Estates Gazette

20/2/2010

Extra time A victory for Everton and Liverpool remains elusive as both clubs see dreams of new stadiums stuck on the bench. By David Quinn

Even by the usually slow standards off complex regeneration projects, the development of new stadiums by Liverpool and Everton football clubs has been remarkably sluggish. And there are few concrete signs that the long wait is coming to an end.

Planning inquiry

Project Kirkby, a £400m retail-led scheme that was to be anchored by Everton and Tesco, was killed off by a government planning inquiry last November, while Liverpool’s financial woes have led to delays to its new stadium and the proposed Anfield Plaza regeneration project.

Football fans and the wider world of property have been left wondering what the future holds for the stadiums and for the regeneration efforts that are bound up with the creation of these new sporting arenas.

Everton adviser Savills argued in a report in October 2008 that Kirkby was the only sensible relocation option for the club, while planning consultant DPP, on behalf of Tesco, ruled out 35 sites around Liverpool and Sefton in November 2007.

Yet Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool council, says this is no reason to think Everton cannot be accommodated within the city. “You need to have the tenacity on both sides to deliver it, to cut through the bureaucracy and the planning issues, and I think we have that now,” he says.

Bradley orchestrated a meeting between Everton and the council on 11 January and more are scheduled. The details of the discussions are unknown but it is believed that sites in Speke, Switch Island, Edge Lane, Central Docks and Gillmoss could be back on the agenda.

“We are very keen to keep Everton,” says Bradley, who is a season-ticket holder at the club. “When you have a large, successful business with a rich heritage, like Everton, the last thing you want is to see them move out.”

The option of to share a ground is off the agenda for now, although Bradley will not rule it out definitively. “There needs to be common sense. If both clubs struggle to deliver, there should be joint discussions for the good of the city,” he says.

Everton’s decision not to appeal against the Kirkby decision or look at alternative sites in the area is a problem for Knowsley council, which had pinned its hopes on an injection of sporting capital from the Toffees.

Strategy document

Stuart Vendy, partner at Gerald Eve, points out that Knowsley’s recently updated core strategy document “heavily references” the Everton stadium, leaving it with a “big policy void in Kirkby town centre”.

He adds: “The secretary of state has left the door open for a revised proposal, but it looks like Tesco will have to go it alone. The decision not only leaves Kirkby desperately in need of a coherent regeneration strategy but also undermines investment in sites much further afield.”

Knowsley council leader Ron Round is none the less putting on a brave face, pointing out that the regeneration of Kirkby will carry on regardless. “We have had a series of meetings with a variety of partners, including Tesco, government representatives and agencies, and have been encouraged by the support and enthusiasm to develop new proposals,” he says.

Back in Liverpool, positive noises are emanating from Bradley’s Dale Street offices about the chances of early progress on Liverpool’s stadium plans, following discussions with club chief executive Christian Purslow. A start this summer is now considered possible – although fans of the Reds will believe that when they see it.

“There have been lots of false dawns, but we can only take the advice of the chief executive of the football club,” says Bradley.

The key issue is funding. Although assurances have been given that money will soon be available for work to begin on the £400m stadium, Liverpool’s debts total £245m and efforts to find Middle Eastern investors willing to stump up £100m to gain a 25% share of the club have stalled.

A joint venture agreement between the club and the council will be signed once funding is in place. Bradley admits that the club has yet to “clarify the situation” with regard to funding so, for now, the wait continues.

Rice evokes Spirit of Shankly

The Spirit of Shankly supporters’ group shot to prominence in January this year when it successfully campaigned for the resignation of Liverpool FC board member Tom Hicks Jr, after he sent an abusive email to a supporter.

The group’s chairman, Paul Rice, is well known on the property circuit as chief executive of the Liverpool Commercial District Partnership. He is optimistic that Liverpool’s stadium will move forward by the summer – although he retains no faith in the broader direction of the club under owners Tom Hicks Sr and George Gillett.

“I’m inclined to believe [Liverpool chief executive] Christian Purslow and the recent statement that money will be made available for the stadium,” he says.

Spirit of Shankly is named after legendary Reds manager Bill Shankly, and was formed by a gathering of supporters in January 2007. Rice was elected chairman on the suggestion of supporters’ activist Peter Hooton who thought that his professional skills might be useful.

One of Spirit of Shankly’s aims is to work with relevant agencies to ensure that the regeneration of the Anfield area goes ahead.

“The development of the scheme is as crucial to the Anfield area as it is to the football club’s future – the two are inextricably linked,” says Rice. “As a Liverpool fan and as someone working in property in the city, it’s crucial something happens.”

However, the group’s main long-term aim is to take a proportion of the ownership of the club into the hands of supporters.

Rice says: “We’ve said we’ll hold to account whoever the custodians of the club are. We’re not interested in a token seat on the board with no control. If we can get 10% of the club into fan ownership, it can’t be sold above our heads.”