built, comprised Delaware Street, Garfield Street, Oregon Street, Nevada Street, Carolina Street. Whilst James Garfield was an abolitionist, several of the States named in “Little America” were in fact states where slavery was commonplace.
Coming from a Council which has promoted building over vast tracts of greenbelt agricultural land, the idea of a biodiverse “green wall” is somewhat incongruous.
Where therefore are the big plans?
Why does the Council not admit they bought a massive liability in acquiring a declining shopping centre with no future prospects?
However, they they did buy it on behalf of Sefton’s residents, so what now should they do with it?
How about keeping a small core of shops along the Stanley Road frontage and demolishing the unwanted and vacant properties fronting Washington Parade? That site could then be allocated for residential uses. This would follow the Conservative Government’s suggested flexibility for converting unwanted retail uses for housing and other uses. This could be an exemplar housing development, using green energy and low-cost fuel to support the new resident population. The housing site would sit next to the bus station and close to the railway station and enable those without cars to easily travel to Liverpool for work or leisure.
The sites alongside the canal could be opened up to provide recreational and leisure uses, supporting cafes and restaurants along with watersports uses, water safety and training, possibly linked to the Health & Safety Executive and Coastguards.
Bootle is fortunate in having Hugh Baird College on their doorstep. What about a partnership between the Council and the College to use apprenticeships to generate real-life opportunities to build and regenerate Bootle?
A Conservative administration would look at initiatives such as these to unleash the potential of Bootle- “Building Better for Bootle.”
Bootle deserves more than a green wall to cover up a derelict tiled wall on a defunct shopping centre.
