Big plans for the future of Bootle have been revealed with Sefton Council detailing its key objectives for the town.
A draft action plan has been approved by the borough’s cabinet, setting out the council’s vision for Bootle’s future which can be used to drive decisions around development and future investment. The plan will be subject to further consultations before being adopted by the council.
The 116-page document of “preferred options” approved by the cabinet lists some of the key challenges faced by the town, many of which are described as a “legacy of past periods of economic use."
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This includes densely built up residential areas and large tracts of contaminated and derelict land as a result of the borough’s industrial history.
Other areas within Bootle have industrial uses integrated within residential areas, causing problems with noise, dust traffic and odour resulting in poor living conditions, deterring investments and impacting on house values.
The report also notes the impact of the port on traffic and environmental factors as well as problems with a large number of empty homes in the borough attracting anti social behaviour and vacant shops impacting on the vibrancy of commercial areas.
The document lists 14 key objectives for Bootle focused on improving access to affordable, secure and efficient housing while reducing the amount of poor quality conversions in the town centre as well as improvements to infrastructure, access to services and facilities and improving job and training opportunities for the town’s residents.
A key objective around the development of Bootle town centre and the Strand refers to plans to “consolidate its position as the main focus of shopping, leisure, cultural, community and other uses.”
Other objectives relate to making best use of vacant land, homes and buildings while protecting and enhancing green spaces and aims to make Bootle a healthier place to live.
The report states another key objective is to ensure high standards for new builds to “help design out crime and anti social behaviour” problems in the town, to meet climate change responsibilities and find suitable uses for the town’s heritage buildings.
To further these aims a series of policies have been devised for the town centre, office quarter, commercial and education quarters, local shopping parades, parks and open spaces, the use of land for industry, employment opportunities and regeneration as well as policies around residential provision and infrastructure.
As part of the action plan, several large office blocks will be protected from conversion to other uses including the new St John’s House, Magdalen House, St Hugh’s House, Redgrave Court and Pinnacle House while several others have been identified as suitable for redevelopment into other uses.
These include the former St John’s House, the site of Balliol House, St Peters and St Annes House, Lincare House, Daniel House, St Martins House, Merton House and the former HSBC bank building on Stanley Road.
The plan also aims to bring and keep the historic buildings around the town centre in use and increase footfall to the area while remaining “compatible” to the residential character of the surrounding area.
Referring to the nearby ‘educational quarter’ around Hugh Baird College, the report states there are plans to redevelop some of the existing college buildings as the existing estate is “ageing and inflexible” – a redevelopment could bring “significant investment” into the town.
In order to protect local shopping parades close to residential areas within Bootle, ground floor conversions of shop fronts to residential uses would be generally “not acceptable.”
Other measures detailed include improving pedestrian and cycling access in Bootle, an area with low car ownership compared to other parts of the borough and elsewhere in the UK.
The plans also designate a series of sites for employment uses to protect existing employment sites and improve the level of employment opportunities in the town.
The report also details sites earmarked for residential development totalling up to around 800 new homes, which includes the council-owned ‘people’s site’ on Lincare Lane, the former St Mary’s primary school, the former gas works and site already given approval or subject to a planning application at Litherland House, the former Johnson’s cleaners site and Hawthorne Road.