Southport is our very own Paris by the sea - without the onions

‘PARIS by the sea’. It’s an analogy that has often been frittered around as a lazy comparison by tourism officials in the resort.
But the age-old tale that Napoleon was so enamoured by the sweeping Lord Street vista that he recreated the tree-lined boulevards in the French capital may soon become more than a quirky footnote in history.
Sefton Council has drafted a blueprint for Southport over the next decade that could transform Lord Street, and indeed Southport generally, beyond recognition.
In addition to the ongoing £5m remodelling of the street, the council and the Southport Partnership have suggested a raft of changes to our main thoroughfare.
The Southport Investment Strategy outlines plans to remove much of the traffic from Lord Street, potentially creating an arterial route for the A565, with Lord Street possibly enforcing one-way regulations. It is one of the options due to be examined, with members of the public due to be consulted before any changes are made.
Council chiefs have also mooted implementing continental diagonal parking bays along the thoroughfare.
It may well be blue-sky thinking but those drafting these proposals must be applauded for thinking outside the box.
These tentative initiatives, and their associated pros and cons, should be debated in the corridors of power and the corridors of the supermarket.
And if the SIS can spark debate amongst townsfolk on how best to develop our town, then surely it has served its purpose.