The 70s punk legend played a huge part in the Baltic resurgence
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to add a fourth option into the public vote that will decide the name of a new Merseyrail station to be built in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle.
Put simply, without the foresight of Jayne Casey there would be no Baltic Triangle
Last week we published a first look at what the new station at the former St James site in the Baltic area might look like.
To avoid any confusion with the existing James Street station in Liverpool city centre, a shortlist of three names has been produced by the main partners on the scheme. The public has been asked to vote on either Liverpool Baltic, Liverpool Parliament Street or Liverpool Riverside.
Yesterday (Friday 28 January) a petition was launched on Change.org to add another option into the public ballot - St Jayne’s Station.
The campaign is being spearheaded by Liverpool musician, songwriter and producer, Daniel Hunt.
Danny, a founding member of the band Ladytron, wrote on the Change website:
“Liverpool's defunct St. James train station is set to reopen under a new name, to serve the Baltic Triangle area of the city.
“At present there have only been three options open for a public vote on the renaming of St. James station, with a deadline of February 18.
“We propose that a fourth option, St. Jayne's, is added to the ballot. The proposed name change to ‘St. Jaynes’ is intended to acknowledge the role local artist and activist Jayne Casey played in the creation of the Baltic Triangle in the early 2000s.
“Put simply, without the foresight of Jayne Casey there would be no Baltic Triangle.”
Jayne Casey played a huge part in the Baltic resurgence; pioneering the creation of the Baltic Creative. The 70s punk legend has been a key player in Liverpool’s artistic and creative scene and at the forefront of some of the largest cultural happenings in Liverpool’s recent history, including Capital of Culture, the Biennial Festival and the nightclub empire, Cream.
The gentrification of groundroots creative hubs had become a problem since Eric’s in the late 1970s; people were coming down from London to what was a derelict area and then the large developers would move in and shove them out. They moved over to Wolstenholme Square which was derelict, then the area around Cream became boom town and the area re-developed again.
Jayne decided to invest in a long term strategy for the Baltic Triangle. To protect the neighbourhood from the developers, they set up a trust – the Baltic Creative. Once that had been established, District took off as an independent events venue, first as an art gallery for the Biennial and then evolving into a cultural hub including club nights and live music.
Jayne is currently a director at District with Eric Gooden. The venue has hosted some of the UK’s most innovative and exciting metropolitan festivals, including Sound City, Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Positive Vibration, Liverpool Disco Festival, and Liverpool Music Week, and continues to support the local music scene and push the boundaries.
The public vote to name the new Baltic station is open until 5pm on Friday 18 February.
The petition to rename the Baltic station as St. Jayne's is at Change.org
Follow Vicky Andrews on Twitter: @planetvicster
Read next: Ten Streets - the coolest places to visit in Liverpool's North Docks
Read again: Rags to riches - the transformation of Liverpool’s Fabric District
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