Michael Gove waves his ‘transformational package’ at Liverpool

Plus: an early exit for chef Andrew Sheridan and a play fit for the gods

Mar 04, 2024

Dear readers — welcome to our Monday briefing, which really has something for everyone. For the devolution heads, we have news of Michael Gove offering the city region some pretty thin gruel but selling it as a “transformational package”. For the fans of the ancient myths, we have a great theatre performance to recommend. And for the rest of you (fans of botanical gardens), we have more good news about Liverpool’s undisputed horticultural crown jewel in Croxteth Park.

Over the weekend, Abi investigated the murmurings of discontent that Lark Lane had lost its way. Are those fears justified? Or is a street on which people are willing to queue for half an hour for a croissant doing just fine?

La vie de Lark Lane

The Post

Mar 2

By Abi Whistance “Now… would you like to hear about the drugs?” It’s a Tuesday night, it’s barely past 8pm, and I only met this group of 40-something-year-old men a few minutes ago. Despite all these mitigating factors, we’re already jumping right into the

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Big story: A ‘transformational’ offer from the government. Or is it?

Top Line: Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove called it a “transformational package”, telling a conference last week that “today is the day the North truly takes back control. Today, at this Convention, we inaugurate the biggest transfer of power and resources to the North in living memory.”

Hang on… You must be thinking the government has announced an intervention on the scale of the EU-led investments in Liverpool in previous decades. Billions of pounds. Plans stretching decades into the future. Soaring ambition. Neighbourhoods transformed.

The details: The transformational package was a £208m offer covering the whole North of England. For context, you would struggle to build one new hospital with that cheque. And of that total, Liverpool will receive £31m “to support a range of regeneration projects.” We will also get some extra powers in areas like transport and affordable homes.

Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove. Photo: Flickr

Reaction: According to metro mayor Steve Rotheram, the new powers are welcome but “still only scratch the surface of what areas like ours could achieve with true devolution.” The Echo, however, described the funding as a “massive investment into the city’s redevelopment plans.” Gove told the Convention of the North:

“In Liverpool, we know that the immense potential of the city and the wider region has been held back by an insufficiently coherent approach towards urban regeneration. There are iconic new investments and of course handsome historic buildings, but they sit alongside stalled sites and areas of untapped potential.”

The cash: The money is to be spent on three key projects, with the largest chunk going to Paddington Village. The bids emerged from earlier discussions as part of the city’s Strategic Futures Panel. The projects include:

£13m for a new eight story office hub at Paddington Village, to be called (caps not ours) HEMISPHERE One
Up to £13m to buy sites for the next phase of Paddington Village, including Smithdown Lane police station
£5m to upgrade and expand Great Homer Street Market

Zoom in: Paddington Village is a £1bn flagship scheme aimed at transforming what has been dubbed the city’s Knowledge Quarter. The first three completed projects include the Novotel hotel, a multi storey car park and the Spine, which was opened with much fanfare in 2021. However it attracted attention for all the wrong reasons last year as it was revealed that the building has struggled to bring in new tenants with concerns also raised about the unkempt state of the wider site. Cabinet member Nick Small defended the scheme at the time as good value, despite projected losses of up to £4m by March 2024 if fortunes did not change.

Paddington Village in the Knowledge Quarter. Photo: Knowledge Quarter

The Police Station: The council’s plans to buy Smithdown Lane Police station as part of the project has been criticised. Opposition leader Carl Cashman highlighted the secrecy over the potential deal after it was discussed behind closed doors by the city’s cabinet, allegedly because of commercial sensitivity.

Power transfer: Gove also announced that an agreement has been secured for greater devolution to the Liverpool City Region combined authority. This is for:

Adult skills provision, local transport funding, net zero funding delivery and to give the authority control over the area’s affordable homes programme
There will also be a pot for growth, housing and regeneration to be made available at the next spending review. The government said this is a ‘stepping stone’ to further potential funding down the line

Bottom line: This “transformational package” will not be transformational in Liverpool. It’s always welcome for our region to get more government spending, but local leaders (and newspapers) should exercise more scepticism when a government minister makes ludicrously over-the-top claims about investments that are paltry in the scheme of things. Serious economists think that in order to truly level up the UK, enormous and very strategic long term investments will need to be made in the infrastructure of the North, involving sums similar to those spent after the reunification of Germany. That, and little else, would be transformational.

Post Picks

🎭 On Wednesday the Capstone Theatre hosts Crab Tragedy: a family-friendly retelling of some of the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. The show was created by award-winning theatre company, Teatro Pomodoro. Buy tickets here.

🎸 For fans of The Fall and Do Nothing. Leeds rock band Yard Act take to the Jacaranda Baltic on Thursday for a performance of their new album, Where’s My Utopia? Grab tickets here.

🍁 Why not give foraging a try this spring with a guided tour by Forage Box? The three hour session at Royden Country Park on Friday includes identifying plants, finding edible herbs and spices and a snack at the end of the experience.

🎨 Head to GPO Food Market on Saturday for a chance to try Japanese printmaking. Carve your designs into a wooden block, coat with ink and stamp away to transfer your print onto traditional Washi paper. The workshop starts at 1pm — sign up here.

Photo of the week

This excellent sign outside the Roscoe Arms was snapped by Nick Spence (@Nickfromupnorth) and shared on X. We’re not quite sure when the picture was taken, but nevertheless it's a good use of an A-board…

Your Post briefing

Will we ever stop going on about the Croxteth Park botanical plant collection? Probably not. But finally — finally — we have the news we’ve been hoping for. Last week it was announced that the collection, which was nearly scrapped at the start of last year before The Post revealed the council were planning to cut its funding — prompting massive anger and a u-turn, has been awarded £245,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. There are now plans to turn the collection, which is currently hidden away from public view, into a key visitor attraction with a permanent home.

Bizarre and concerning scenes at Town Hall last week as protestors stormed a meeting of councillors discussing adult health and social care. According to the Echo, one of the protestors said the councillors should be “tried for crimes of genocide and treason”. Another apparently told the councillors they were going to hang. It appears the reason for these demands for antiquated execution methods was — at least according to the organisers — that the council failed to claim a government grant of £4 million to tackle homelessness. Liverpool Against Hate revealed rhetoric about execution was rife among members of The People’s Resistance (TPR), the conspiracy theorist group behind the protest. In TPR Telegram chats members refer to “communist nazi degenerates” enacting a "pedophilic communist agenda and transgender humanism takeover” in Liverpool.

Unrest up in Southport where a team had been working on a project to build a new wind turbine to replace the out–of-use one by the Southport Eco centre on the esplanade. A community energy company was set up to get the matter underway. However, despite declaring a climate emergency in 2019 and the project receiving a government grant of £140,000 for the turbine, Sefton Council then changed tracks and struck an exclusivity agreement with The Cove Resort to build a massive leisure complex instead. So no turbine, but potentially an “extensive thermal spa” and an "Endless Surf" lagoon. Know any more about this one? Email jack@livpost.co.uk.

Liverpool’s Andrew Sheridan might be seen as the star of the local culinary scene and a potential Michelin up-and-comer, but could he cut the mustard on a BBC cooking show? Apparently not. Sheridan fell at the first hurdle on The Great British Menu: which pits star chefs from across the country against each other. Apparently, Sheridan’s truffles were “lost on the dish” and were an unnecessary addition. “You had a bad day in the kitchen today,” one of the judges told him. Want to find out if Sheridan’s fares better back in his own kitchen? Read about Dave’s recent trip to his lauded restaurant: 8 by Andrew Sheridan.

Home of the week

This four bed cottage in Prescot has gorgeous fireplaces and views from the back garden of the Mersey Valley. It’s currently on the market for £570,000 — take the full tour here.