Town Centre – Knowsley News
We thought it would be a good idea to provide residents with a list of all information put out by Knowsley Council through the Knowsley News website regarding the development of Kirkby Town Centre, as it’s a bit of a difficult website to find things on.
Knowsley Council maintain a ‘Latest News‘ page which is updated every so often.
Here is the running order of information releases (we have PDF copies for posterity), starting with the latest at the top and earliest at the bottom:
| Date | Title | Comment or interesting quotes |
| 20/12/2020 | For the Record – Kirkby Town Centre Regeneration Funding | In response to an Echo article, Knowsley Council makes the bizarre claim that Kirkby Town Centre doesn’t need further funding! See our response here. |
| 18/12/2020 | £2.8m further funding for Kirkby to create 200 jobs | Welcome news that the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is going to fund a new cinema complex. But we have responded to a strange claim made by Cllr Tony Brennan that this project was initiated following consultations in March 2020, when the plan was first revealed in November 2016! |
| 16/12/2020 | Ambitious proposals for Huyton Village Centre pivotal to COVID-19 recovery | Announcement of plans to redevelop Huyton Village Centre. The proposals are remarkably similar to Vision Kirkby’s proposal for Kirkby Town Centre. |
| 16/12/2020 | Taco Bell is coming to Kirkby Town Centre | Announcement that Taco Bell is coming to Kirkby – one day after we contacted Taco Bell to see if the rumours were true. Probably a coincidence though! |
| 15/12/2020 | Kirkby’s retail offer beginning to blossom | Some further promising news of additional tenants in both the shops of St. Chad’s Parade and in Kirkby Market. However, it seems like more stores have closed in the past year than have opened, and the town centre has fewer occupants than 5 years ago. |
| 25/11/2020 | Latest update on the Kirkby retail development | Steelwork for Morrisons unit is completed with steelwork for the final major units now being erected. The KFC drive-through restaurant is now being cladded, the petrol tanks for the garage are in place, and groundworks are underway for the car park. |
| 10/11/2020 | Planning Approval secured for Cinema Scheme in Kirkby Town Centre | 3 years and 7 months after first announcing the cinema, planning permissions is finally granted by Knowsley Council for Knowsley Council. |
| 30/10/2020 | Steelwork for the new Morrisons superstore goes up in Kirkby town centre | Steelwork for Morrisons starts to be erected – a very positive sign. |
| 08/08/2020 | Car parking update in Kirkby town centre | Temporary closure of multi-storey car park to support construction work. This would normally have a big impact on Barclaycard workers, but due to COVID-19 most of them are homeworking. |
| 07/09/2020 | New traders boost Kirkby’s improving retail offer | Some good news about new traders in Kirkby Market. Overall though the market does not appear to have returned to its pre-remodelling vibrancy – when we had both the outdoor temporary market plus the indoor InShops market. |
| 25/08/2020 | Kirkby cinema development takes step forward | Knowsley Council has submitted a planning application for the cinema complex – 3 years and 4 months after first announcing it. There is also information about financial support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. |
| 11/08/2020 | Transport and safety improvements underway in Kirkby town centre | Notice of work starting on roads and paths leading up to the Morrisons development site. This will include 2 new taxi ranks. It also includes roadworks to add vehicle access from the County Road south-bound carriageway, plus pedestrian crossings, replacing one just a bit further south. This is concerning as an extra set of lights is likely to cause congestion at the nearby major junction of County Road/Hall Lane/Old Rough Lane. |
| 03/08/2020 | Further Progress made on the New Retail Development in Kirkby | More steelwork going in – this time for one of the as-yet-unnamed drive-through restaurants and the Morrisons garage. |
| 31/07/2020 | Here’s what YOU said you want in Kirkby Town Centre | A rather strangely constructed report from the Knowsley Council consultation event that took place in March. Normally a consultation report would include statistics about the number of respondents and how many said what. This in comparison looks cherry-picked. The apparently rushed consultation took place only a couple of weeks after we launched our vision for Kirkby Town centre. |
| 16/06/2020 | Vandals target The Kirkby Centre | A disgusting act of vandalism on the Kirkby Centre building. Why anyone would do such a thing to their own town is beyond us. On a side note, there is a claim there is a community meeting room in the Kirkby Centre, but to the best of our knowledge this is restricted to being booked by council staff and councillors. |
| 12/06/2020 | Another major milestone for Knowsley Council’s Kirkby retail development | Steelwork goes up for the smallest 4 units. |
| 08/06/2020 | Progress being made on the New Retail Development in Kirkby Town Centre | Demolition reported as completed, along with progress on some foundations, and completion of a new temporary car park off Cherryfield Drive. |
| 24/03/2020 | Kirkby car parking | Notice of upcoming car parking changes. |
| 30/01/2020 | For the record: Progress on Kirkby Town Centre redevelopment | Some target timescales for completion at last. Morrisons by spring 2021. Petrol station by spring 2021. Home Bargains and KFC by spring 2021. A new car park is building built on land south of Cherryfield Drive for completion in Spring 2020, although this one curiously not referred to as ‘temproary’. InShops and Hall Lane car parks due to close when construction begins. No news on the cinema and restaurants though. |
| 29/01/2020 | Groundbreaking celebration in Kirkby town centre | Groundbreaking ceremony for new retail development (including Morrisons) with foundations to be laid in the Spring. Interesting quote ” Knowsley Council’s deal to buy St Modwen’s assets concluded on 26 November 2019 and work on site commenced just two weeks later.” – but St. Modwen are still overseeing the build, so hardly an amazing achievement as they are being paid to do something they had already planned. Restatement of normal text, including vague comments about the college. |
| 24/01/2020 | For the record: Rents and business rates in Kirkby have NOT increased | An interesting one: false information is simply not helpful. Assuming rents haven’t gone up, have the council considered decreasing them to encourage vacant shops to be filled and to prevent struggling shops from closing until redevelopment results in an improvement? |
| 12/12/2019 | More parking for shoppers in Kirkby | The temporary car park on the former site of the St. Chad’s clinic/LINK centre has been opened. IT will have parking charges, despite the need to encourage footfall in the town centre. The article claims that the “clinic was in very poor condition, needed significant investment to bring the building up to standards and had been vacant for some time. ” – the question then is why was it allowed to fall into disrepair and what efforts were made to find a tenant? There appears to be no long-term plan for this temporary facility. |
| 09/12/2019 | Happy Christmas Kirkby! | ‘Construction’ work has begun in Kirkby Town Centre – although at this stage it is more sorting the rubble from demolition of the old ASDA and InShops. Leader of Knowsley Council, Councillor Graham Morgan, is quoted as saying ” The regeneration of Kirkby has been a priority for this Council for as long as I can remember. While the area was in the hands of private owners, our ability to make positive changes in the town centre was limited – but that has changed now.” – but it is worth remembering that Knowsley Council portrayed itself as a close partner with each of the failed redevelopment bids of the past, not simply a helpless bystsander. |
| 06/12/2019 | Further funding secured for Kirkby | Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram announces £10 million has been allocated from the Single Investment Fund, with a further potential £5 million set aside. It is not clear how will this be used given Knowsley Council has already announced having secured loans. Steve is quoted as saying “Devolution is all about taking back control from Westminster and shaping our own destinies.” – but of course this has always been a local matter. Much of the previous article is repeated. |
| 25/11/2019 | Kirkby welcomes in new era at Christmas lights switch-on | Another decent Christmas lights switch on by all accounts. The article finishes with a bemusing phrase though given not a brick has been layed this year, that St. Modwen are still going to be overseeing the build and that the council will shortly announce they have outsourced their asset management to NewRiver REIT : “This Christmas marks the end of an eventful year for Kirkby Town Centre, with the recent announcement that the council has concluded its purchase of St Modwen’s assets and is now taking over delivery of the planned retail development.” Work is due to begin on 9th December, but notably there is no date for anything to be completed yet. |
| 22/11/2019 | Knowsley Council signs Kirkby deal with St Modwen | Knowsley Council have bought St. Modwen’s assets in the town centre for £43.8 million. This includes 87 shops and 12.4 acres of land. The deal is being payed for ” borrowing the initial sum and paying the debt back from the rental income generated from new and existing businesses in the town centre and also by eventually selling some of the land acquired.” – this is thought to be the college site, old All Saints school site and playing fields. The council repeats its claim about Knowsley Community College have ambitions to open a new facility in the town centre, despite the existing site being directly opposite the council’s own Kirkby Centre building. |
| 11/10/2019 | Kirkby Town Centre – latest news | St. Modwen has apparently ‘agreed to accept’ Knowsley Council’s offer, but that isn’t the same as an agreement having been finalised. The council assert their offer is “justifiable and affordable” without actually stating what it is, what the justification is or how they are going to afford it. There is promise of a public consultation regarding the land South of Cherryfield Drive, including the College site, even though evidence to-date shows they are intent on building large numbers of houses. Worryingly, no timescales are provided for anything – not the legal work, not a construction start-date or a single target date for anything being built and open. |
| 04/09/2019 | Kirkby town centre plans take another step forward | Specific comments about demolition of the old Royal Naval Association (RNA) and old St. Chad’s Health Centre/Link Centre. |
| 19/08/2019 | Town centre roads get ready for Kirkby retail development | Announcement of more roadworks on major junctions. It is not clear why these are necessary given the roads themselves will stay at the same size. More greenspace will be lost in the process around the junctions. |
| 31/07/2019 | Site investigation work to commence in Kirkby town centre | Site surveys started – some progress, but of course these are a repeat of any number of previous surveys! |
| 29/07/2019 | Knowsley secures £1m from Town Centre Fund | Knowsley secures £1m from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, however the article doesn’t make clear that this money is not for Kirkby. |
| 19/07/2019 | Cabinet approves Kirkby town centre purchase | Council’s plan to purchase town centre approved by the council. The plan seemed to involve buying the Kirkby College site, with a pitiful reason of bringing the College closer to the town centre. How much closer can you be when the entrance is directly opposite the Kirkby Centre council building which the Council refurbished at great cost to bring services to that end of the town centre? |
| 16/07/2019 | Special Cabinet meeting convened regarding Kirkby town centre | Confirmation Knowsley Council announced their intention to purchase the town centre in May 2019. |
| 05/07/2019 | Kirkby – what’s happening? | Includes copy and paste error from Updates on Kirkby town centre – 29 April 2019… |
| 19/06/2019 | Investments of almost £2m approved at Cabinet | A short note saying the council are taking “Specialist advice around Kirkby town centre redevelopment. “ |
| 24/05/2019 | Knowsley Council will make an offer to buy Kirkby town centre | Council announce they will make an offer to buy Kirkby Town Centre. The article places the blame for the failure of the development squarely at the private sector, and despite being hand-in-glove with St. Modwen, and previously Tesco, apparently it’s not the council’s fault… |
| 21/05/2019 | Two highway improvement schemes completed in Kirkby | These junction improvements were poorly managed and caused heavy and excessive congestion for weeks. |
| 29/04/2019 | Updates on Kirkby town centre – 29 April 2019 | Various updates including a comment from the writer that “I am waiting for St Modwen, because they own the town centre and the Council can’t make them do anything they don’t want to do. ” Of course, it was Knowsley Council who forced St. Modwen out of Kirkby in 2005! |
| 06/03/2019 | For the record – investment in Kirkby town centre | “St Modwen has recently reiterated its commitment to Kirkby town centre and their regeneration plans for the area.” |
| 05/03/2019 | £300k investment in Kirkby | A welcome boost to healthcare in the town centre, with the expansion of Specsavers. |
| 19/02/2019 | St. Modwen reassures Kirkby residents about regeneration plans | “St. Modwen has moved to reassure Kirkby residents that the company remains committed to its Kirkby town centre regeneration plans.” |
| 25/01/2019 | Roadworks in Kirkby | The roadworks on the County Road/Hall Lane/Old Rough Lane caused significant disruption for weeks. The project seemed to progress slowly and there were multiple failures of temporary traffic lights. |
| 18/12/2019 | Council Leader’s Christmas update: December 2018 | Mention of Christmas lights by Leader of the Council. A nice thing that has happened in Kirkby Town Centre since St. Modwen took over is the great improvement to the Christmas lights. Much appreciated, and thanks to town centre manager Mike Matthews for this. |
| 12/12/2018 | Specsavers confirms its commitment to Kirkby town centre | A welcome boost to healthcare in the town centre, with the expansion of Specsavers. |
| 16/10/2018 | Council Leader’s update: October 2018 | Leader of the Council, Cllr Graham Morgan said: “Work on redeveloping Kirkby town centre is also picking up pace. Some of the work under way is not immediately visible, because it is the technical and legal work that is necessary with a development on this huge scale, but St Modwen and Morrisons have both recently reaffirmed their commitment to the project and confirmed that their programme remains on schedule. I know this is a much anticipated scheme which will be welcomed by shoppers and retailers alike, so it’s great to know that all is going to plan.” |
| 16/10/2018 | Kirkby Market initiative nationally recognised | Whilst the credit/debit card machine initiative is welcome, the idea that Kirkby Market is doing well at this point is – at best – overly hopeful. Cllr Tony Brennan said: “I am confident that that visitor numbers to Kirkby Market will increase. |
| 12/10/2018 | Key investors visit Kirkby town centre redevelopment | Paul Batho, Development Director for St Modwen: “We are on schedule. This work is paving the way for the redevelopment to begin and will reassure people of St Modwen’s commitment to regenerate Kirkby.” |
| 09/08/2018 | Park for longer in Knowsley’s town centres | Increase in duration of short-stay parking time at same cost. The question remains: why charge at all? |
| 11/06/2018 | Major brands to open new shops in Kirkby | St. Modwen confirms Home Bargains will move to new store, plus the planned arrival of KFC. |
| 25/01/2018 | Kirkby eyesores to make way for new developments | Knowsley council plans demolition of the abandoned Kirkby Library, long vacant Social Security Building, and the former Knowsley Council for Voluntary Services building, that used to house a variety of services over the years. |
| 09/11/2017 | Green light for major Kirkby retail scheme Major new developments given go-ahead | Planning approval for main retail development in Kirkby Town Centre. Council website says: “Now the planning application has been approved, it is anticipated that construction work will begin next year with completion scheduled for 2019. ” It has taken the council over 8 months to provide this approval. |
| 18/09/2017 | Morrisons agrees deal to come to Kirkby | Morrisons confirmed as new supermarket for Kirkby. This is the second time as they were due to be the anchor in 2005, the last time St. Modwen owned the site! |
| 14/09/2017 | Council approves £32m investment package | Council notes it has invested “£360,000 into a variety of public realm improvements in Kirkby town centre.” That presumably covers the rusty tree, the Elephant in a boat, winged chairs and public square – many of which were very controversial. |
| 07/08/2017 | Demolition works get under way in Kirkby | Demolition work starts on old ASDA, InShops and Bingo. The Bingo closes without replacement. |
| 16/06/2017 | Life-saving defibrillators installed in town centres | Good to see a defibrilator installed in the town centre. |
| 18/05/2017 | Major new food store planned for Kirkby | New food retailer signed up – name not yet released. |
| 24/02/2017 | Plans received for Kirkby town centre redevelopment | Planning application submitted by St. Modwen for retail development. |
| 13/01/2017 | Work to transform Norwich Way gets underway | Work on new Civic Square begins, displacing the taxi rank, removing parking, and introducing controversial ‘selfie chairs’. |
| 25/11/2016 | Cinema development for Kirkby | “St. Modwen acquired Kirkby Town Centre in November 2015 and the team has been working closely with Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council…” |
| 24/11/2016 | On the agenda at Cabinet, 23 November | “In Kirkby, further investment in the town centre is proposed, to support St Modwen’s wider redevelopment plans.” |
| 13/10/2016 | Kirkby town centre plans put to public | Knowsley Council is quoted as working with its partners |
| 01/04/2016 | New shops and leisure facilities in Kirkby plan | Knowsley Council confirms new plan – working in partnership with St. Modwen |
| 01/04/2016 | Watch: How Edward’s Elephant was made | Interesting insight into public artwork manufacturing |