Sefton goes surfing - but clean energy loses out
Plus: a victory for Sefton Park and a street art celebration in Toxteth
Dear readers — we hope you had a joyous St Patrick’s Day yesterday and aren’t feeling too worse for wear as this briefing lands in your inboxes. A fun fact: a pint of Guinness actually costs £1.01 less in Birkenhead than it does in Liverpool. Perhaps a berocca may be in order for our readers on the other side of the river?
Over the weekend, David Lloyd wrote a fantastic piece about the future of Liverpool’s historic buildings. Here’s a little taster:
“History may not be kind to some of the city’s recent developers. But wait awhile and there’ll be a new batch along in a minute. For our historic buildings, though, there are no second chances.”
This week, our paying members will be treated to two fantastic editions. Tomorrow, members will get to meet Dave Nicholas, the 88-year-old organist of the Philharmonic who has no plans to stop yet. “Each day for me, it is a gift,” Nicholas tells us. Then on Thursday we’ll be delving into the world’s longest-running saga: the renovation of the Littlewoods building over on Edge Lane. Fans of juicy development gossip will want to be signed up for that one.
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Your Post briefing
Staff at prestigious and scandal-hit Bluecoat school could soon be staging a walkout over transparency, accountability and leadership concerns, after voting in favour of industrial action. (The issues The Post highlighted in our widely-read long read last year). The National Education Union said 93% of balloted staff voted for the action over grievances including unmanageable workload, safety concerns and “management cultures”. While the union claims the school is refusing to negotiate, the school says it is committed to addressing concerns but a lack of agreement over the accuracy of information provided is making this “difficult”.
Think Liverpool’s markets are having a hard time of it? Well, it seems they aren’t alone. Birkenhead market has failed and is “struggling for relevance” according to an independent report commissioned by Wirral Council, which was leaked to the Echo. Wirral Council said the report, which was completed in October is now out of date. Meanwhile market traders have slammed the report as “inaccurate” and criticised the lack of council investment, which they claim is feeding into the market’s woes. Mind, it could always be worse. At least the council hasn't locked them out in the dead of night…
The leafy streets around Sefton Park have been named as among the best places in the UK to live according to a Sunday Times list of attractive neighbourhoods. It’s the only Merseyside location to have made it into the top 20, and ranks among the cheapest with house prices listed as £277k on average. And if you are the sort of person who makes your house-buying decisions on the basis of the Sunday Times’ recommendations, then Abi’s got you covered with recs from the local lane.
The life of Liverpool photographer and L8 legend Leroy Cooper is being celebrated with a new mural on Granby Street. Mandela8 commissioned the mural, which has been developed over the past few weeks on the wall of Granby Adult Education centre by artist John Culshaw. Leroy’s family said they hoped the mural would inspire the next generation to follow their passions like Leroy, who spent 40 years documenting the people of Liverpool and L8 with his remarkable photography.
The big story: Sefton goes surfing - but clean energy loses out
Top line: In 2019 Sefton Council declared a climate emergency. “Business as usual is no longer an option,” they said in a strongly-worded declaration. “We must act now”. Now, five years on the council has just binned one of the major green energy generation projects in the borough (a wind turbine) in favour of a resort with an “extensive thermal spa” and an "Endless Surf" lagoon.
Funny that, because in 2021/22’s Sefton Council climate emergency report, the turbine project was being heralded as an “innovative and collaborative” project that was “part of the solution to reducing carbon emissions and reducing reliance on the national energy network.”
The Cove Resort is a massive prospective development. Stretching across Southport’s seafront, it will have a four star hotel as well as the spa and the surfing. The project, if it goes ahead, is expected to cost £75 million and has been in the works since late 2020.
The unfortunate thing is that a community group has spent the past two years developing plans for a 1 MegaWatt wind turbine on the very same site. The team behind the turbine project say that not only was it one of the only significant green energy projects in progress in Sefton, but they were aided by Sefton Council officers throughout its development. Then, just as they were about to apply for planning permission, they discovered the council had given exclusivity to The Cove.
Ed Gommon, one of the directors working on the turbine, had some choice words:
“It destroys their credibility on Net Zero and Climate. They’ll claim the other project is environmental but that’s nonsense.”
The Cove team now has 18 months to progress their plans. In Gommon’s words, that “kills off” any hope of making the turbine work. Discussions with the council regarding a new site quickly fell apart. The Turbine team had successfully bid for £140,000 from the Rural Community Energy Fund, which was spent on feasibility studies. If there was a new site, that would have to be re-done from scratch.
What would the turbine have achieved: The team had also drawn up a list of would-be benefits to the turbine:
Reduced carbon emissions by around 5,200 tonnes over 20 years
A £1.1 million community benefit fund that would be distributed from year 15 post commissioning to be invested in locally determined priorities
The output from the turbine could provide 25% of the electricity needed by the Dunes/Splashworld — cutting £40,000 a year from Sefton Council’s energy bills
In lieu of the turbine project, it might be worth asking what the council does have up its sleeve to tackle this pressing “emergency”. Well, they’ve got an acronym; Carbon Reduction, Leadership, Innovation, Mobilisation, Adaptation, Transformation, Engagement. Lovely.
Beyond that, not all that much frankly. Certainly not an offering that suggests an “emergency” is at hand. Gommon contends this was “one of the only significant projects” of its kind in the borough. Sue Smith, who also worked as a director on the project, put it succinctly: “If we want to get green energy we should get off our backsides and do it ourselves”.
Of course, we put all of this to Sefton Council, who had this to say:
“In securing best value from all of our assets we always consider environmental and social outcomes, as well as the economic and the financial. That includes the case of this site, and we welcome continued discussions with current and prospective partners about shared objectives in relation to the environment and the economy as this work progresses over the next few months.”
Bottom line: A potential seafront investment of £75 million would be hard for any council to ignore. But to have led a team working tirelessly for two years, only to scrap their plans with no alternative solution, and virtually no plans at all for green energy, is utterly baffling. At least we’ll get ample opportunity to practise our surfing.
Post Picks
💃 Fancy a rave but don’t want to miss your bedtime? Metal Liverpool are hosting a Dawn of the Spring Chickens event on Saturday morning by Mooncup Theatre, complete with vegan spring scran. Tickets are here.
🇮🇪 If you missed the fun of St Patrick’s day, fear not, you can get into a Celtic Knot this weekend instead and enjoy an evening of Ceilidh rhythms at Ullet Road Church. Find out more here.
☕ Artists and coffee lovers unite for a latte art throwdown at Bean in Liverpool One. Get your frothers ready on Friday for a 6.30pm start with tickets available here.
🎸 Independent Liverpool label Big Condo Records are popping over the river in the midst of their UK tour on Sunday, showcasing local artists. Grab your tickets here and head to the Swinging Arms in Birkenhead, where doors open at 6pm.
Home of the week
This two bedroom home in Wallasey is on the market for £175,000. While modest from the outside, the owners have done a top job at giving it heaps of character — just look at the wooden detailing in the bedroom! Take a tour here.
Recommended reads
“Last year we showed that ‘trickle out’ is a thing, with the prosperity generated in big cities spreading out to residents in surrounding towns and villages. But this relationship was less clear-cut for Liverpool...” This fascinating piece from Centre for Cities uses graphics to show how residents around Liverpool are less likely to feel the economic and business impact of living next to a big city.
A wonderful story from The Guardian celebrating the Instagram page Liverpool’s shopfronts. Run by photographer Antonio Franco, the page aims to highlight the changing faces of the city’s shops and restaurants as gentrification and new developments take over.
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Well done The Post - Another eclectic mix of readable articles. I also like the What's On section of upcoming events. Keep digging and reporting and holding our elected politicians to account.
True journalism has a place on Merseyside.
With rising sea levels, the residents should be able to get all the surfing they want, without building a thing.