GROCERY giant Sainsburys' could drop a scheme to build Liverpool’s biggest supermarket if Project Jennifer is delayed. That was the warning today from city council cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Malcolm Kennedy.
'Everybody should simply tell them to sod off'
In a 10-point bulletin, posted on social media site Facebook, Cllr Kennedy defends the decision to switch the long-established Great Homer Street market to a new site in Dryden Street, on the fringe of the Jennifer site.
Here’s what Cllr Kennedy has to say:
"Let's get some facts straight:
1. The original Great Homer Street proposals for Project Jennifer were put forward many years ago in different economic times when it was possible to deliver a much bigger scheme.
2. The Liberal Democrats failed to deliver Project Jennifer despite those better economic time.
3. Labour took control of Liverpool City Council two years after the banking crisis hit but despite that Project Jennifer is being delivered.
4. The developers can no longer afford to deliver the size of project that was formerly proposed.
5. As a result of this the proposals for the market in the centre of the scheme were simply not big enough for the number of traders.
6. I joined the board of the Market Partnership last May not a decade ago and have been responsible for regeneration since 2010.
7. After consultation with stakeholders including market traders a new proposal to invest over a million pounds in a new market facility right next to the main development were put forward and agreed by the stakeholders which also include representatives of local community organisations and residents
8. The indoor market traders will have to leave their present location this year as work starts on the project and their current home is demolished.
9. A majority of traders are already signed up as wanting to go to Dryden Street.
10. To make any major changes to the scheme now would lead to further delays and might even lead to Sainsbury's pulling out and the whole project collapsing."
He went on: "So instead of believing the garbage that people from outside the area of Everton are putting forward in their unaccountable drivel of a blog the reality is that Labour is delivering a major regeneration scheme in difficult economic times and is investing a further million pounds plus in a market facility to which the majority of traders are already signed up. The alternative being proposed would put all of this at risk.
"I think everybody should simply tell them to 'sod off'."
The Laz Word: 'I still can't see why there can't
be a linear market on Great Homer St'
Malcolm Kennedy’s 10-point communique comes after an outbreak of ‘civil war’ over the issue on Twitter (writes Larry Neild).
It’s quite clear there are many different issues to take into consideration over the fate of the Greatie (as carefully explained in Liverpool Confidential's first article and also here).
Looking at the latest proposals it does seem a new enclosed market in Dryden Street is a gamble, and as it is costing £1m, it could be an expensive flutter.
I still can’t see why there can’t be a linear Saturday street market along Great Homer Street, in the same way that Portobello Road Market or Spitafields have become a world-famous tourist attractions.
Greatie could do likewise for Project Jennifer. It could act as a magnet to attract people from a wide area to the street, adding the same colour as it has done for almost two centuries.
I can’t see many people visiting the epicentre of Jennifer (ie the supermarket and the same-as everywhere else multiple stores – and then making their way down the road to the market, either by car or by the long hike on foot.
There may be some who support the current plan, but clearly there is mixed opinions. A Portobello-type market will add something special to Jennifer and make it a regional, and, who knows, a national attraction.
The council could well be missing a trick here.
