Garston Village Masterplan

2

How to use this document:

This documents forms part of the Garston

Village Masterplan, a suite of documents

which have been produced for Liverpool

City Council (LCC) by URBED (Urbanism,

Environment, Design Ltd) with input from Eye

and Fore Consulting.

The Masterplan consists of two parts, the

Report (this document) which tells the story of

Garston, setting out our analysis of the area

along with what local people think, and our

recommendations for regeneration. It also sets

out a list of projects and illustrates these on an

illustrative masterplan.

The second part of this Masterplan is the

Delivery Plan. This is a working document

which will be updated by LCC. This document

goes into more detail about the delivery of

each project and how it will be funded, as

well as identifying who will be responsible for

bringing each project forward.

These documents should be read in

conjunction with each other.

This document should be printed double sided

on recycled or FSC certified paper.

GARSTON VILLAGE MASTERPLAN

REPORT

PROJECTS MAP

DELIVERY PLAN

CONTAINED WITHIN THE REPORT

Garston Village Masterplan

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DESIGNATIONS MAP

blobb maps

To Coastal Reserve + Business Parks

To Speke Boulevard, Retail Park + Business Parks

The Village

Under the Bridge

Port of Garston

St Mary’s Road High Street

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Name Description Timescale Estimated Outputs Estimated Costs

Potential Funding Lead Next Steps Masterplan Theme

LV01 South Cressington

Mixed Use residential led development. Access via Cressington Heath and Dock Road

Long term10+ years

Residential led development: 310 homes with potential for waterside uses

£31m based on £100k per unit private developer costs

A private development funded by ABP or via/with a development partner selected by ABP

ABP Planning application to be prepared by ABP for the South Cressington Development. Vehicular access issues to be resolved

A good place to live

LV02

EN03

Banks Road Development Sites

New residential development on National Grid site and adjacent LCC owned land to include a significant area of new and improved public open space

Medium to long 7-10+ years

Demolition of Gas works kit and cease/ rationalisation of operations on site by 2019. Mixed - residential and open space development of 284 houses and apartments

Cost of demolition £2.2 million. £28.4m for new housing based on £100k per unit.

A private development / S106 towards development of park

Capita Symonds on behalf of National Grid/ LCC

Capita Symonds to dispose/ develop site on behalf of National Grid.

LCC to have further consultations with National Grid with a view to marketing it’s land to interested parties in partnership

A good place to live/ a green, well connected neighbourhood

LV03 Under the Bridge Improvement Zone

Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock with focus on hard to treat properties

Short to medium3-7 years

Setting up of organistation to provide Green Deal/ ECO/ Home Improvement Loan advice for residents in properties in the Village area, which consists of approximately 690 houses, and determine houses eligible for funding

Cost £10k per unit Total cost £2.5m assuming 50% homes/residents eligible. 5 year programme of say 50 units pa

Green Deal Loans Home Improvement Loans ECO money for eligible households

LCC (tbc) Work up project plan and funding streams. Procure energy company partner to deliver.

Contact SLH and LHT to determine appetite for improving energy efficieny of housing stock in area

A good place to live

LV04 Garston Old Road Improvement Zone

Creation of framework to facilitate Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock with focus on hard to treat properties

Short to medium3-7 years

Setting up of organisation to provide Green Deal/ ECO/ Home Improvement Loan advice for residents in properties in the Village area, which consists of approximately 690 houses and determine houses eligible for funding

Cost £3m based on £10k per unit and approx 50% eligible homes/residents. 6 year programme based on phases of approx 50 units pa

Green Deal Loans Home Improvement Loans ECO money for eligible households

LCC (tbc) Work up project plan and funding streams. Procure energy company partner to deliver.

Contact SLH and LHT to determine appetite for improving energy efficiency of housing stock in area

A good place to live

LV05 Dingle Bank Development onto Church Road to provide active frontage and improve connection between St Mary’s Road and Under the bridge. Potential site for Leisure facility/

Medium3-10 years

Leisure or recreation facility / residential development (with large foundations to overcome ground conditions)

£3 million A Privately Funded Development

LCC LCC to confirm acceptability of site for a range of uses with planners and soft market site to potentially interested parties

A good place to live

LV06 Former Market Site

Residential development of 8-12 houses on the vacant former market site

Short 0-3 years

8-12 Homes c.£1-1.5m over a 2 year period

Site sold on open market and value used to fund Space Agency

LCC/SLH LCC to review best bids and select offer

A good place to live

PROJECT LIST

The Village

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The Village

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ILLUSTRATIVE

MASTERPLAN

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Contents

1. Introduction .................................. page 4

2. Executive summary ................. page 6

3. Why Garston is how it is ..... page 93a Garston as it is3b Garston as it was3c Garston’s character 3d Garston’s economy3e Garston’s accessibility3f What local people think3g How Garston is doing3h Why this is

4. How Garston could be .......... page 314a Garston Village4b A new vision for Garston Village4c A policy for Garston Village

5. A plan for Garston ................... page 395a A masterplan for Garston Village5b A good place to live5c A place to do business5d A green, well connected neighbourhood 5e A thriving high street5f A distinctive image and strong identity

6. How to get there ....................... page 676a Delivery Framework6b Funding6c Project List

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Introduction1.

This report is the result of a study commissioned by Liverpool City Council to prepare a regeneration strategy for Garston. The study has been undertaken by URBED (Urbanism, Environment, Design) with transport planning advice from Fore Consulting and market advice from Eye. The process for preparing this strategy has included three roundtable consultations with the public and working closely with the council, local stakeholders and land owners.

The brief for this project was to develop

a masterplan for the area which would

act as a shared vision for the future of

Garston. The aims are to guide new

development, enhance residential,

industrial and green space and to

identify projects to reverse the decline of

Garston’s high street - St Mary’s Road,

and strengthen the sense of community,

ownership and place.

This has been articulated both as a

regeneration strategy to guide action

by the Council and others as well as

planning policy to give certainty to

developers looking to invest in the

area. This will be aligned with the Local

Development Framework for Liverpool,

in particular, the Local Plan for Liverpool

which is currently being produced.

This report stems from the South

Liverpool International Gateway:

Strategic Regeneration Framework,

produced through Liverpool Vision.

The framework identified some

recommendations for Garston which

have been built upon in this document.

The team is made up of three

consultancies, URBED, Eye and Fore.

Each has provided specialist advice for

carrying out research in the area and

identifying projects for change.

This study has consisted of an in depth

analysis into the Garston area and its

history and three roundtable workshops

with local residents and businesses.

The purpose of these workshops was to

engage local people’s views on the area

and gain feedback on our proposals.

Consultation forms an important part of

all of URBED’s work and we learned a lot

from local people on how Garston should

be regenerated. We held an exhibition

at ‘Neighbours Day’ in May 2013 - an

event hosted by two of the area’s local

Housing Associations; South Liverpool

Homes (SLH) and the Liverpool Housing

Trust (LHT). We also developed an online

blog to showcase our proposals and get

comments and feedback.

Together with meetings with local

stakeholders and landowners,

consultation has directed the production

of this report and a Delivery Framework,

which identifies projects to be

undertaken in the Garston area.

The Report Structure

Part 2 of this report summarises the

key points to arise from the baseline

analysis.

This is developed into Part 3 which

identifies why Garston is how it is,

looking into its past and describing the

area at present.

Part 4 concludes our analysis of the

area and identifies five themes for

regeneration in the area.

Part 5 illustrates our recommendations

for spaces and areas in Garston, in line

with the five themes.

Part 6 is our Delivery Framework.

This breaks down the masterplan

into a series of projects with outline

costings and implementation routes

before outlining a funding strategy to

implement each vision.

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Locating Garston: Garston is located within 6 miles of the centre of Liverpool. The area lies in between Liverpool City Centre and Widnes, close to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The airport is served by Liverpool South Parkway train station which lies to the north east of the area, and also provides excellent train links into Liverpool and out to Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham.

LIVERPOOL

Birkenhead

LiverpoolCity

Centre

LIME STREET

Liverpool South Parkway

Speke Boulevard

Local

Services

Manchester

Sheffield

London

M6Local Services

Speke

John Lennon Airport

Widnes

Runcorn

Garston

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Executive summary2.

This framework for Garston has been undertaken by a team headed by URBED. It was commissioned by Liverpool City Council following a recommendation in the South Liverpool International Gateway: Strategic Regeneration Framework. This identified Garston as a priority area and recommended that a more detailed strategy for the area should be commissioned. This strategy has been undertaken over the first half of 2013 and has involved extensive discussions with stakeholders, three community workshops and one public exhibition.

Our approach to the development of a

neighbourhood strategy is based on an

approach similar to a medical process.

We start with a diagnosis of the health of

the neighbourhood, look at the prognosis

if nothing is done and then suggest a set

of proposals as treatment. If we don’t

fully understand the reasons why Garston

is how it is today we risk wasting money

on things that don’t work or worse still

end up creating more problems. Our

diagnosis of Garston is in four parts:

• We conclude that the Village, to the

north of St. Mary’s Road is a stable

housing area with some signs of

gentrification as people move into the

area from other parts of the city and

take advantage of proximity to the

Parkway station. House values are

starting to rise and while there remain

a few properties in poor condition our

judgement is that this area is stable

and improving.

• We conclude that the Under the Bridge

area has turned a corner. The area

was showing signs of market failure a

few years ago but the removal of the

worst stock and the injection of new

housebuilding has changed the image

of the area and the population profile

which in turn has helped the older

housing stock.

• We conclude that the industry and

the port is also doing reasonably well.

The major employers are stable or

looking to invest and while the port

is interested in rationalising its land

holdings this is part of long term

investment strategy. Demand for

smaller scale employment space is

also holding up.

• We conclude that the main problem

is with St. Mary’s Road, which is in a

poor physical condition and has high

levels of vacancy. This unfortunately

colours the image of the whole of

Garston so that the improvements

elsewhere are overlooked.

Our prognosis is therefore that the

housing and industrial areas are in a

stable and improving condition and that

this is likely to continue. There is scope

to accelerate this improvement through

measures to improve the housing stock

and the environment and to promote

further housebuilding. The prognosis for

St. Mary’s Road is less promising. At

best it will continue to experience a long

slow decline, at worst the recent loss

of the Cooperative Store as an anchor

could cause it to collapse. This strategy

is therefore based on consolidating

the improvements in the housing and

industrial areas and developing a

strategy to address St. Mary’s Road.

We start by suggesting a vision for

Garston based on the idea of an urban

village; a place with a mix of people living

and working with a strong distinctive

identity and a revived high street.

However we stop short of suggesting

that the term ‘urban village’ be used

as part of the marketing of Garston,

suggesting instead that it be branded

simply as Garston Village. This identity is

proposed to cover the whole of the area,

allowing the perception of two separate

communities ‘Under the Bridge’ and ‘The

Village’ to be phased out.

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The vision is developed into five

strategic themes which are used as the

basis for 18 recommended projects:

1. A good place to live: This includes

two proposed sites to be allocated

for new housing, the western parts

of the docks and the Gas Works

on Banks Road. It also includes a

scheme to promote the eco-retrofit of

older housing stock in the area.

2. A place to do business: This is

based on the consolidation and

protection of the remaining industry

in the area. It includes investment

in the port and the protection of the

industrial estates on Blackburne

Street together with environmental

improvements.

3. A green, well connected

neighbourhood: This includes

the creation of two major new

open spaces; Dingle Bank which

is proposed as a new leisure area

to include a skate park and Banks

Road which is to become a park

which conserves areas of ecological

importance. The plan also includes

a new cycle route through the area

from the station to the river, part of

which would be an environmental

scheme to improve the environment

on Church Road under the bridge.

4. A thriving high street: The most

important part of the strategy relates

to St. Mary’s Road/Speke Road.

The starting point is to attract a

new supermarket to anchor the

high street, where we have made

considerable progress in discussion

with a major convenience-retail chain.

This is linked to proposals to develop

the former baths site and to make

minor improvements to the layout of

the market to safeguard its success. A

further set of proposals is to suggest

a market mechanism to encourage

the occupation of vacant shop units,

which we have called the Garston

Space Agency. Linked to this are

proposals for a low cost scheme to

improve the appearance of the street.

5. A distinctive image and strong

identity: The final set of proposals is

meant to communicate the change

that is being brought about in Garston

with a programme of branding and

signage. This would use the brand

Garston Village and would include

signs at the three main entrances to

Garston as well as the possibility of

a way marker on the bypass to help

identify Garston.

These five strategic themes are

developed into 18 proposals and the

final part of the report develops these

into a delivery framework. This covers

priority, timing, costs and funding and is

meant as a practical set of tools for the

council and other stakeholders to take

the strategy forward.

What could this mean in reality?

1. £109 million private investment

in new housing on under-used

or vacant land in the area;

2. Safeguarding of employment

land along Blackburne Street -

to allow industries here to grow;

3. Investment into 62,000 sq m of

green space - areas for leisure

on Dingle Bank and a new park

on Bank’s Road;

4. A thriving high street - aided by

the Garston Space Agency - to

bring vacant units on St Mary’s

Road back into use;

5. A re-invented high street -

widening the pavements and

painting the road to attract

people onto St Mary’s Road and

make it better for pedestrians;

6. 2km of new cycle routes right

through the heart of Garston,

to connect South Parkway

with the coastal reserve and

employment areas;

7. A new identity - Garston Village

- to unify the whole area.

Installation of signs and artwork

to let people know Garston

Village is there and open for

business.

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3W h y G a r s t o n i s h o w i t i s

9W h y G a r s t o n i s h o w i t i s 9

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Garston as it is3a.

Garston has the potential to be a great place but at present the high street is experiencing decline. The area lacks a distinctive centre, whilst certain areas feel disconnected and unsafe. Recent regeneration efforts have been focused in neighbouring Speke, although there has been some investment in Garston. The area hosts a new NHS treatment centre, a new school and the Liverpool South Parkway train station, however none of these embody the place name ‘Garston’ in their identity.

The Speke-Garston Ward has a

population of 20,300 people, with

approximately 13,295 people living in the

Garston neighbourhood. The Office for

National Statistics: Census 2011 data,

paints a somewhat gloomy picture of the

area:

Unemployment in the neighbourhood

is higher than average, with 9.7% of

the economically active population

being unemployed, compared with

the Liverpool average of 6.7% and

the average for England being 4.4%

unemployed.

There is also a high percentage of

unoccupied household spaces, with

9.9% being unoccupied compared to the

Liverpool average at 5% and the average

for England at 3.8%.

Deprivation

The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010,

highlights that the Speke-Garston Ward

displays some of the highest levels of

deprivation within its boundaries. Two of

the wards Lower-Super-Output Areas,

which cover parts of Garston Village and

Under the Bridge are within the 1% most

deprived areas, nationally. The Index,

which combines a range of economic,

social and housing indicators suggests

something needs to be done to decrease

the levels of deprivation experienced in

the area.

On a more positive note, pupils achieving

5 or more A*-C GCSEs or equivalent

is 58.1%, which is higher than the

Liverpool average of 55.2% and just shy

of the average for England at 58.8%.

Speke

The area of Speke lies to the east of

Garston and hosts the New Mersey

Shopping Park, the Estuary Commerce

Park, Matchworks and the Liverpool

John Lennon Airport, to name a few.

The adjacent Speke Estate, which

faces similar problems to Garston, has

witnessed a number of regeneration

initiatives to try and eliminate

deprivation.

Regeneration in Garston

A number of regeneration initiatives

have been implemented in Garston with

varying results. Most new developments

seem disconnected from each other

and this may have resulted in the loss of

‘place’ experienced in Garston today.

Initiatives

Speke Garston

Partnership -

Garston Urban

Village Plan 1996

Garston Cultural

Partnership 2008

South Liverpool

Gateway: Strategic

Regeneration

Framework 2011

The Garston Village

Masterplan 2013

Investments

Estuary Commerce Park

(1998)

Garston Urban Village

Hall (1999)

Bank’s Road Housing

Estate: Wimpey (1990s)

Liverpool South Parkway

Train Station (2006)

Matchworks Business

Space: Urban Splash

(2007)

SlaughterHouse Gallery:

Artist Republic of Garston

(2008, now closed)

Cressington Heath

Housing Estate: Redrow

(2011)

South Liverpool NHS

Treatment Centre (2012)

Church Fields Housing

Estate: Lovells (2012)

Enterprise South

Liverpool Academy (2013)

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The Village

Under the Bridge

Enterprise South Liverpool Academy

National Grid Gas Works

Blackburne Street Industrial Estate

Freightliner

Port of Garston

Cressington Heath

Cressington

Liverpool South Parkway

Matchworks

Coastal Reserve

South Liverpool NHS Treatment Centre

Garston Urban Village Hall

Church Fields

Long Lane Recreation Ground

Dingle Bank

Market

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Garston Lifestyles Centre

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St Michaels Church

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St Mary’s Road High Street

Areas of Garston: The map identifies the different neighbourhoods and developments in Garston.

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Garston as it was3b.

The township of Garston has existed since early medieval times and pre-dates the City of Liverpool. The area has a rich history; the Garston District Historic society details how a Chapel existed on the site of St Michael’s Parish Church in 1261. The area consisted of a small, freestanding village, probably established around Garston river. The river, which had its sources in the hills of Allerton and Mossley Hill would have facilitated water mills for corn milling, agriculture and fishing, later providing conditions favourable for the Salt Works industry.

By the late 1700s, the centre of

Garston was becoming more defined,

with a cluster of buildings and houses

appearing at the junction of Chapel Road

and Woolton Road.

Liverpool’s Industrial Revolution

in the early 1800s would result in

significant changes in Garston, with the

introduction of the docks and industrial

warehouses, providing vast employment

opportunities.

By 1849 a railway line had been

constructed to serve the docks and

neighbouring industrial areas, but this

cut straight across Garston. It acted as

a barrier between the two new areas it

created, as access was limited to Church

Road, where a bridge was constructed.

St Michaels Church to the south was

now separated (but for access under the

bridge), from the new centre of Garston

-evolving around the newly laid St Mary’s

Road which was transforming into the

high street which exists today.

As Liverpool’s population grew,

surrounding agricultural fields would

become developed with housing,

slowly engulfing the township into

the wider Liverpool City region. The

Grassendale and Cressington Estates,

to the north-west of Garston, were laid

out at the turn of the 19th Century to

house Liverpool’s increasingly wealthy

businessmen and their families. These

new estates, and others in Aigburth and

Allerton contributed to the areas rapidly

increasing population.

Industry

Garston’s availability of open space and

its location on the Mersey meant it was

an ideal site for a Salt Works, which

arrived in the 1790s. Two docks were

built to accommodate a fleet of boats

which brought in unrefined salt from

Northwich.

The introduction of large scale industry

brought many workers and their families

to the area. They were housed in rows

of terraces in the two areas separated

by the railway line; the ‘Village’ and

‘Under the Bridge’. These two detached

communities developed separate

identities and a rivalry ensued, which is

perceived to exist to this day.

The Gas Works was established in 1892

and the picture below of the large Gas

Holders behind the existing St Michael’s

Church emphasises the juxtaposition of

religious alongside industrial. The church

once stood at the heart of the village but

was now cut off by the railway line and

surrounded by industry.

Maps of the area in the early 20th

Century show how the fabric of Garston

has been dominated by Industry, namely

the port, railway, and gas works. This

has had a large impact on creating two

separate residential areas: The Village,

which lies above St Mary’s Road high

street north of the railway line and Under

the Bridge which lies to the east of the

docks, south of the railway line.

Image courtesy of Garston District Historic Society

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1954

1849-1850

1908-1909

1840s

These historic maps depict the story of Garston’s development boom. The Salt Works was established in 1790s and rows of terraced streets were constructed to house workers. The introduction of the port and railway sidings in the mid 1850s marked the beginning of the industrial revolution in Garston.

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Garston’s character3c.

Garston’s character has been in many ways dominated by its industrial past. The position of the Port and railway infrastructure have had a real impact on the position of Garston’s neighbourhoods and the quality of the spaces in between. Historic buildings are becoming pepper-potted as older buildings fall into disrepair and are replaced by modern developments. St Mary’s Road is a purpose built Victorian high street and many buildings retain their early 20th Century character. However, more modern developments towards Speke Road are inconsistent and becoming dilapidated.

The Village area mainly consists of

Victorian and Edwardian terraces, with

some larger villas to the north. Similar

small terraces are also standing in the

Under the Bridge area, but following an

initiative to improve housing in the area,

some of these were demolished and

replaced with new housing.

The lighter red areas on the map are

made up of mainly post-war housing

estates. The pink areas are modern

housing estates, built from the early

1990s onwards and these have mainly

been developed by volume house-

builders such as Taylor Wimpey, Redrow

and Lovells. It is often the case that

these estates limit access into the site

to one or two entrances and in some

instances houses are laid around cul-de-

sacs, providing no through routes.

This can detract from the townscape

character as housing faces inwards and

back-garden fences or empty facades

front onto the street. This type of layout

also promotes car use, which means

people are not encouraged to walk or

cycle around their neighbourhood.

Listed Buildings

St Michael’s Church on Church Road

and St Mary’s Church at the top of the

high street are both Grade II Listed.

There are also a number of properties

on Garston Old Road which are listed.

These are important for the area as they

enhance the visual appearance of the

townscape and retain a tangible insight

into Garston’s rich history.

Industry

The grey area is industrial land or

warehouse space, and the plan

emphasises how vast these areas are.

Standing at the cross roads of St Mary’s

Road and Church Road, the skyline is

dominated by the Gas Work structures

which have overlooked St Michael’s

Church since 1892.

The plan also emphasises how the

railway line and Speke-Garston bypass

cut through the area south of St Mary’s

Road, restricting connections between

the Village and Under the Bridge areas.

Green Space

The area benefits from a number of

green open spaces including the Long

Lane Recreation ground to the north, and

the Coastal Reserve along the Mersey

river to the south.

Dingle Bank is an expanse of green

space which has great views of the Port

and Mersey, however not all parts are

accessible and the poor environment

at access points into the site and

overgrown foliage make it feel unsafe.

The site next to the Gas Works site has

in the past undergone ecology surveys,

highlighting the high level of biodiversity

and nature conservation value on

parts of the site. At present, the site is

bounded by large concrete walls and so

provides no visual enhancement to the

surrounding area.

The expanse of these industrial areas

and inaccessible green spaces mean the

built environment feels disconnected.

The quality of the environment under

the bypass and railway bridge is dark,

run-down and unattractive, which is

especially concerning as it provides the

main access point into the Under the

Bridge area.

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Land Use/ Character Areas

Train Station

Industrial

Office/ Employment

Retail/ Leisure

Community/ Religious

Education

Green Space

Residential

1850s -1919

1920s - 1959

1980s - 1999

1960s - 1979

New housing (post 2000)

The Village

Under the Bridge

Port of Garston

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St Mary’s Road High Street

Land Use: The map identifies different land uses in the Garston area, as well as ages of residential buildings. The dark red areas are the Victorian terraces built to house the growing population as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Buildings in these areas follow traditional linear street patters, and especially in the Under the Bridge area, we can see that these traditional streets are being infiltrated by more modern developments.

16

Garston’s economy3d.

St Mary’s Road is a long high street with almost a hundred shop units. This reflects the large demand for shops and services fuelled by a growing population in the early 20th Century. Today, however, fewer people are shopping along the high street, choosing instead to drive out of Garston to larger retail shops elsewhere and this is reflected in the high percentage of vacant and empty shops along St Mary’s Road.

The high street grew at a time when a

large population demanded services

within walking distance. As communities

have since moved away, fewer people

shop on the high street. New housing

developments make it easier to travel by

car than walk around the area, meaning

residents travel out to larger stores which

provide a wider variety of products under

one roof.

The introduction of a bypass in the

1960s has further accelerated this

decline as passing traffic has been

removed from the high street and instead

potential shoppers travel straight past

the area, often unaware Garston is there.

St Mary’s Road

A snapshot of the the high street on a

typical weekday showed that 25% of

shops were vacant and 15% were only

open in the evening or at certain times

of the week, which creates a negative

impact on the area.

The shops also extend onto James

Street which is very run down and in the

past there were also shops on Church

Road, south of the bridge that have since

been demolished.

The shopping area extends onto Speke

Road which is doing slightly better than

St. Mary’s Road.

Window Lane

Window Lane also once housed a

small high street which has since been

demolished due to the high cost of

refurbishment. This deprives residents

Under the Bridge of local services,

increasing the need for St Mary’s Road

to provide shops and services, albeit

further away.

The Market

A market used to be located opposite

the Garston Masonic Hall on Island Road

South until it was moved to the parking

area on the southern side of Speke

Road. The market is doing well, and

opens every Friday, offering a range of

products and making the street feel lively

and inviting, however parking is an issue

here.

Industry

Garston is also an important industrial

area. Much of this is related to the port

and its associated industrial estates.

The port is currently trading well

although it is seeking to consolidate

the land area it requires. The freight

terminal, is based on the railhead rather

than the port and also sees itself as

having a long term future in the area.

The industrial estates along Blackburne

Street are experiencing mixed fortunes.

The Veolia Plant is looking to make a

considerable investment in its plant and

the company that formerly operated

the tannery in the area is considering

redevelopment options for the site it

owns on Blackburne Street.

In terms of the smaller industrial units

some are experiencing relatively strong

demand while other areas have high

levels of vacancy. This appears to be

a result of the management of the

space rather than the lack of underlying

demand for the accommodation.

17

St Mary’s RoadVacant or empty units

St Mary’s RoadIncluding businesses which trade

outside normal business hours

National Average

25%40%

14%

Vacant Shops on the High Street:

Garston Way

St Mary’s Road

Source: Local Data Company

Vacant

To be con�rmed

Occupied

Garston MasterplanHigh Street VacanciesMarch 2013Scale 1:1500 @ A1

Bake

rs

Bake

rs

Butc

hers

Post

O�

ce

Bank

Mar

ket

Pub

Pub

Pub

Pub

Pub

Vacant/ Empty

Pub

High Street Analysis

Unknown/ Closed during part of the day

Occupied

Traditional high street occupiers

17

This map shows vacant and empty units, as well as shops which were closed on the high street on a week day in February 2013. Closed or vacant shops can detract from the setting of the high street by reducing pedestrian activity and lessening the quality of people’s shopping experience.

18

Garston’s accessibility3e.

Garston has good public transport links; a number of buses run through the area and the Liverpool South Parkway train station is a ten minute walk from the cross roads at St Mary’s Road. However, deteriorating buildings and spaces which are cut off by railway infrastructure mean that walking and cycling in Garston can be unpleasant. The layout of new housing estates make it difficult to walk and cycle through Garston, further encouraging people to use their cars and drive out of the area.

The plan on the next page emphasises

the lack of connections to the Under

the Bridge residential area, with only

one prominent access point on Church

Road which goes under the bypass and

railway bridge, shown below:

Most streets in the Village feed directly

into St Mary’s Road, which makes it easy

for people to walk to the high street.

This is in contrast to the more modern

housing-estate developments in the

south which have been designed around

a number of cul-de-sacs, resulting in a

longer journey to the high street.

Road: Garston is well connected to

the Strategic Highway network, and is

well placed for access to the motorway

system including the M62, M57 and

M58. Other major routes include the

A561 linking Garston to Liverpool City

Centre, the Airport, Runcorn and the

M56. Much of the Local highway network

is generally of a decent standard,

being built during a period of planned

development and high levels of traffic

demand to and from the docks. This has

left the area with a legacy of dense high

capacity routes primarily running inland

and north west/ south east along the

Mersey estuary.

A grade separated bypass (Garston Way)

allows much of the through and dock

traffic to avoid Garston Village, resulting

in a lower throughput of traffic than may

otherwise be expected along St Mary’s

Road. The introduction of this bypass in

the late 1960s meant the village would

be less congested with traffic, but it also

meant passing trade was lost, and this

may have aided the decline of St Mary’s

Road.

Bus: Garston is situated on the route

of several high frequency bus services,

generally operating North-South between

Liverpool City Centre and the Airport.

In addition to these, there is a small

network of supported local bus services

operating tangential routes around the

district.

Train: Liverpool South Parkway is a

modern purpose built interchange and

is well served by local and inter-regional

services to destinations across the

North and Midlands of England.

By foot and cycle: Garston’s urban

nature means that pedestrian facilities in

terms of pavements and crossings are

generally of reasonable quality. There

are few specific on or off-street facilities

for cyclists. There is however cycling

storage facilities provided at Liverpool

South Parkway for users changing

between cycle and bus/rail.

There are few single destinations in

terms of employment/education/leisure

attractions within reasonably expected

range of pedestrians (2km). The closest

sites of note are the New Mersey

Shopping Park (1.5km/19 mins), and

the Matchworks (1.2km/15 mins). The

Jaguar Land Rover factory is 2.8km (10

mins) cycle away from Garston’s centre.

Liverpool City centre can be reached by

a 9.2km (35 minute) cycle ride.

19

Road Hierarchy

Street Hierarchy

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

Cul-de-Sac

High Street

Footpath

The Village

Under the Bridge

Port of Garston

Bank’s RoadC

hurc

h Rd

Woo

lton R

oad

Hor

rock

’s

Ave

nue

Garston Way

Speke Road

Dock

Roa

d

Bruns

wick S

treet

St Mary’s Road High Street

Road Hierarchy: This map identifies how traffic is fed into different parts of Garston. The Garston Way bypass means movement from north to south, through Garston is limited. There are also a large number of cul-de-sacs appearing in the more recent housing developments which will limit how walkable a neighbourhood is, and how well connected it is to the surrounding area.

20

What local people think3f.

Between March and June 2013, we held three roundtable workshops to engage with people who live and work in the Garston area. This allowed us to understand what people liked and disliked about the area and identify their aspirations for the area. By giving local people the opportunity to have a say in proposals, we hope to deliver projects in Garston which are personal to the area and which make people happy and proud to be part of Garston.

Engaging with the local community

was important not only to get ideas

and understand the issues, but also to

present our solutions to the problems

faced in Garston, which were based on

experience and best practice.

The consultation process and outcomes

from each event have been summarised

in the flow-chart on the next page. An

‘Idea Bank’ has also been created on the

following page to detail local people’s

ideas and aspirations for the Garston

area.

Frequently raised problems were

concerned with empty shops and blight

on the high street and a perception of

two separate communities; Under the

Bridge and the Village, which was also

highlighted during our baseline analysis

of the area.

The consultation also emphasised that

people were positive about new housing

being developed in the area, and

understood the benefits this could have

by increasing demand for services on the

high street.

A group of participants were keen to see

the council owned land, located next

to the Gas Works site turned into an

‘Eco-Park’ following a survey identifying

it as a Local Wildlife Area. As a result of

these suggestions the team looked into

practical ways to fund and deliver these

aspirations.

Questionnaire

To collect feedback on our

recommendations, a questionnaire

was handed out at the exhibition and

the third workshop and also made

available to fill out online. The results

from this highlighted that the majority

of respondents were in favour of and

supported most of our proposals for the

Garston area, which was great news.

Where respondents were uncertain or

concerned about our proposals, these

were updated or changed to reflect local

views or more work was carried out to

justify why this would be the best option

in Garston. This has been essential to

the production of the project list and

Delivery Framework, detailed in later

chapters.

Alleviation measures, in response to

concerns raised during the course of the

consultation, have been addressed in

more detail in Chapter 4 of this report;

‘A plan for Garston’.

A summary of responses from each

consultation workshop and results from

the questionnaire can be found on the

URBED website under Archives:

http://www.urbed.coop/projects/

garston-masterplan

21

Consultation

Workshop 1

Workshop 2

Exhibition, Workshop 3 + Questionnaire

Preparation Outcomes

Baseline Study

The workshop allowed people to discuss what they

thought of the area and identify what they thought

needed to be done to improve the area. The majority of

comments were concerned about the following themes.

This allowed us to continue our analysis of the area and

start to draft together some recommendations for the

area:

• A perception of two separate communities

• A need to improve the high street.

• A positive approach to new development

• A need to open up space for recreation.

• A need to change the image of Garston and make it a

destination.

A presentation of our initial ideas and

research into Garston and what the

study would entail was shown at the first

roundtable workshop.

We concluded our research on Garston

and took on board comments from the

first workshop to identify a number of

recommendations for the Garston area. This

was put into a presentation and showcased

at the next workshop for comment and

feedback.

The majority of participants agreed with our analysis

of the Garston area and were positive about our

recommendations. Concerns were raised that

regeneration efforts would fail, following past

experience and that the Garston Space Agency

might not be financially viable. People were positive

about new housing in the area and understood that

this could fund improving Garston’s public spaces,

providing a park on the site next to the Gas works

and producing a high street which was pleasant to

walk down.

Analysis and Recommendations for Garston

Feedback from the second workshop

allowed us to draw up a list of themes

which we wanted to achieve in the area.

We started to develop a project list which

identified sites which could bring forward

change in Garston and illustrated these on

a masterplan sketch of the area. We then

exhibited the masterplan and project list

at the South Liverpool Homes ‘Neighbours

Day’ an event held at the local Academy, to

get peoples opinions.

A third workshop was also held to get

people’s feedback on the project list and

in particular identify what they wanted to

see on the ‘Eco-Park’ site and the Industrial

Estate north of Blackburne Street.

Masterplan and Project ListsIn general, people were positive about our project list

and masterplan for Garston, although some concerns

were raised regarding providing housing on the LCC

owned site, adjacent to the Gas works.

Participants were encouraged to fill out a

questionnaire at the exhibition and workshop and a

questionnaire was made available online. Ideas from

this have been summarised on the next page and the

results were used to create the masterplan themes

and direct the project list.

1.

2.

3.

4. Draft Report

and Delivery

Framework

Garston Village Masterplan

22

Idea Bank

Positive, practical and popular ideas for the Garston area, expressed at the consultation workshops and through the Questionnaire, have been included below in relation to our 5 masterplan themes. These are opinions from people who live and work in the area; the true voices of Garston:

A good place to live

- Housing should retain Garston’s

character, it should provide a range

of family housing as well as smaller

properties for those who may be

affected by the bedroom tax.

- Housing should be high quality but

affordable.

A place to do business

- Garston should be a business hub, it

should incubate small businesses and as

they grow, see them move in the Speke

Business parks such as the Matchworks

or Estuary Business park.

- Employment land should be

safeguarded in Garston to provide jobs

and make the economy better.

- Local entrepreneurs should be

encouraged to invest in Garston and

opportunities should be created for

unemployed people.

A green, well connected

neighbourhood

- Tidy up the bridge on St Mary’s road,

give it a lick of paint and make it brighter,

it needs to be attractive so people feel

safe and happy to go under it.

A thriving high street

- The high street should offer a variety of

shops that people want, like cafe’s, bars,

handcrafted gifts.

- ‘Village in Bloom’ or ‘Best kept shop-

front’ competitions should be held in the

village to empower local residents and

businesses to take pride in the area.

- The Enterprise South Liverpool

Academy should team up with the

Garston Space Agency and look to open

pupil-run businesses on the high street.

A distinctive image and strong

identity

- The gas work structures are a landmark

in Garston and should be retained, or re-

used elsewhere in the Garston area.

- Garston needs to be a destination,

people need to see what Garston has to

offer because it is a great place.

- Garston’s history should be celebrated,

bring back the Garston carnival which

went through the village - get the

community spirit back.

- Bring back South Liverpool football

club.

- The perception of Garston should be

changed; people should aspire to want

to live and stay in the area.

What local people think

“

“

continued...

23

Workshop 1

13/03/2013

Workshop 2

16/04/2013

Exhibition

31/05/2013

Workshop 3

04/06/2013

Pictures taken at the consultation workshops and ‘Neighbour’s Day’ exhibition

23

24

How Garston is doing3g.

The conclusions from our research is that Garston is not doing too badly. The main problems relate to St. Mary’s Road, although this is of significance because it is the ‘face’ of the neighbourhood. The condition of St. Mary’s Road can give the impression that Garston is more run-down than it really is. It is therefore important to understand the wider picture to allow us to set priorities for Garston and to understand its potential. Our research set out on the previous pages has drawn the following conclusions:

The Economy:

Setting aside St. Mary’s Road for a

moment, the wider economy of Garston

is holding up well. We have spoken

to many of the main employers and

employment space managers in the

area and the mood is reasonably upbeat

given the broader economic climate.

The Docks and container terminal

are expanding their trade and see

themselves as having a long-term future

in the area (albeit for the docks on a

more compact site). Veolia is looking to

make a major investment in their plant

and the tannery that was once based

in the area is looking to develop a new

factory to serve Jaguar Land Rover.

While some smaller industrial units have

experienced a rise in vacancies, others

are almost fully let suggesting that the

issues relate to management rather

than lack of demand. We therefore see

Garston and particularly the area around

the docks as an important location for

affordable industrial premises which

in turn is an important source of local

employment.

Under the Bridge:

The extensive neighbourhood between

the railway and the river, traditionally

known as ‘Under the Bridge’ due to

its position, has in the past had a

poor reputation and experienced a

deteriorating built environment. However,

the poor quality of housing in the area

has been addressed over the last ten

years. Around half of the older terraces

were cleared and the area has seen

substantial new house building – first

by Taylor Wimpey behind the Match

Factory and subsequently by Lovells

on the cleared housing sites. This

housing has sold very well and Lovells

have continued to build through the

recession. Sales have largely been to

local people, but also to a wider market

of people looking for affordable housing

in South Liverpool. This has changed

the demographics of the area and the

demand and achievement levels of local

schools. This has also changed the

image of the area and the desirability of

the retained housing stock (a significant

part of which is owned by housing

associations). In our view the area has

therefore been stabilised with demand

for continuing new housing building and

an ongoing need to improve the existing

stock.

The Village:

The Village is the area which lies to the

north of the railway line. In the past

the Village benefitted from proximity to

a large high street and a good range

of services. While the high street has

struggled the housing in the village is

generally of a good quality and most is in

a reasonably good condition.

There are signs that the area is being

gentrified, particularly in the north near to

the park and the station. This is a good,

affordable and accessible place to live

with some large characterfull housing

and appears to be attracting a creative

community of people moving out of the

centre of the city.

25

1.

6.

2.

4.

7. 8.

3.

5.

25

Photographs of Garston taken in early 2013:

1. Garston Port

2. Church Road bridge: The gateway between two neighbourhoods

3. Under the Bridge: New housing by Lovells

4. Under the Bridge: terraced housing

5. Church Road: St Michaels Church and the Gas works structures

6. Blackburne Street: Industrial Estate

7. Under the Bridge: traditional street

8. Window Lane: Shops waiting to be demolished

26

down. While there is a small Asda (former

Netto) at the western end of St. Mary’s

Road, the Coop was the main anchor at

the heart of the centre.

There is a risk that, without an anchor

store the remaining retailers will struggle

even more than they are at present. The

bright spot however is the market which

is larger and more successful than you

would expect for a centre of this kind,

holding out some hope for the future.

There is a need for a very practical

strategy that seeks to replace the Coop

as an anchor for the centre while finding

alternative uses for retail units that

are unlikely to be let in the future thus

allowing the centre to consolidate.

There is general acknowledgement

amongst most Local Authorities that

radical solutions are needed for declining

high streets although opinions on the

most appropriate solution to adopts

varies in different locations, for example;

We have met architects, designers,

artists and people involved with the

Liverpool Biennial all of whom have

‘discovered’ the Village as a good

place to live in the last few years. While

this type of Gentrification can create

problems, on balance we see it as a

positive for the area and an opportunity

to address some of the issues on St.

Mary’s Road.

St. Mary’s Road:

The main problem in the area is St.

Mary’s Road which is in a poor state and

is vulnerable to further decline.

As we describe below the decline of

the traditional high street is a national

phenomenon and Garston is not unusual

in experiencing vacancies and decline.

However, Garston being a longer-than-

usual high street (as a result of it’s

history) has much more to lose. During

the course of the study the Cooperative

supermarket on the High Street closed

• Freeman Street, Grimsby: the Council

is curtailing a mile long high street

around a single central anchor,

changing use at either end to other

uses like residential or open space.

• Liverpool Road, Salford: the Council

is retaining the full length of the street

but allowing long term vacant retail

units to be converted into offices,

houses and other uses.

The most appropriate solution for the

high street will need to be explored in

tandem with our recommendations for

the wider area, to reverse decline, and

re-invent St Mary’s Road - the face of

Garston.

How Garston is doingcontinued...

27

1.

6.

2.

4.

7. 8.

3.

5.

27

Photographs of Garston taken in early 2013:

1. The Village: Victorian housing

2. St Mary’s Road: Empty shops

3. Speke Road: The Friday Market

4. St Mary’s Road: The Liverpool Cake Fairy - an animated window display

5. Speke Road: The market

6. Wellington Street: The Reading Rooms community centre

7. St Mary’s Road: A vacant unit at the west end of the high street

8. Church Road: Pedestrian space on the corner of the crossroads - the centre of Garston?

28

Why this is...3h.

The history of Garston helps explain the way it is today. It still has the soul of the independent town that it once was and while it has been adsorbed into Liverpool it is still quite a long way from the city centre. In its form and population profile Garston is similar to many of Liverpool’s inner city districts yet it is four miles out of the city, beyond a belt of affluent suburbs including Cressington, Woolton and Mossley Hill.

This caused it to develop a strong and

independent community who lived and

worked locally, many in the docks. In the

age before mass car ownership this was

a largely captive market.

People would have travelled occasionally

into the city but most of their shopping,

socialising and other needs would have

been met locally. This together with

all of the passing trade before it was

bypassed, meant that St. Mary’s Road

grew into a much larger shopping centre

than would normally be expected in a

place the size of Garston. In its heyday

in the 1950s it was lined with shops,

bustling with traffic and full of local

people socialising.

The world has changed since then and

the decline of high streets is not specific

to Garston. While Garston’s economy

remains strong the docks no longer

employ the numbers they once did. It

is no longer the case that the people

who work in Garston will live locally

and conversely many of the people

who live in the area will commute to

jobs elsewhere in Speke, the city centre

or even further afield because of the

station.

The quality and affordability of the

housing stock and the proximity to

affluent suburbs to the west and north

means that there is a potential that

Garston will attract a more middle class

community.

Spending power in Garston may

therefore have risen but so has

competition for that spend. The rise

of the supermarkets and retail parks

combined with the advent of mass car

ownership has changed the way people

shop.

Traditional retail areas can no longer rely

on captive markets but must compete

with places that are larger, cheaper, more

convenient and offering free parking.

Added to this the construction of

the Garston Way (while undoubtedly

necessary at the time) has taken away all

of the centre’s passing trade, made the

area largely invisible to the outside world

and, to make matters worse, created a

barrier that further cuts off the southern

half of its catchment from the centre.

In an age when people are much more

mobile and have a huge range of places

to shop and socialise, traditional retail

areas find themselves in a fiercely

competitive environment.

Even the strongest have suffered, and

Garston with its supersized high street,

fragmented catchment area and its

lack of passing trade, is particularly

vulnerable.

29

1.

6.

2.

4.

7. 8.

3.

5.

29

Photographs of Garston taken in early 2013:

1. King Street: Eroding streetscape where Under the Bridge meets the Port

2. Bank’s Road: Closed-off, overgrown land bounded by concrete walls and fencing

3. Speke Road: Parking spaces infront of the line of shops, occupied by the market on Fridays

4. Chapel Street: The Wellington Rooms, once the artistic republic of Garston

5. Banks Road: A claustrophobic footpath cuts through to the Speke Road bypass

6. St Mary’s Road: The New Slaughterhouse Gallery, now closed

7. Speke Road: The former Baths site, opposite the market which lies derelict and overgrown

8. Church Road: to Under the Bridge

30

4H o w G a r s t o n c o u l d b e . . .

31H o w G a r s t o n c o u l d b e . . . 31

32

Garston Village4a.

The conclusion from our analysis of Garston is that it has great potential but it needs to evolve if it is to thrive in the future. We have established that it is a good place to live, both for the existing community and people looking to move in. It has a range of good quality housing including the older stock and the recently built houses. It is affordable and has excellent accessibility so that there is no reason why its population shouldn’t continue to grow and for a broader range of people to make Garston their home. It is however much more than a residential suburb. It will continue to be an important economic centre with a significant amount of economic activity and employment even if it can no longer be assumed that people working in Garston will also live locally.

Garston embodies all of the attributes

of an Urban Village – a place with a

distinctive urban identity, a mix of uses,

reasonably high-density housing and its

own station and shopping centre, set

within Liverpool’s suburbs. It is therefore

not surprising that in the 1990s Garston

was designated by the Urban Villages

Forum (now called the Prince’s Trust)

as one of the first Urban Villages in the

UK. The plan produced at that time led

to the development of the new housing

that has been built Under the Bridge and

also to the creation of the Garston Urban

Village Hall on Bank’s Road.

One of the issues that has been raised

as part of our consultation process is

the weak image of Garston. On the one

hand local people are concerned that the

name Garston is disappearing. It is no

longer part of the name of the school or

the station and the area is seen too often

as a sub-neighbourhood of Speke.

Traffic has been diverted off the high

street so that it has become invisible

to people who don’t live there. Further

more its image to those who do know

it is regarded negatively – a declining

working class community with a run

down high street.

We have discussed the idea of revising

the Urban Village brand as a way of

countering this weak image. It would

send out the message that Garston is

rethinking its role, is a distinctive urban

place and is a good place to live and

work. We have discussed this with local

people and there are different views on

this. The area around St. Mary’s Road is

already known as the Village and some

people don’t want to see this identity

diluted. For others the idea of an Urban

Village doesn’t really mean very much

and it didn’t really catch on when it was

suggested in the 1990s.

Our suggestion is therefore that the

concept of an urban village be used to

guide the strategy but that the branding

of the area be as Garston Village. It is

important that the two parts of Garston

are seen as part of the same place. This

feeds into our suggested vision on the

following pages.

331998

Prince’s TrustWe wondered about reviving the idea of an Urban Village. Fifteen years ago Garston was one of only a handful of places designated as Urban Villages by the Prince of Wales’ foundation (now called the Prince’s Trust). This is why the community centre in Under the Bridge is called the Urban Village Hall and it is the basis for the housing development that has taken place in the area (see adjacent plan: note - it’s upside down).

Garston Urban Village Hall which was developed as part of the Garston Urban Village Plan and opened in 1999.

33

34

A new vision for GarstonVillage

4b.

Garston will become a lively urban village focused on a regenerated high street full of small businesses. It will be known as somewhere that has revived its fortunes and become an attractive and affordable place to live for a broad range of people while remaining a strong employment location. Below are our five masterplan themes, these have been given a code to ease navigation of the masterplan and project list:

A good place to liveAim: To encourage the improvement of the existing housing stock and the development of a range of new housing to expand the population and increase local spending power.

It also includes a scheme to set up a group

to organise retrofitting of the existing

housing stock to make properties more

energy efficient.

A place to do businessAim: To maintain Garston’s role as an affordable location for manufacturing and port related activities as well as encouraging start-up and creative businesses to make the area their base.

allows the release of under-used parts

of the port for housing but protects and

improves the Blackburne Street industrial

areas. The Garston Space Agency also

plays an important part in the business

strategy, by encouraging new business onto

the high street.

The recent success of housing

developments in Garston puts pressure

on the remaining industrial land to be

released for housing. The strategy suggests

that this should only be done in specific

circumstances, namely when it allows the

consolidation and investment in existing

industrial uses. The masterplan therefore

To this end the strategy includes proposals

for major new housing development on the

western part of the dock and the former gas

works.

LV

WK

35

A green, well connected neighbourhoodAim: To create a network of green spaces for recreation and wildlife linked by safe pedestrian and cycle routes.

housing development. It also includes

proposals for improved pedestrian and

cycle links through the area including an

improved link through the park on Banks

Road and improvements to the road and

rail bridge on Church Road.

Garston does not feel like a very green area

and is sliced up by the railways and bypass

so that it feels very disconnected from its

surroundings. The masterplan includes

the creation of important new recreational

spaces on Dingle Bank and the park on

Banks Road, both facilitated by adjacent

EN

A thriving high streetAim: To revive the high street by attracting a new anchor, consolidating the retail core and diversifying the uses.

The suggested solution to this is the

Garston Space Agency which is essentially

a market intervention mechanism to broker

relationships between building owners and

potential short term tenants. We are not

specifying the type of uses that this could

attract – it could attract bars and restaurants,

design businesses, antique shops etc… The

key is to jump-start the market and see what

happens.

The masterplan includes a plan to revive

the high street. This includes securing a

new anchor store and the consolidation

of the retail function around the St. Mary’s

Road/Church Road junction. This, we

believe, can secure Garston’s position as

a sustainable retail centre albeit smaller

than it currently is. This begs the question

about what to do with the retail units that

will no longer be required.

A distinctive image and strong identityAim: To capitalise on the regeneration of the area to relaunch its image and to increase its visibility through signage and branding.

places that put a lot of resources into

regeneration but fail to tell people about it.

The strategy therefore needs to be linked to

a campaign and signage to relaunch Garston

Village and to revamp its image.

The need to change Garston’s image goes

alongside the strategy. Some places make

the mistake of focussing on branding

before the product has changed, which at

best achieves a temporary effect. However

the converse is also true and there are

HS

ID

36

A policy for Garston Village

4c.

This is our designations map for Garston. It is a simplified version of our masterplan which identifies land for particular uses, which is in line with our list of projects for the wider area. This will be used by the local planning authority to determine what type and scale of development is most appropriate for sites in Garston. It will also be used by developers who are looking to invest in the area, providing guidance on the wider context of the Garston area. The purpose of this plan is to make sure new developments make a positive contribution to Garston Village.

To Coastal Reserve + Business Parks

To Speke Boulevard, Retail Park + Business Parks

Port/ Industrial Land

Employment

Mixed Use development - Residential/ Open Space for Recreation

Mixed Use development - Residential/ Retail

Residential development

Mixed Use development - Leisure/Green Space for Recreation

Cycle Corridor

Energy Retro�t of Housing Stock

Investment in Industrial Estate Facilities

Waste Transfer Site

Port/ Industrial Land

Housing/ Open Space

Housing/ Commercial

Housing - New

Housing - Existing

Leisure/ Open Space

Land Use Designation

37

blobb maps

To Coastal Reserve + Business Parks

To Speke Boulevard, Retail Park + Business Parks

The Village

Under the Bridge

Port of Garston

Bank’s RoadC

hurc

h Rd

Woo

lton R

oad

Hor

rock

’s

Ave

nue

Garston Way

Speke Road

Dock

Roa

d

Bruns

wick S

treet

St Mary’s Road High Street

Liverpool South Parkway

38

5A p l a n f o r G a r s t o n . . .

39A p l a n f o r G a r s t o n . . . 39

40

A masterplan for Garston Village

5a.

Here is our illustrative masterplan for Garston Village. It identifies sites and areas for re-development in line with our themes for regeneration. We have drawn housing on various sites to give you an idea of what these areas could look like, but this is by no means a final plan. Each project is discussed in more detail in the next chapter.

Reference Code ThemeLV LIVE A good place to liveWK WORK A place to do businessEN ENVIRONMENT A green, well connected

neighbourhoodHS HIGH STREET A thriving high streetID IDENTITY A distinctive image and

strong identity

LV01 South CressingtonLV02 Banks Road Development Sites LV03 Under the Bridge Improvement Zone LV04 Garston Old Road Improvement Zone LV05 Dingle Bank LV06 Former Market Site WK01 Consolidation of Port WK02 Blackburne Street WK03 Blackburne Street Industrial Estates WK01 Consolidation of PortWK02 Blackburne Street WK03 Blackburne Street Industrial Estates EN01 Dingle Bank Park EN02 Cycle CorridorEN03 Banks Road Development Sites EN04 Under the Bridge Connection EN05 Brunswick Street

HS01 Garston Space Agency HS02 Garston Space Agency Office HS03 Temporary SpaceHS04 Garston Village AnchorHS05 Garston Village Market HS06 St Mary’s Road Streetscape HS07 Former Baths Site HS08 Former Bingo Hall HS09 Former Coop Store ID01 Garston Village Identity Art/ SignageID02 Gateway Signage AID03 Gateway Signage B ID04 Gateway Signage C

41

42

A good place to live 5b.

Aim: To encourage the improvement of the existing housing stock and the development of a range of new housing to expand the population and increase local spending power.

Garston has a good stock of existing

housing. The predominantly Victorian

terrace housing in the area has been

complimented by the recent Cressington

Heath and Lovells developments which

offer a mix of detached and semi-

detached properties. The main aims

of the masterplan are to continue to

improve the existing housing stock and

to provide more opportunities for new

housing development.

New Housing

Within the masterplan, two main

development sites have been identified,

the western part of the docks area and

the former gas works on Banks Road.

Together these have the potential to

provide in excess of 1,000 new homes

in Garston. This will increase the

number of people living within walking

distance of St Mary’s Road and therefore

the catchment area and spending

power available to the shops. The

housing development may also allow

investment in the area through planning

contributions, the new homes bonus or

capital receipts.

Infill Sites

Projects for development opposite the

St Michaels on Church Road and on the

former market site on Island Road will

see vacant land utilised - providing a

new mixed use development and new

housing respectively.

Each proposed project is described in

more detail over the next pages.

Terraced housing in Garston Examples of new housing

43

PROJECTS

LV01 South Cressington Mixed Use residential led development. Access via Cressington Heath and Dock Road

LV02 Banks Road Development Sites Mixed Use residential development on the Gas works site to fund park on adjacent site, and conservation of local wildlife areas

LV03 Under the Bridge Improvement Zone Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock with focus on hard to treat properties

LV04 Garston Old Road Improvement Zone Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock within the Village neighbourhood

LV05 Dingle Bank Mixed Use - residential/ leisure/ recreation development with active frontage onto Church Road

LV06 Former Market Site Residential Development of 8-12 houses

LV01

LV03

LV04

LV02

LV05

LV06

44

LV01 South Cressington

This scheme relates to the western part of

the docks which is under-used and which

could, in our view be released for housing.

The Cressington Heath scheme has been

designed to allow this area to be developed

for housing and the main access could be

through this scheme.

In order to deliver a significant number of

homes as currently proposed, the access

requirement will need to be reviewed.

The scheme is seen as a medium to high

density mixed-use housing scheme with a

few apartments and a landscape buffer to

the west and the Liverpool SHLAA identifies

that the site could provide up to 718 new

homes. There would be value in a physical

connection to Cressington although we

appreciate that this would be opposed

by the residents there. The scheme could

include recreational use of the basin

although a marina would not be possible

because the remaining basins will remain in

use.

45

LV02 Banks Road + Park

Garston has for years been dominated

by the gas works immediately to the rear

of St. Michael’s Church. National Grid no

longer requires most of this site and have

started to consider development options.

There is some affection for the two gas

holders, however they dominate views of

the historic church tower and our view is

that they should be removed.

To the east of this is a former industrial

site which has been reclaimed by nature.

A local group has been campaigning for

this to be developed as an ecological

park. The site is designated in the South

Liverpool Regeneration Framework as a

site for housing and public open space,

but has a status in planning policy as a

site of local nature importance. There

have been moves by local people to

apply for funding to create the park but

funding sources have yet to be identified.

As part of this study the City Council

has commissioned survey work on the

this land and identified the areas of

greatest importance. As a result of this

the masterplan shows a housing scheme

on the gas works and the northern part

of the adjacent site. Part of the value

created by the development can then be

invested into the creation of a park and

protection of important nature areas.

The scheme is based on an urban design

analysis of the surrounding area. The

two main roads within the scheme are

oriented to frame views of the church

and the northern road also frames a vista

to the water tower on the Matchworks.

At the western end of the scheme the

layout incorporates an extended church

yard to give an appropriate setting for

the church.

The park is designed as a publicly

accessible green area with a play space

but with large areas that are fenced

off and left for nature, to enhance

biodiversity. The scheme includes a row

of houses along the eastern side of the

park to create a frontage onto the park

and surveillance, to improve safety.

Crucially the layout of the park creates

a link through to Speke Road. While this

cannot be a road link, it will be a highly

visible pedestrian connection and the

new housing will also create a frontage

onto Speke Road. This significance is

that the Under the Bridge area would no

longer be under the bridge but would

marry with Speke Road and open up the

area.

46

Gap sitesB

Energy retrofitD

Home zonesF

Tree plantingE

Community facilitiesA

Alley gatingC

As part of the masterplan we have

considered a number of options for

the improvement of the terraced

housing areas as illustrated on

the image above. These included

environmental works such as home

zones, tree planting or alley gating

and improvements to housing through

refurbishment, infill or energy retrofit.

All of these initiatives would be

valuable. However given the pressure

of funding and our findings about the

relative stability of the housing market

we find it difficult to justify significant

expenditure. The proposal is therefore

to focus on energy retrofit. This has

the advantage of addressing fuel

poverty, increasing internal comfort,

improving the condition of the housing

and of course saving the planet. The

work can also potentially by funded

through the Government’s Green Deal

programme. This is designed to allow

Eco Retrofit

works to be funded through finance

repaid through savings in utility bills.

This should mean that there is no

increase in household costs and the

scheme is designed so that the loan

attaches to the property so that the

loan is sold with the house.

The housing stock in Garston is

largely privately owned, both owner

occupied and private rented. However

South Liverpool Homes and the

Liverpool Housing Trust also own

significant numbers of properties

and we see potential for them to help

coordinate the initiative.

We are suggesting a model based on the

Carbon Coop that URBED has helped to

set up in Manchester. The Carbon Coop

is a cooperative of households who

come together to jointly commission

work thereby sharing experience and

benefiting from bulk purchasing.

The Carbon Cooperative has a membership of around 45 households

who are all interested in retrofitting their homes. A contract for the

first 13 homes has just been let using Green Deal Go Early finance.

The single contract allows the houses to benefit from bulk purchasing

and economies of scale. Each property is being designed to achieve

an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions and the average cost is just

over £20,000. The initial pilot is being used to create a handbook

of standard details so that in future the process can be scaled to

hundreds if not thousands of units. This has attracted a lot of attention

from the Government and there is interest in rolling the model out in

other locations to create momentum for the Green Deal programme.

CASE STUDY: Carbon Coop

LV03 LV04

4747

New Residential DevelopmentLV05 LV06

LV05 Dingle Bank

There are a number of sites in Garston which are currently vacant, and doing

little to enhance the streetscape.

The site opposite St Michaels Church on Church Road, Under the Bridge

has the potential to be re-developed. The site was sold by the council as

part of the Lovells housing development, but may not be appropriate for

detached houses due to an underlying water course.

To overcome this, a building with a larger footprint may be more viable and

could be developed on the site, to tackle the ground conditions in one go.

There is an opportunity for the development to provide a leisure and/

or residential facility, and a building fronting onto the road here, could

strengthen the perception of a connection between the Village and Under

the Bridge. Having a development here could also make the area feel safer

as the building will overlook onto the street.

Former Market Site - Island Road South

Examples of

housing styles

which could

work well in

Garston and

enhance the

street.

LV06 Former Market Site

The former market site is currently lying

empty and has the potential to provide 8-12

residential properties, continuing the housing

frontage along Island Road South. The site is

council owned and has the potential to cross

fund the Garston Space Agency, which we will

discuss in section 5d.

Dingle Bank lower bank -Church Road

48

A place to do business5c.

Aim: To maintain Garston’s role as an affordable location for businesses and port related activities as well as encouraging start-up and creative businesses to make the area their base.

Garston grew up as an employment area

because of the port. As the old maps

show it was a major train and shipment

point between sea going vessels and

the railways. The port generated a range

of spin off industries and the legacy of

these remain part of the area today.

However, currently the port no longer

uses the rail head, nor the Freightliner

terminal uses the port. Similarly most

of the other industry in the area has no

connection with either the port or rail

head and so remains in Garston for

largely historic reasons.

As part of this study we have spoken to

all of the large employers in the area as

well as to the owners of the industrial

estates. As we have said they are now

doing reasonably well after some difficult

years and have long term plans to stay in

the area.

With the smaller scale industrial uses

there has been some pressure to

reallocate land for more valuable housing

development. This is an issue that we

have considered carefully as part of the

study. There is an argument that over

time the industry should be encouraged

to move into more modern premises

nearby. However on balance we have

come to the view that Garston should

retain significant areas of employment for

the following reasons:

• If too much housing is allowed

there could be conflicts with lorry

movements, noise etc... which could

harm the larger businesses.

• Garston fulfils an important role in the

provision of low cost workspace for

small companies that would be difficult

to replicate in new premises.

• The character of an urban village includes

a mix of housing and employment which

reduces commuting distances and makes

the area more lively.

The strategy is therefore based on the

strategic release of surplus land for housing

but thereafter the protection and enhancement

of the employment base of the area.

Each proposed project is described in more

detail over the next pages.

49

PROJECTS

WK01 Consolidation of Port Consolidation of Port facilities and activities onto and around Stalbridge and Old Dock.

WK02 Blackburne Street Environment improvements along Blackburne Street to improve public realm

WK03 Blackburne Street Industrial Estates Retain designation as light industrial to safeguard site for light industrial uses and employment

WK01

WK03

WK02

50

Consolidation of the port

As the photograph below shows, Garston Port was once a major rail operation with a high

level system of tracks, marshalling yards and sidings. Now that the port no longer uses the

rail system it needs far less land, even in a situation where its trade is expanding. The Port

have therefore been exploring the consolidation of their operations.

The first step in this process was the sale of land to Redrow Homes who have built the

Cressington Heath Estate. This was always intended to be the first phase of a process that

could release a large area of land to the west of the port for housing stretching from Garston

Way to the North Dock basin. The relocation of a number of sheds in these areas, possibly

upon expiry of their current lease terms, would allow the port to consolidate around the two

main basins and potentially decommission the North Dock from port-related use to provide

the opportunity for leisure and residential uses.

There is a further site to the north of the current dock and in the ownership of the port,

known locally as the Jack Allen site, or more formally as the land adjacent to Stalbridge link

road. This was subject to a long planning battle in which the planning authority resisted a

planning application for a waste transfer station. This was eventually approved on appeal

and subsequently the council allocated the land in the Merseyside Waste Core Strategy. It

is our view that such a use would not be positive for Garston and would make other parts

of this strategy more difficult to implement. A better use would be as an expansion area for

future dock uses.

Blackburne Street is the main focus for small-

scale, affordable workspace. The street itself is

unattractive, hemmed in with tall walls. As described

on the next page the strategy takes the view

that this area should be retained and improved

for industry. One of the ways to do this will be to

improve the environment of Blackburne Street. This

could include:

• Improved lighting

• Street Trees

• On street parking

• Design guidance for new development to face

onto the street.

Blackburne Street

WK01 WK02

Wildspace, Essex, Alison Brooks Architects

51

339000

339000

340000

340000

341000

341000

342000

342000

3830

00

3830

00

3840

00

3840

00

HSE Consultation Zones

Albion Chemicals, King Street,

Garston, LiverpoolL19 8EG

HSE HID CI5 Ref: H3762Grid Ref: SJ 400 836

Approved by HSE - 30/11/2006GIS Conversion - September 2007

This map supersedes all previous or undated maps

IZ = 1800 tduMZ = 1.0 cpmOZ = 0.3 cpm

National Grid Eastings (metres)Nat

iona

l Grid

Nor

thin

gs (m

etre

s)

0 200 400 Metres

Crown Copyright, all rights reserved, HSE 100021025 (2007)

OZ

MZ

IZ

Blackburne Industrial Estate

The industrial estates on either side of Blackburne

Street occupy the remnants of the salt works

pictured to the left that once stood on the site.

Unfortunately little of this remains today and the

area is characterised by a mix of relatively low grade

industrial premises. There are however some well

established employers in the area including Graham’s

Cartons which manufactures cardboard boxes and

Veolia who have their national adhesive distillery in

the area and are planning to invest in a CHP plant.

Of the rest of the area, some are well occupied,

while other parts have significant levels of vacancy.

There has been pressure from land owners to release

the land north of Blackburne Street for housing

development. However we have concluded that this

should not happen for the following reasons:

• It was not supported by the second round

consultation where we showed alternative housing

and industrial layouts for the area.

• The lack of demand for this space is not proven

and is contradicted by the levels of occupation of

the space south of Blackburne Street.

• Much of the area falls within the Health and Safety

Zone around the Veolia plant (left). The Health and

Safety Executive have indicated that they would

not support sensitive uses within the Middle Zone

(MZ).

• The housing could harm the ongoing viability of the

remaining industry.

This opens up the possibility of the tannery moving

back into the area. The former tannery site at the

corner of Blackburne Street and King Street is still

owned by the company that used to operate it. They

have major contracts with the automotive sector and

are keen to move back into the area, something that

this strategy would encourage.

WK03

52

A green, well connected neighbourhood

5d.

Aim: To create a network of green spaces for recreation and wildlife linked by safe pedestrian and cycle routes.

Garston does not feel like a very green

place. The main two greenspaces within

Garston at present are the Long Lane

Recreation Ground to the north and the

Coastal Reserve to the south, neither of

which are particularly well-connected

to or visible from Garston. One of the

messages to come from the consultation

was that people wanted more greenery

and recreational space, particularly for

young people.

The strategy therefore proposes two

new green spaces within Garston: The

development of Dingle Bank as a leisure

area to include a park and a skate park

and the development of a park on Banks

Road.

The strategy also seeks to increase the

connectivity of Garston by improving

links through the area and in particular

overcoming the barrier created by

the bridges. The latter includes

environmental improvements to Church

Road and also a green link through the

Park to Speke Road. These projects are

an important part of the new image and

brand for Garston Village.

Each proposed project is described in

more detail over the next pages.

53

EN01

EN03

EN04

EN05

EN02

PROJECTS

EN01 Dingle Bank Park Open space to provide buffer from existing residential development and the Port. Potential site for leisure area to include skate park.

EN02 Cycle Corridor Improved cycle connection from Liverpool South Parkway to Coastal Reserve

EN03 Banks Road Development Sites New residential development on National Grid site and adjacent LCC owned land to include a significant area of new and improved public open space

EN04 Under the Bridge Connection Environmental improvement project to improve pedestrian and cyclist experience under the bridge Improvement to linkages to create gateway feature.

EN05 Brunswick Street

Improvements to streetscape and access

54

Walking and Cycling Improvements

Cycling offers a great way to get around Garston. Not only is it a sustainable mode of transport but

it provides numerous health benefits and doesn’t pollute the area. At present there is an off-road

segregated cycle lane along Speke Road, which takes cyclists from Horrocks Avenue to the New

Mersey Shopping park and Speke Commerce Parks.

We are suggesting a second safe and pleasant connection through the centre of Garston, to

encourage cycling and let cyclists fully experience what the future Garston will have to offer - as

they travel past the new leisure facility on Dingle Bank and the new housing and park on Bank’s

Road.

An assessment will be carried out to identify the appropriate infrastructure for the area, but we

have shown two routes for this masterplan, one along Bank’s Road and another along King Street

and Blackburne Street. The aim of these routes will be to link up Liverpool South Parkway with

the employment areas and the coastal reserve, to encourage people to cycle to work but also for

leisure.

Cycling infrastructure will be put in place along the chosen route and measures could include

signage to key destinations in Garston, Advanced Stop Lines (ASLs) at the St Mary’s Road/

Church Road junction and on-road cycle lanes, where appropriate.

Advanced Stop Lines: This drawing shows

how cyclists could be prioritised at the St

Mary’s Road/ Church Road junction. This

makes it safer for cyclists at the junction, with

the aim to encourage more people to cycle.

The route can be advertised with signage,

making people more aware of how they can

get to the coastal reserve or Blackburne

Industrial Estate.

Dingle Bank

Dingle Bank is an area of elevated council-owned land

next to the port and Freightliner depot. There have been

plans in the past to allocate this site for housing. However

we have moved away from this because of the views of

the port who see the site as an important buffer between

its activities and adjacent housing. There is also the

possibility of contamination and the blight caused by the

possible use of the adjacent site as a waste depot.

For these reasons we have suggested that the site be

developed for recreational use. There is a current initiative

by the Mayor to fund three skate park facilities in the

North, East and South of the City and Dingle Bank has

been identified as a possible site by a group of young

people looking to run and manage the skate park. We

believe that this would be an excellent use for the site.

It would provide facilities for young people and provide

funding to bring the whole of the site back into use. The

skate park could occupy part of the site, the remainder

being used for other recreational uses.

EN01 EN02 EN04 EN05

EN04 Under the Bridge Connection

These improvements will be in line with

the project to enhance the environment

under the bridge on Church Road, to

make the journey more pleasant for

cyclists and pedestrians. This could

involve anything from painting the

underside of the bridges to providing

and enhanced lighting scheme to make it

feel safer.

EN05 Brunswick Street Improvements

A project has already been identified to

provide improvements to coastal reserve

access points on Brunswick Street.

These will include welcome signage to

the coastal reserve, refurbishment of

access control gate, a new knee rail,

remodelled grass verge and thinning of

trees bordering the allotments.

55

Bank’s Road Park

Off Banks Road there is a former

industrial site which has been reclaimed

by nature. This is recognised in the

local plan as a site of local nature

conservation interest. As part of the

consultations local people have made

clear their desire to see this area

developed as an Eco-park. They have

in the past submitted a lottery bid to

develop this but without success.

A survey of the site was undertaken in

2006/7 and a further survey has been

done as part of this study. This found

that the extent and variety of habitats

had declined overall. It did however

suggest that there were species-rich

areas of unimproved neutral grassland,

(see diagram below) in the southern

and central area of the site that should

be retained and enhanced with pond

creation and scrub clearance, alongside

other works to increase biodiversity.

The plan therefore envisages developing

a natural area of greenspace as part of

the housing development proposed on

the adjacent Gas Works. This would

extend onto the northern part of the

site and create a frontage to the east,

allowing a large area of green space

to be created. This would mix public

access with fenced-off habitat areas.

The housing would enable the open

space to be funded and is in our view

the only option for making this happen.

The green space also creates an

important link to Speke Road that would

help to open up the Under the Bridge

area.

17 of 23

Figure A1.2 Phase 1 Habitat Survey Plan for Site 2.

17 of 23

Figure A1.2 Phase 1 Habitat Survey Plan for Site 2.

EN03

Standing Water

Woodland

Unimproved Neutral Grassland

Bare Ground

Dense Scrub

Scattered Scrub

Site 2 Boundary

Tall Ruderal (Grass species)

56

A thriving high street5e.

Aim: To revive the high street by attracting a new anchor, consolidating the retail core and diversifying the uses.

As we have suggested in our analysis the state of St. Mary’s road

needs to be the main priority of this strategy. It is the one part of

Garston that is in a critical state and where there is a risk of further

deterioration. The strategy therefore includes a comprehensive

programme of action to revive the street.

This draws on both URBED’s original work for the Government on

Vital and Viable Town Centres in the 1990s and the more recent

Portas Review. The former established the ‘four A’s framework to

assess the health of town centres. This was based on the need

to have Attractions that draw people in to a centre, the need to

make centres Accessible by car and public transport, to ensure

the Amenity of the environment is pleasant and welcoming and to

create mechanisms to allow Action to be taken by local people.

The Portas review added to this to show how town centres could

evolve in time of recession and an era of out-of-town and internet

shopping. She suggested ides like work-shops where units can

be used for small business and a new post office for internet

deliveries.

Our approach, as set out in the following pages is to use this

framework to create a comprehensive strategy for the high street.

The main elements of this are to secure a new small supermarket

to provide an attraction to anchor the centre following the loss of

the Cooperative store. This is linked to proposals to consolidate

the centre and to create a market mechanism to encourage small

businesses to occupy vacant shops units.

Access is to be improved through enhancing pedestrian and

cycling infrastructure, as suggested in the previous section and

by providing more parking. The amenity of the centre is to be

improved through environmental enhancements, planned on the

market site. Finally we are suggesting a new agency to allow

locally focussed action to be taken to regenerate the area.

The new “Town Team”

town hall

“Community Chest”

“The New

Post Office”“Work-Shops”

57HS01

HS04

HS06

HS03

HS05

HS07

HS08

HS09

HS02PROJECTS

HS01 Gasrton Space Agency Identify potential user for vacant building.

HS02 Garston Space Agency Office The first project of the Space Agency. A temporary office / hub to be located in vacant shop units on St Mary’s Road

HS03 Temporary Space

Space Agency to set up tem-porary cultural/arts space on site of demolished buildings

HS04 Garston Village Anchor

Development of retail anchor to eastern end of Garston Village.

HS05 Garston Village Market

Re-arrangement of Market layout to improve visual appearance and pedestrian flows through the market.

HS06 St Mary’s Road Streetscape Re-alignment of carriage way to transform pedestrian environment and improve image of the high street.

HS07 Former Baths Site Mixed Use development with active frontage onto Speke Road.

HS08 Former Bingo Hall Identify potential user for vacant building.

HS09 Former Coop Store Identify future occupier for coop store.

58

Garston Space Agency

Landlord

Landlord

tennant

tennant

tennant

Landlord

2 years

1 year

1 ye

ar

2 years

tennant

tennant

2 years

1 ye

ar

1 year

2 years

2 years

2 years

In the recent recession there has been a great deal of

interest in pop-up shops and meanwhile uses as ways

of using vacant space. A central part of our strategy is

a proposal for an agency in Garston that can promote

these type of uses as a way of bringing vacant shops

back into use.

This is based on our analysis that St. Mary’s road is too

large as a shopping centre. Given modern retail trends

there will never be sufficient demand from traditional

retailing to fill all of the shops on the high street. It is

therefore sensible to consolidate the high street into a

more compact area around the junction with Church

Street. This however begs the question of what we

should do with the shop units that are surplus to

requirements.

This is not just a case of demolishing the shops outside

this core area. For one thing there are good businesses

operating outside core which we would want to retain.

Demolition would require CPO powers and would be

costly and after all of that would leave an unsightly

cleared site that would not improve the attractions

of the street. In other areas shop units have been

converted to housing, which is a possibility but can

often look awkward.

Our suggestion is therefore that the high street be

promoted as a series of small business spaces. If the

units can be made cheap enough then there are a

range of small businesses in south Liverpool who could

be attracted. These may be retail businesses but may

equally be small scale workshops, design companies,

pop up cafes and bars or digital consultancies...who

are all looking for affordable space.

The Liverpool Fairy Cake Company which operates

Garston Space Agency

HS01 HS02 HS03

59

on St. Mary’s Road is a good example of this type of

business. They use the unit as a bakery and sell mostly

on line so that even though they have a shop front they

are not reliant on footfall.

In our consultations some people have suggested

that we are seeking to create a street of ‘funky’ craft

shops and cafes that is not very Garston. The point

of the strategy however is that we don’t know what

the street might become. Levenshulme in Manchester

has become a centre for antique furniture, Lark Lane

in nearby Aigburth has become a cafe quarter, other

places have specialised in second hand books,

environmental business etc. The point is to create the

conditions for people to move into the area and then

see what happens.

The Garston Space Agency is the mechanism to create

these conditions. The problems of vacancy on many

high streets are as much to do with the leasehold

arrangements of the property as it is with lack of

demand. The Cooperative, for example, despite having

pulled out of the high street are committed to paying

the rent on their unit for the duration of their lease.

Elsewhere owners insist on long leases, but can only

accept market rents.

The Space Agency is designed to be an intermediary

between these landlords and potential tenants. The

agency would initially negotiate with a set of landlords

to take over their property rent free for two years. This

could be a good deal for the landlord given that they

would be unlikely to rent the property in that period,

the Space Agency would cover their rates bill and carry

out basic repairs so that at the end of the period the

property would be more valuable and Let-able.

The Space Agency would meanwhile do basic repairs

(fix the roof, make sure the heating works etc...) and

let the space to small business. To achieve this the

rents would need to be lowered to the point where the

deal would be attractive (even if this was as little as

£1/foot). The key is to get the space occupied and to

start generating activity. Once this happens then value

will be created and once values start to rise the corner

will have been turned and the regeneration of the high

street will be underway.

The Space Agency is therefore a loss leader and will

need a budget and staffing. The resources needed will

be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds, compared

to the £6M estimated for a similar initiative a few years

ago. This is therefore very good value for money even

if the Space Agency makes no money at all. However

to create a sustainable ongoing regeneration vehicle for

the area the Space Agency should create a situation

where it can benefit from rising values. To do this it

needs to own property and our suggestion is that the

site recently acquired by the council on Sidwell Street

together with any vacant shop units in LCC ownership,

be transferred to the Space Agency.

The Sidwell Street site could potentially be developed

by the Agency as its base with pop-up buildings to

be let to small companies. The precedent for this is

Gabriels Wharf pictured above left in London where a

series of craft shops and cafes have been created in

concrete double garages for very little capital costs but

have been trading profitably now for 20 years.

In this way it is hoped that the Agency can generate

an ongoing revenue stream to become self sustaining.

Once this is achieved there are other initiatives such as

the Custom-build housing or the skate park hub, that it

We can do much more together - it’s not so impossible

Dan ThompsonFebuary 2012

CASE STUDY: Pop-up Space

The picture below shows the opening of

a scheme of 8 shops at Queens Parade

in Willesden Green in London. The group

Meanwhile Space negotiated a rent free

lease with the landlords just as we are

suggesting here and secured retail tenants

for the space. Within a year it had been

voted by readers of Time out as one of

their nine best shopping locations in

London. Meanwhile space have worked

on a number of schemes such as this and

their web site www.meanwhilespace.com

has information for landlords and tenants

as well as model leases.

Pop-up people are another agency

that promotes meanwhile uses across

the country and provide advice and

networking for agencies and tenants -

www.artistsandmakers.com.

It could be argued that such models are

better suited to London where the market

is stronger than Garston. It is however

more difficult to persuade landlords to get

involved where the market is strong and

the competition for alternative spaces is

so much greater. There is therefore no

reason why this should not be successful

in Garston.

60

The other part of the strategy is to revive

a consolidated retail centre. In doing this it

is important to recognise that there are two

types of shops in any centre; those that pull

people in (and therefore anchor the centre),

and those that feed off the footfall passing

their unit. No matter how good they are, the

latter will not survive long in a centre that

has lost its anchor. In the current market

the anchor is generally a supermarket and

it is therefore particularly worrying that the

Cooperative recently pulled out of their unit

on the high street. While there is a small

Asda at the northern end of the centre it is

vital that the core of the shopping centre

be anchored and to that end we have

been working though the study to secure a

replacement supermarket.

The other attractor for the shopping centre is the

market which has around 50 stalls and operates every

Friday. This is a surprisingly large and successful

market given the problems being experienced

elsewhere on the high street.

There have been suggestions that we should move

the market onto St. Mary’s Road, and increase the

number of days that it operates. These ideas need to

be treated with caution because markets are fragile

and our view is that relocation would be risky. The

traders come to market as part of a circuit so a full

time market is also unlikely. However in consultation

with the traders and the markets department it might

be possible to go to two days a week.

Our suggestions for the market therefore involve only

minor tinkering. There is a need to do some works

to the public realm around the market because the

trees have outgrown their tree guards. As part of this

it would be worth imposing a little more organisation

on the market, parking the vans less obtrusively and

reducing the gaps between stalls. Parking on market

days is also an issue and alternative sites need to be

identified to allow those getting to the market by car to

park close by.

Retail Anchor Market

We have looked at three possible sites for

this, the former Cooperative Store, The

former Baths Site and the site on the corner

of Speke Road and Horrocks Avenue. It is

clear from discussions with retailers that they

need a site that is visible from Garston Way

on a left turn for traffic travelling out of town.

The Coop and Baths sites do not work in this

respect and are in any case slightly too small.

The only option is therefore the third site

which will involve some site acquisitions and

relocations. We are confident that there is an

operator who would be willing to build on this

site if it can be secured, which is what we are

showing in the masterplan. This we believe is

vital to the health of the centre.

HS04 HS05

61

St Mary’s Road

either end of the works would be a shared space

shown in pink on the plan, to mark the arrival

into the improved section of street. These plans

have been discussed with Liverpool Highways

department and while there are a number of

issues to address they should be possible to

agree.

Together with an improved cycle route through

the St Marys Road/ Church Road junction, this

should help to encourage people to walk and

cycle to the high street rather than use their cars.

More cycle parking will also need to be provided

on the high street to facilitate those who are

cycling.

One of the problems with St. Mary’s Road is that it

is still configured as it was before the construction

of the Garston Way when all of the south Liverpool

traffic passed through the centre. Today it carries

a number of busy bus routes but much less

traffic. This provides an opportunity to change the

configuration of the road, widening the pavements

and introducing seating and street trees.

There are however a number of problems with

this. The first is that this type of work is very

expensive, difficult to fund in the current climate

and, in any case is unlikely to work while so many

shops remain vacant. Our proposal is therefore

to undertake a temporary scheme in tandem with

the first year of the Garston Space Agency. There

are many examples of road improvements being

NotesN

© 2013 Fore Consulting

Drawing Number:

4002/SK011/001

Drawing Status:

Preliminary

Job Number:

4002

Scale:

Not to scale

Drawing Title:

Potential Highway Improvements, St Marys Road, Garston

Fore Consulting Limited

2 Queen Street

Leeds

LS1 2TW

0113 380 0250

enquiries@foreconsulting.co.uk

www.foreconsulting.co.uk

Project:

Garston Masterplan

Client:

Liverpool City Council

2.0m radius

kerb buildouts

1.40m kerb buildout

1.13m kerb buildout

BUS

STOP

1.40m kerb buildout

1.29m kerb buildout

Existing Bus Stopretained

Existing speed tablerequiring alteration

Existing speed cushions

Paint road as temporary gateway

1.28m kerb buildout

1.47m kerb buildout

1.40m kerb buildout

Existing pedestrian crossing and speed table

requiring alteration to layout

BUS STOP

Existing Bus Stopretained

Paint road as temporary gateway

NotesN

© 2013 Fore Consulting

Drawing Number:

4002/SK011/001

Drawing Status:

Preliminary

Job Number:

4002

Scale:

Not to scale

Drawing Title:

Potential Highway Improvements, St Marys Road, Garston

Fore Consulting Limited

2 Queen Street

Leeds

LS1 2TW

0113 380 0250

enquiries@foreconsulting.co.uk

www.foreconsulting.co.uk

Project:

Garston Masterplan

Client:

Liverpool City Council

2.0m radius

kerb buildouts

1.40m kerb buildout

1.13m kerb buildout

BUS

STOP

1.40m kerb buildout

1.29m kerb buildout

Existing Bus Stopretained

Existing speed tablerequiring alteration

Existing speed cushions

Paint road as temporary gateway

1.28m kerb buildout

1.47m kerb buildout

1.40m kerb buildout

Existing pedestrian crossing and speed table

requiring alteration to layout

BUS STOP

Existing Bus Stopretained

Paint road as temporary gateway

done with paint (as in the example from New

York below). This can have an instant impact but

is also reversible. As part of this trees can be

provided in planters and space can be created

for tables and chairs outside cafes, reclaiming

the street from vehicles.

This is a cost effective way of having an

immediate impact and should be coordinated

with a street festival to launch the Garston Space

Agency and to relaunch St. Mary’s Road as a

business location.

The technical plan below has been created

by our highways consultants Fore. It shows

alternate pavement build-outs while maintaining

a carriageway wide enough for the buses. At

HS06

Above: St Mary’s Road in the early 1900s

62

Former Baths Site

HS07

The former Baths site on Speke Road provides an opportunity for mixed-

use residential development which fronts onto the street. At the moment,

the site is an eyesore and further increases the sense of deprivation on

the High Street. There was previously a planning consent for apartments

& 5 retail units on the site, and it is envisioned that a new development on

the site will provide a similar mix. The development should continue the

row of apartments and retail units along Speke Road to provide a uniform

frontage.

HS06

Temporary tree

planters which could

be used on St Mary’s

Road

St Mary’s Road

Street decorations

at Gracia festival,

Barcelona.

Garston could hold

a street festival/

carnival once the

road improvements

are completed. This

could coincide with

the opening of the

Space Agency.

continued...

63

Former Bingo Hall

HS08 Former Coop Store

HS09

The former Bingo Hall, is another empty building in Garston. The building

lies in a prominent site opposite the new South Liverpool NHS Treatment

centre and having the building occupied would immediately enhance the

cross roads at Woolton Road and Church Road.

There has been previous interest in using the building for religious uses

or residential conversion such as flats or apartments. This project needs

further discussion with the landowner to bring forward.

The loss of the Cooperative store was particularly significant for St

Mary’s Road as the high street lost its anchor, and this has had an

affect on footfall, witnessed by shops further down the high street.

As discussed previously, it is unlikely that the store will attract any of

the commercial supermarkets, as it is located too far away from the left

hand turn off, from Garston Way, which these supermarkets will require.

Therefore it will be important to attract another type of retailer to bring

activity and an animated shop front back to the high street.

The potential to move the market into the empty space was discussed,

but previous research has highlighted that Markets are very fragile and

indoor markets often struggle.

As the car park has remained open, this has provided parking spaces

for people visiting the high street. Further research will need to take

place with regard to parking to identify alternative sites, but also look

toward encouraging people to walk to the high street.

64

A distinctive image and strong identity

5f.

Aim: To capitalise on the regeneration of the area to relaunch its image and to increase its visibility through signage and branding.

One of Garston’s problems is that it has

become invisible. People bypassing the

centre on Garston Way no longer see

the centre and its name is disappearing,

it hasn’t been included for example in

the name of the station and the new

academy. The strategy therefore needs

to include an image and branding

initiative to relaunch Garston and to

highlight the fact that it has turned a

corner and is on the road to recovery.

The first element of this is the name.

As we described in Section 4a our view

is that the brand should be Garston

Village. The next step will be to develop

a visual brand (which will be beyond

the scope of this study). The image to

the right shows a brand developed by

URBED and United Creatives for Widnes.

The branding will have a range of uses

on printed material, web sites and

advertisements and can be linked to the

Space Agency. Our suggestion is that it

is also used on signage for the centre.

This needs to be striking and to express

the idea that Garston has changed.

The image on the next page is from the

German artist Aram Bartholl based on

Google Maps place markers which gives

an impression of the feel that Garston

should seek to achieve.

There is also the possibility of a major

artwork/sign along Garston Way. This

would be large enough to be legible to

motorists passing at 40mph and would

become a local landmark for people

travelling to and from the airport.

This could be funded through ‘Crowd-

funding’ which involves setting a budget

and creating an online campaign then

inviting people to donate towards the

scheme, with money matched by LCC.

Events

Holding a Carnival and setting up a

programme of events which run through

the year, organised with retailers, the

market and the Garston Space Agency

could be very valuable for the area.

Once the temporary changes to the

road are in place (project HS06) the

once annual ‘Garston Carnival’ could be

revived bringing a parade of floats back

onto St Mary’s Road.

65

ID02 ID03 ID04

ID01

St Mary’s Road

Garston Way A561

Woo

lton

Road

Bowden Road

Hor

rock

s A

venu

e

Long Lane

Hor

rock

s A

venu

e

Speak Road

PROJECTS

ID01 Garston Village Identity Art/ Signange

A bespoke piece of art or signage on Garston Way bypass to mark Garston as a destination

ID02 Gateway Signage A

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Garston Way, St Mary’s Road junction.

ID03 Gateway Signage B

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Horrocks Avenue, Woolton Road junction.

ID04 Gateway Signage C

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Speke Road, Horrocks Avenue junction. Potential to link to Project 7: Speke Road Anchor.

66

6H o w t o g e t t h e r e . . .

67 67H o w t o g e t t h e r e . . .

68 68

Delivery Framework

This masterplan will see significant change in the Garston area. Investment from the public sector will have the potential to unlock up to £109 million of private investment in new development. The most significant outputs will be in excess of 1,000 new dwellings, 4,600 sq m new retail space and 62,000 sq m of improvements to the public realm. In addition 2 km of enhanced cycle routes will be provided.

Through this investment, the linkages

between Garston Village and Garston

Under the Bridge will be significantly

enhanced, the choice of housing will be

widened for existing residents and new

residents will be attracted to the area.

The retail offer will be greatly enhanced

at first with ‘pop up’ shops and then

increasingly by new development and

enhancements to St Mary’s Road

to provide a new vibrant hub for the

community.

In order to achieve these benefits it

will be important for LCC to continue

to take the lead in driving forward the

implementation of the projects in the

attached table. This will involve co-

ordinating activity by the Council and

acting in an enabling role to facilitate

developments by others.

We would suggest that a small team

is established with representation

from economic development, housing,

planning and highways which can

monitor progress and take key decisions

to ensure that the pace achieved during

the preparation of the masterplan is

retained during delivery. We suggest

meetings every 6 weeks with key

individuals who have power to act within

their departments to unblock any issues

likely to hold up implementation of the

plan.

The masterplan is designed to change

the face of Garston over a 10 – 15 year

period. Some projects such as new

housing and retail development will be

dependent on the pace of the property

market. The Council needs to work

closely with landowner and developers

and be in a position to move promptly

when these are brought forward.

The Council can however take the

following immediate actions to kick-

start implementation and demonstrate

commitment to local residents:

1. Allocate S106 funding from new

development and any other small

funding pots to projects to enhance

the environment under the bridge:

Future S106 contributions from

development in Garston Village should

be applied to environmental projects

in the masterplan, the time scale is

uncertain at this stage.

We would therefore advise LCC to

identify any other small funds within

the Council budgets including those

controlled by the Mayor so that priority

projects identified can be implemented

at an early date to demonstrate

commitment to local residents.

2. Appoint an external agency to

develop and manage the Garston

Space Agency

LCC is progressing the appointment

of an external agency to manage the

Garston Space Agency. This is a critical

project in the short term to start to

improve the profile and change the

nature and vibrancy of St Mary’s Road.

A programme of developing 5 retail

units with new uses (temporary or

permanent) in the first year and 10 units

in the subsequent 2 years will create this

dynamism. It is also expected that the

Agency will develop an office/hub in one

of the vacant units on St Marys Rd.

6a.

69

3. Facilitate the development of key

sites by:

• Provision of a new anchor retail store

at the eastern end of the high street:

Whilst the closure in early 2013 of the

Coop store was a negative sign for

Garston, we believe that St Mary’s Road

can support and indeed needs two retail

anchors. Retailers have, in the medium

term, indicated an interest for this.

We have considered several locations

including the former Coop store, the

former Bath site and land at the east

end of St Mary’s Road. We believe the

latter is the better location, anchoring

the eastern end of St Mary’s Road,

like ASDA at the western end, and in a

clearly visible location from Speke Road.

The site is already a retail location. The

main implementation requirement is

land assembly. The Council may need to

facilitate these discussions.

• Developing Dingle Bank as a skate

park with associated leisure or retail

development

The development of Dingle Bank is an

immediate priority as this will serve

to start to improve the connections

between the two parts of Garston on

either side of the bridge. A leisure facility

linked to the development of a new skate

park hub will provide the necessary

buffer between new housing and the

port and help to achieve the linkages

required.

A team is currently putting together a bid

document and business/ management

plan for the skate park facility. The

successful bid could receive potential

funding from LCC as part of a pledge

to develop a skate park facility in South

Liverpool.

• Unlocking the National Grid site for

housing development (LV02):

This site of 4.6 ha is a prime site for new

residential development strategically

located close to the high street on the

‘Under the Bridge’ side of Garston and

providing the opportunity to create much

improved linkages between the two parts

of the Garston area.

The Council needs to commence work

immediately with the landowners,

National Grid, to progress the demolition

and decontamination on the site

(assumed this will be achieved by 2019).

Thereafter, the site should be promoted

for new housing development with

the potential to provide up to 161 new

homes, a mix of 2,3 and 4 bed houses.

• Progressing the park and related

new housing development on site

LV02/ EN03:

As this site is in Council ownership,

development can progress more

quickly with an assumed start on site

for residential development in 2015.

The council will look to work alongside

National Grid to bring forward

development of the adjacent sites in

unison.

Following the Habitats Survey,

undertaken in 2013, the land of

highest nature conservation value will

be protected from development. Land

will also be designated around this to

provide a park and recreational open

space for existing and new residents.

A green corridor to the land around

the railway line and bridge will

be retained to maximise wildlife

movement through the site.

The park and housing development

need to be implemented

simultaneously to ensure that local

residents continue to support the

project and to capitalise on the

potential to secure S106 funding from

the residential development, which will

fund the open space and management

of the area of conservation value.

70

The Village

Under the Bridge

Port of Garston

Bank’s Road

Woo

lton R

oad

Hor

rock

’s

Ave

nue

Garston Way

Speke Road

Dock

Roa

d

Bruns

wick S

treet

Projects Map: The plan identifies areas which relate to the proposed projects for the area.

71

Assumptions1. S106 funding to be max £1k per

unit for future development per LCC

planning officers

2. Assumed delivery rate

on new housing sites :

LV01: Phase1: 60 units - 2016–18

Phase 2: 50 units - 2018–24

Phase 3: 608 units - 2024– 8

LV02: 284 units - 2015-2019.

Development dependent on site

clearance and demolition of National

Grid kit. Phase 1 to start 2015-2019.

New Homes Bonus available at £2k

pa (current average LCC Council tax

rate) for the 2 years 2014 and 2015

when NHB finishes.

3. Assumed average cost £10k per unit

for ECO retrofit based on external

insulation scheme (funding from

power companies).

4. Assumed 50% households eligible

for ECO funding project. Complete

in phases of 50 dwellings pa in each

area (‘Under the Bridge’ and the

Village).

A number of potential funding sources have been identified. One of the key outcomes of the masterplan will be for LCC to give these projects a high priority within Council budgets and to ensure that all sources of funding which are generated through development in the area are applied to projects in Garston Village. Potential funding from alternative sources are identified on the next page.

S106 planning obligation funding

There could potentially be approximately

£1,000 per unit of S106 funding arising

from new development in the Garston

ward as a result of this masterplan.

This is likely to amount to £284k (the

majority from development of the Bank’s

Road sites) over the life time of the

development, estimated to start in 2018

over the subsequent 11 years. This could

be used for environmental projects as

identified in the action plan.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Although this funding source cannot be

ruled out, it is very unlikely that there will

be any funding available from Community

Infrastructure Levy for the Garston area

in the short to medium term. LCC has not

yet adopted a CIL framework and officers

consider it unlikely that any funding

would become available from this source

for the relatively deprived Speke/Garston

ward.

New Homes Bonus

New Homes Bonus of approximately

£2k per unit per annum will accrue to

the Council from development in the

Garston area up to 2015. Depending on

how quickly development progresses,

this could lead to a total of up to £300k,

but timescales may rule this out. In

any event, NHB will be allocated to

LCC General Fund and not likely to be

available for projects in Garston.

ECO Funding for Housing Stock

Improvement

Funding for housing stock improvements

both Under the Bridge and in the

Village can be accessed from the ECO

commitment funding available from

energy companies. This is available for

qualifying households to improve the

energy efficiency of housing stock for

vulnerable households in both social and

private sectors. It is recommended that

the Council and Registered Providers

explore this source of funding as a

priority and look to work up a 5 – 10 year

programme of work in both locations

starting with those dwellings nearest St

Mary’s Road to help to re-enforce the

improvements along the high street.

Recycled Capital Receipts

It is assumed that the Council will ring

fence any capital receipts generated by

the sale of sites in the Garston area to be

used to implement projects identified in

this masterplan. The main capital receipts

generated will be from the proposed new

housing site on Bank’s Road (LV02) and

Funding6b.

any further sites sold on St Mary’s Road

such as the site currently being acquired

at the eastern end of the road by CPO.

72

Alternative funding sources, which

could potentially be utilised, have also

been identified in relation to each of the

Masterplan themes.

Some funding sources are established

funds inviting applications and others

are organisations with a variety of

funding sources which will need further

consideration.

Please note:

1. This is snapshot of those funding sources

which seem most relevant to the projects

recommended. There are a myriad of

funding sources available in particular

for community organisations which

it is not possible to comprehensively

set out. Various organisations provide

grant finding services, such as www.

grantfinder.co.uk.

2. The information is understood to be

accurate at 1st September 2013, but

funds can be withdrawn and be launched

at short notice. It is recommended that

the Council regularly monitors funding

availability to identify appropriate

opportunities. For example there are

funding sources such as the HCA’s

Empty Homes grant scheme and the

Portas Pilot initiative which are not

currently open for bids but may be

repeated in the future.

3. The party eligible to apply for funding

varies across the funding sources. In a

number of cases the Council is not itself

eligible but could still work with investors,

developers, Registered Providers,

community groups etc. to develop

funding proposals and lend its support to

those bids.

4. It is important to carefully consider the

other detailed requirements of each

individual funding source before investing

significant time and resources bidding.

It is often wise to talk direct with the

potential funder where feasible.

A good place to live

In addition to exploring investment in

new housebuilding and Green Deal /

ECO directly with developers, Registered

Providers and the HCA the Council could

explore:

The Custom Build Loan Fund

Operated by the HCA the £30m Fund

provides loans to support infrastructure

and construction costs for “custom build”

homes. This is a rolling Fund to which

applications can be made by developers,

Registered Providers and community

groups at any time typically for schemes

of up to 20 units. Further information

about the Fund can be found at www.

homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/

custom-build.

Further information about how community

groups and groups of individuals can deliver

Custom Build will be available later in

September at www.collectivecustombuild.

org.

The National Empty Homes Loan Fund

Operated by Empty Homes and Ecology

Building Society and launching on 2nd

September the £3m Fund provides loans

of £5k-£15k to individuals to refurbish long

term empty properties to create affordable

accommodation. Further information can be

found at www.emptyhomes.com. Note that

Liverpool City Council has been exploring

becoming a pilot Local Authority.

Heritage Enterprise Scheme

Operated by the Heritage Lottery Fund,

the Scheme provides grants to community

organisations to bring neglected historic

buildings and sites back into use. Grants

are available from £100k up to £5m.

Projects are to be delivered by developers,

as landowner and/or development

managers, working closely with the

community groups. Funding applications

can be made at any time.

In addition to investment by ABP, Veolia and other ports

businesses and business space operators, the Council

could also explore:

Chrysalis

A Fund managed by igloo, Royal Bank of Canada

and GVA this is the £30m Merseyside JESSICA Fund

which provides loans towards employment creating

development projects. Investments are limited to sites of

regional importance and projects that support areas of

particular regeneration need. Further information can be

found at www.chrysalisfund.co.uk.

Regional Growth Fund (RGF)

This is a £3.2 billion loan fund designed to help

businesses grow or diversify in order to protect and

create jobs with funding provides towards both business

space and other capital investment. Operated by BIS

the RGF is a competitive fund open to “private sector”

bidders seeking a minimum of £1 million so bids would

need to be from one of the larger ports businesses. Four

bidding rounds have already taken place. Following the

June 2013 Spending Round allocation of a further £600m

BIS is currently considering the scope and timings of

Round 5 of the RGF and will make announcements in

Autumn 2013. Further information can be found at www.

gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund. Note

that RGF applications require LEP endorsement.

Growing Places Fund

Operated by the LEP this £7.5m loan fund is available

in Merseyside to businesses investing in job creation,

with a particular focus on physical infrastructure projects

of £250k or more. Further information can be found at

www.liverpoollep.org.

Technology Strategy Board (TSB)

The TSB invests in individual business ideas, rather

than business space. This may be appropriate if the

Council identifies specific local businesses which it

wants to encourage to diversify and/or grow. TSB

operates various funds, such as the Smart Fund which

is designed to help SME businesses invest in and grow

new concepts. Further information can be found at www.

innovateuk.org/funding-competitions. See also Start Up

Loans on the next page.

A place to do business

73

In addition to exploring funding through

Local Authority receipts, S106, recycled

New Homes Bonus and the Mayoral Fund

the Council could explore:

Big Lottery Fund

BIG is one of the National Lottery funds

providing a range of generally small

community focused grants. It operates a

variety of initiatives including programmes

aimed at sport and healthy living. Further

information on its various programmes can

be found at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

funding/funding-finder

Groundwork

Groundwork is a national federation of

charitable trusts promoting environmental

improvement projects, supported by some

core Government funding and significant

donations from businesses and other

sources. Groundwork can provide time

and investment to support environmental

projects, alongside investment of

resources from local partners. For example

Groundwork’s Green Energiser initiative

gives local unemployed young people

practical training in horticulture which

can be linked to community gardening,

allotment and other environmental and

healthy living projects. Further information

can be found at www.northwest.

groundwork.org.uk/lancashire-west--wigan.

aspx

Landfill Tax Credits

This scheme enables operators of landfill

sites to contribute money to enrolled

Environmental Bodies (EBs) to carry out

projects that meet environmental objects

contained in the Landfill Tax Regulations.

These bodies then provide financial support

to help environmental projects ranging from

parks and nature reserves, playspaces and

cyclepaths.

A thriving high street

A retailer can only invest on commercial terms and the current

cost of site acquisition to assemble an anchor store is prohibitive.

This may change over time as market values improve. However

St Mary’s Road may not have the length of time this may take

before it experiences further decline.

State Aid restricts the scope for investment in retail space

unless this takes the form of land assembly (e.g. through using

CPO powers or public sector acquisition of sites in pursuit of

regeneration and subsequent sale to a developer/retailer).

State Aid limitations also mean that the main focus of the

Council’s support for reuse of the former Baths site and the

former Coop store is likely to be facilitation rather than funding.

In relation to the Garston Space Agency project the scope

to kickstart this using LCC assets has been identified. SLH

has indicated a willingness to coordinate the Space Agency

although we suggest the Council also speaks to other specialist

organisations of which there are now a number (such as

Meanwhile Space, We Are Pop Up or Pop Up Space) to be

satisfied as to both experience and access to funding.

In addition to investment into the Space Agency the businesses

themselves may need grants to start or grow. There are a variety

of sources of information and grants depending on the sector,

type of business, age of entrepreneur etc, for example visit www.

startuploans.co.uk.

A distinctive image and strong identity

In addition to funding from Groundwork, Landfill Tax Credits,

Crowdfunding and the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which

could also be relevant to this theme, the Council could consider:

Arts Council

The Arts Council is another National Lottery funded body. It

provides a range of grants, including a small grants programme,

typically of around £5k, towards community arts projects. This

could for example be used towards works under the bridge.

A Garston pound

The creation of the Brixton Pound is now well known and has

been one of a number of initiatives which has lifted the Brixton

area over recent years. Could a trading scheme be developed in

Garston with retailers and the market? Further information can be

found at www.brixtonpound.org.

A green well connected neighbourhood

Further information about EBs operating

in the Merseyside area can be found at

www.entrust.org.uk/home/lcf/funders-

directory?region=27. Given their local

connections it may be particularly useful to

engage with Veolia – see www.veoliatrust.

org

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept

whereby organisations wanting to raise

finance do so directly from individuals or

other organisations. Those pledging funding

could be local or could be further afield, but

all share in the interest in seeing a project

succeed. The process begins with a fund-

raising target being set and the project

advertised. If there are sufficient pledges

to meet the fund-raising target the project

goes ahead. The leading example in the UK

is Spacehive and further information can be

found at www.spacehive.com.

Example Spacehive project in Manchester City Centre. Funds were raised from a variety of donors to improve a public square by planting street trees and installing flower boxes. The scheme has been successful and work was completed in Summer 2013.

747474

Reference Code ThemeLV LIVE A good place to liveWK WORK A place to do businessEN ENVIRONMENT A green, well connected

neighbourhoodHS HIGH STREET A thriving high streetID IDENTITY A distinctive image and

strong identity

75

Ref Name Description Timescale Estimated Outputs Estimated Costs

Potential Funding Lead Next Steps Masterplan Theme

LV01 South Cressington

Mixed Use residential led development. Access via Cressington Heath and Dock Road

Long term10+ years

Residential led development: 718 homes with potential for waterside uses

£72m based on £100,000 per unit private developer costs

A private development funded by ABP or via/with a development partner selected by ABP

ABP Planning application to be prepared by ABP for the South Cressington Development. Vehicular access issues to be resolved

Live

LV02

EN03

Banks Road Development Sites

New residential development on National Grid site and adjacent LCC owned land to include a significant area of new and improved public open space

Medium to long 7-10+ years

Demolition of Gas works kit and cease/ rationalisation of operations on site by 2019. Mixed - residential and open space development of 284 houses and apartments

Cost of demolition £2.2 million. £28.4m for new housing based on £100,000 per unit.

A private development / S106 towards development of park

Capita Symonds on behalf of National Grid/ LCC

Capita Symonds to dispose/ develop site on behalf of National Grid.

LCC to have further consultations with National Grid with a view to marketing it’s land to interested parties in partnership with National Grid

LiveEnvironment

LV03 Under the Bridge Improvement Zone

Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock with focus on hard to treat properties

Short to medium3-7 years

Setting up of organistation to provide Green Deal/ ECO/ Home Improvement Loan advice for residents in properties in the Village area, which consists of approximately 690 houses in total, and determine houses eligible for funding

Cost £2.5m based on £10,000 estimate per unit assuming 50% homes/residents eligible. 5 year programme of say 50 units pa

Green Deal Loans Home Improvement Loans ECO money for eligible households

LCC (tbc) Work up project plan and funding streams. Procure energy company partner to deliver.

Contact SLH and LHT to determine appetite for improving energy efficieny of housing stock in area

Live

LV04 Garston Old Road Improvement Zone

Creation of framework to facilitate Investment into energy efficiency of existing housing stock with focus on hard to treat properties

Short to medium3-7 years

Setting up of organisation to provide Green Deal/ ECO/ Home Improvement Loan advice for residents in properties in the Village area, which consists of approximately 690 houses in total and determine houses eligible for funding

Cost £3m based on £10,000 estimate per unit and approx 50% eligible homes/residents. 6 year programme based on phases of approx 50 units pa

Green Deal Loans Home Improvement Loans ECO money for eligible households

LCC (tbc) Work up project plan and funding streams. Procure energy company partner to deliver.

Contact SLH and LHT to determine appetite for improving energy efficiency of housing stock in area

Live

LV05 Dingle Bank Development onto Church Road to provide active frontage and improve connection between St Mary’s Road and Under the bridge. Potential site for Leisure facility/ Residential use

Medium3-10 years

Leisure or recreation facility / residential development (with large foundations to overcome ground conditions)

£3 million A Privately Funded Development

LCC LCC to confirm acceptability of site for a range of uses with planners and soft market site to potentially interested parties

Live

LV06 Former Market Site

Residential development of 8-12 houses on the vacant former market site

Short 0-3 years

8-12 Homes c.£1-1.5m over a 2 year period

Site sold on open market and value used to fund Space AgencyCustom Build Loan

LCC/SLH LCC to review best bids and select offer

Live

75

Project List6c.

75

Long term10+ years

Medium to long 7-10+ years

Medium3-10 years

Short to medium3-7 years

Short 0-3 years

76

Ref Name Description Timescale Estimated Outputs Estimated Costs

Potential Funding Lead Next Steps Masterplan Theme

WK01 Consolidation of Port

Consolidation of Port facilities and activities onto and around Stalbridge and Old Dock

Long term10+ years

Businesses relocated onto other parts of ABP estate.

- A private development funded by ABP

ABP ABP to progress site consolidation

Work

WK02 Blackburne Street Environmen-tal Improvem-ents

Corridor Improvements Short to medium3-7 years

Improved workspace and environment for the long term sustainability of the Industrial estate

- Inward investment from owners topped up by S106, Big Lottery Fund, Groundwork, Landfill Tax Credits

LCC/ Owners

Identification of potential projects and funding sources

WorkEnvironment

WK03 Blackburne Street Industrial Estates

Investment in existing workspace

Short to medium3-7 years

Improved/ continued workspace provision providing local employment opportunities

- Inward Investment from owners to attract light industries

BizspaceCramptonsVeoliaScottish LeatherBox works

Retain designation as light industrial to safeguard site for light industrial uses and employment

Work

EN01 Dingle Bank Park

Open space to provide buffer from existing residential development and the Port. Potential site for South Liverpool skate park hub.

Short to medium3-7 years

Potential site for Skate Park hub with ancillary recreational facilities. Aspiration to create a larger events facility to host competitions

Phase 1: £300,000

Phase 2 £1.2 million

Possible Phase 1 funding from LCC available for skate park in South Liverpool with top up from S106, Big Lottery Fund, Groundwork, Landfill Tax Credits & Crowdfunding

LCC / KUSH skate park group

LCC Neighbourhoods Team and KUSH skatepark group to submit bid and business/management plan to LCC

Environment

EN02 Cycle Corridor

Cycle connection from Liverpool South Parkway to Coastal Reserve and Estuary Business Park

Short0-3 years

Improved cycle routes to pass under the bridge and include dedicated cycle lanes, advanced stop lines at junctions and signage.

Up to £100,000 Local Sustainable Transport Fund 2015/2016 (LSTF)

LCC LCC to identify potential funding sources and assess corridor options

Environment

EN04 Under the Bridge Connection

Environmental improvement project to improve pedestrian and cyclist experience under the bridge Improvement to linkages to create gateway feature

Short0-3 years

Lighting / Public Realm / Public Art - Wall treatment to existing underside of bridge

Around £20,000-£30, 000

S106/ Capital receipts from LCC land/ LSTF

LCC/ Liverpool 2020

To be included in bid for cycle corridor funding

Environment

EN05 Brunswick Street

Environmental Improvement project to improve connection to the Coastal Reserve

Short0-3 years

Improvements to the existing access off Brunswick street to include welcome signage to the coastal reserve, refurbishment of access control gate, a new knee rail, remodelled grass verge and thinning of trees bordering the allotments.

£22,000 S106, Big Lottery Fund, Groundwork, Landfill Tax Credits & Crowdfunding

LCC Start on site to be determined following receipt of S106 contributions.

Environment

HS01 Space Agency

Space Agency set up to manage temporary and alternative uses in the vacant properties along St Mary’s Road

Short 0-3 years

Y1 - 5 retail units occupied Y2/Y3 - 10 Retail units occupied

£100,000-150,000 seed funding

Potential S106, Land receipt, Big Lottery Fund, Arts Council, Crowdfunding

Space Agency/ LCC

SLH and LCC to agree delivery plan

High Street

HS02 Space Agency Office

The first project of the Space Agency. A temporary office / hub to be located in vacant shop units on St Mary’s Road

Short0-3 years

Office/ Hub to provide base for Space Agency and rooms for local community groups

£50,000 Potential S106, Land receipt, Potential S106, Land receipt, Big Lottery Fund, Arts Council, Crowdfunding

Space Agency/ LCC

SLH and LCC to agree site

High Street

76

77

Ref Name Description Timescale Estimated Outputs Estimated Costs

Potential Funding Lead Next Steps Masterplan Theme

HS03 Temporary Space

Space Agency to set up temporary cultural/ arts space or retail space on site of demolished buildings on St Mary’s Road/ James Road

Short0-3 years

Space for cultural/ arts/ retail activity on the high street, to provide animated frontage onto St Mary’s Road

£50,000-£100,000

Potential S106 Land receipt, Big Lottery Fund, Arts Council, Crowdfunding

Space Agency/ LCC

Garston Space Agency to identify potential users

High Street

HS04 Garston Village Anchor

Development of retail anchor to eastern end of Garston Village

Medium 3-10 years

50,000 sqft retail space to include parking

Investment required in land assembly, planning and construction. Likely to be 2014 or beyond

A privately funded Development

Developer supported by LCC

Negotiate with land owners and potential occupier for site

High Street

HS05 Garston Village Market

Re-arrangement of Market layout to improve visual appearance and pedestrian flows through the market. Explore Market day car parking issues

Short0-3 years

Removal of 18 existing failed trees and tree guards and replacement with 9 semi-mature trees which would facilitate re-planning of market layout

£23,000 S106, Groundwork, Landfill Tax Credits

LCC Start on site to be determined following receipt of S106 contributions.Look into and try to resolve parking issues.

High Street

HS06 St Mary’s Road Streetscape

Re-alignment of carriage way to transform pedestrian environment and improve image of the high street.

Short0-3 years

Painting of the road surface at gateway junctions on St Mary’s Road. Narrowing the carriageway in places by using planters - increase in pavement area in places to promote walking along the high street.

Up to £150,000 Local Transport Plan/LSTFSustrans - Pocket Places for People Initiative

LCC/ Liverpool 2020

LCC Highways/ Liverpool 2020 to review proposals and progress implementation

High Street

HS07 Former Baths Site

Mixed Use development with active frontage onto Speke Road

Medium3-10 years

Mixed use development, active ground-floor use with up to 50 residential units above.

£3m-£5m A Privately Funded Development

Marcus Develop-ments

Owner to produce and submit planning application

LiveHigh Street

HS08 Former Bingo Hall

Identify potential user for vacant building.

Medium3-10 years

Building to be occupied or redeveloped

- Inward investment from future owner

LCC LCC to identify new owner for property

High Street

HS09 Former Coop Store

Identify future occupier for coop store.

Short 0-3 years

New business created - Shop conversion/fit-out privately funded

LCC/ Space Agency

LCC to resolve title issues

High Street

ID01 Garston Village - Identity Art/Signage

New signage along the bypass to identify Garston Village as a location/ destination

Short0-3 years

Project to provide signage

£10,000 S106 or other public resources matched by crowd-funding

LCC LCC to investigate signage options

Identity

ID02 Gateway Signage A

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Garston Way, St Mary’s Road junction.

Medium 3-10 years

Improved vehicular signage to highlight route into Garston Village.

- S106Recycled Capital Receipts

LCC LCC to look into possible funding for signage projects

Identity

ID03 Gateway Signage B

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Horrocks Avenue, Woolton Road junction.

Medium3-10 years

Improved vehicular signage to highlight route into Garston Village.

- S106Recycled Capital Receipts

LCC LCC to look into possible funding for signage projects

Identity

ID04 Gateway Signage C

Improved road signage approaching Garston Village at Speke Road, Horrocks Avenue junction. Potential to link to Project 7: Speke Road Anchor

Medium 3-10 years

Improved vehicular signage to highlight route into Garston Village.

- S106Recycled Capital Receipts

LCC LCC to look into possible funding for signage projects

Identity

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Comments & FeedbackThis report sets out a masterplan and delivery strategy for Garston. It has been prepared by URBED working with EYE and Fore Consulting in collaboration with the community, stakeholders, South Liverpool Homes and Liverpool City Council.

We welcome feedback so please send comments to:

rob.monaghan@liverpool.gov.uk

Other reports available at www.urbed.coop

URBED

(urbanism : environment : design)

10 Little Lever Street

Manchester, M1 1HR

t. 0161 200 5500

e. info@urbed.coop

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