March 2008 Archives

SEFTON Council has appointed Urban Splash as the firm to redevelop the former Pleasureland site. But there has been intense secrecy behind the decision, with the authority refusing to reveal what the options were ahead of their decision, refusing to hold the deciding meeting in open session, and refusing to reveal afterwards who the other interested parties had been.

Today, the Visiter can reveal that Urban Splash will redevelop not just the former fairground site – it is also due to build over Princes Park as well.

Surely, if Southport is to lose one of its major parks – whatever the benefits of what will come in its place – local taxpayers should first be asked for their views, rather than people relying on the Southport Visiter to find out what has happened in the aftermath of a decision taken behind closed doors?

IT is not often that a candle can be described as a weapon of Mass destruction.

Yet that is exactly what happened when what is believed to have been a lit candle caused a serious blaze at St Patrick’s Church in Marshside on Easter Sunday, resulting in an estimated £10,000 damage.

Flames destroyed part of the church shortly before Mass was due to start.

Yet rather than turning his flock away, Father Tom Leigh welcomed them with open arms to an uplifting, improvised “special Easter Sunday service� – based on the theme of “facing adversity and rising above it�.

Full marks to Fr Leigh, while praise is also due to all the people who attended and were so quick to hand over generous donations as the race to get the church back on its feet began.

Fr Tom ruled out foul play, and now hopes that insurance will pay to repair the historic building.
We trust insurers will view the blaze as an act of God...

AFTER Pleasureland was shut down two years ago, Sefton Council chief executive Graham Haywood told a crowd of people at Southport Area Committee that losing the fairground that had stood in Southport since the 1920s was not necessarily bad news.

“It provides a great opportunity,� he said, assuring everyone present that the authority would seek “a high quality leisure operator which can provide a permanent attraction�.

Last Thursday was the day of reckoning as Sefton Council finally whittled down the list of contenders eager to develop the North West’s largest prime coastal site to one winner: Urban Splash.

Some aspects sound promising - state-of-the-art botanical gardens, 25-acre eco-park, winter gardens, an artificial beach and ‘sea’, £40million investment. Two new hotels could also be built.

Despite the decision being the biggest to affect Southport for many years, the whole process has so far been conducted in clandestine secrecy. Few know the identity of any bidders other than Urban Splash. Therefore few know what options were ever on the table, the public have no idea what may have been.

Have we chosen the best option? At the cabinet meeting last week the decision to select from the whittled-down shortlist of four was made behind closed doors. The Visiter was barred from attending.

“Exciting times for Southport – the development will provide a fantastic opportunity which will last for generations to come,� is the promise which has been made.

Let’s hope so – the future of Southport should belong to the people who live here, and they have been kept very much in the dark so far.