October 24
Survey missed us out

Liverpool Echo

Angry residents today claimed they had been missed out in the public consultation excercise over the future home of Liverpool Football Club.

The exercise, which involved canvassing 19,500 homes, came back with a majority of residents supporting the proposed move to a new 55,000-seat stadium on Stanley Park.

But today the council was facing growing pressure to launch an investigation into the consultation procedure by opposition Labour leaders.

David Wills, who lives in Lothair Road, Anfield said: "I was not asked anything about my views on LFC and its proposed move.

"I just cannot believe this as I am living in an area where houses have been earmarked for demolition. (Model:

"I think the consultants have concentrated on speaking to people in the wrong areas and where they believed they would hear the answers they wanted to hear."

Mr Wills, who is unemployed, said he had been "left in the dark" about what would happen to his home.

"I moved here with my family thinking we would be settled and now I have no idea what will happen to us. I am worried we will be left with nowhere to live or in a very over-crowded situation."

Gill Fraser, from Utting Avenue, claims she was also over-looked in the consultation. "I am very angry that I was missed out.

"The new stadium on Stanley Park will be closer to my home than the existing ground and I believe I should have been spoken to."

Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool council Labour group, said he had also received complaints from people who claimed to have been missed out of the consultation.

"I will be calling on the council to investigate what has happened here and will be writing personally to (chief executive) David Henshaw."

Liverpool council today insisted that everyone in the area was given "ample opportunity" to voice their views.

Phil Stokoe, lead consultant at Preston-based PS Consultants, said: "We spoke to 4,100 households and had a very high profile in Anfield and Breckfield for 10 weeks. We believe people had plenty of opportunities to make their views known and we have been as thorough as we possibly could be.

"We spoke to people in Utting Avenue and Lothair Road and knocked on every door in these roads."

It was revealed two weeks ago that 58% of people questioned agreed with the proposal for a new stadium on the car park end of Stanley Park. Just under 27% disagreed, with the rest not sure or having no opinion.

The team of independent consultants asked over 19,000 households in the area for their 123 ions. The consultants got responses from 4,102.
 

October 11
Liverpool FC wins backing for park move

By Suzanne Elsworth - Daily Post

Liverpool Football Club will today be given the green light to leave its Anfield home for a new stadium in Stanley Park.

A report is expected to reveal that the public of Anfield have backed an option for the club to move to the new 55,000-seater stadium.

The Daily Post understands that around 58pc of residents in the Anfield and Breckfield area have indicated their support for the club building a new ground at the car park end of Stanley Park.

The results of a consultation exercise with 19,000 local residents will go before the city council's executive board this morning .

It is also expected to reveal strong support for a major housing demolition and regeneration programme and improvements to the area's transport system.

As reported in May, a draft report was put together by Manchester-based consultants GVA Grimley on behalf of Liverpool City Council.

The company examined the two options being considered by the club - to expand on the current site or build a new stadium on Stanley Park.

Both options have proved controversial.

If the Anfield ground was developed, houses nearby would have to be demolished, while a move to Stanley Park will infuriate environ-mentalists and many community groups.

The Grimley report was put out to public consultation, the results of which will be revealed today.

It was hoped more than 6,000 local people would respond - a goal it is understood has been met.

Yesterday, Coun Richard Kemp, executive member for housing and community safety, said: "We have listened to what local people have said in a three-year consultation process.

"We have not taken everyone on board with us but we never do.

"I think there is a consistent majority for us now to continue. We have got to act to ensure that the deterioration of the area does not continue.

"The housing work will hopefully start next summer.

"We recognise the legitimate rights of the community and the legitimate rights of the football club, both of which are equally important."

But Anfield ward councillor Joe Kenny believes the consultation was flawed.

He said: "The consultation was not independent and we knew it was designed specifically with one result in mind.

"There should have been an independent referendum with every resident receiving a postal vote."

But one theme on which there is agreement is that the Anfield and Breckfield area is in need of regeneration.

Anfield ward councillor Kiron Reid said: "I would say that the consultation about regeneration is about a lot more than Liverpool Football Club.

"It has always been made clear by the Government that there is no regeneration money unless there are also private partners - but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the club is only a part of it."

Breckfield ward councillor Frank Prendergast, a Labour stalwart and former council leader, agreed.

He said: "I do believe the majority of people want Liverpool Football Club to stay in the area, but a smaller ity would say expand on Stanley Park.

"But this is not just about Liverpool Football Club's relocation. There are so many other issues to consider including transport, housing, shopping and the environment, and there have to be job opportunities".

Peter Bevington, of Anfield and Breckfield Community Steering Group, is one of those eagerly waiting for the publication of the report.

He said: "I am hoping to see has been a good take-up rate so there is a good sample represented.

"I am also hoping that marily people are going to support the regeneration

Liverpool Football Club declined to comment last night.

If the public does back the move to Stanley Park, it is thought a move in time for the 2006/7 season is most likely.
 

May 17
This is Anfield

By Jane Woodhead and Mark Thomas - Liverpool Echo

Liverpool Football Club wants to build its new stadium
in Stanley Park.

The ECHO can reveal the first glimpse of the spectacular new 55,000 seat home Liverpool aims to build from scratch in the park.

The club says the first matches could be played in the £70m stadium as early as 2005.

 

The venue would form the centrepiece of a £240m development plan incorporating a new village centre, college, museum, a new Vernon Sangster sports centre, a possible hotel and extensive tourist facilities.

The plan includes the clearing of 1,405 houses, the refurbishment of 1,871 homes and the building of 390 new ones.

It is bound to cause controversy in the local community.

Club chief executive Rick Parry said: "What is being presented is a complete regeneration initiative for the area with the stadium as the catalyst for that. There will be as many benefits for the community as for the club."

The club declared its wish to stay at Anfield last year, and faced a choice between developing a new stadium on its current site or building a new Stanley Park home.

A joint steering group involving the club, city council, the Anfield Breckfield Community Steering Group and other key agencies has spent four months evaluating the impact of the two options.

Today the council's ruling executive board was told that consultants GVA Grimley have concluded Stanley Park is the best option both for the club and the Anfield Breckfield area.

The report says: "The decline of the Anfield Breckfield area has been rapid and continues at a significant rate.

"The spiral of decline is vicious and unless arrested will result in the death of Anfield Breckfield as a community.

"What is clear is that doing nothing is not an option."

There is no overall estimate of jobs created, but the report claims that, in addition to construction work, 80 non-match day jobs would be created in the stadium together with 350 indirect jobs and 23 jobs at the education innovation centre. The overall figure is expected to be much higher.

Liverpool FC's board has already decided in favour of the Stanley Park option. Controversially, the scheme will cut a large swathe into the park, but with the current stadium site being opened up, planners insist that there will be no overall loss of public space.

The club originally planned to build a 70,000 seat stadium, but that would have cost almost twice as much as the current plan.

Mr Parry said: "It is an economic decision. To increase the capacity by a further 20,000 people could double the cost of the new stadium.

"The new plans are expandable to 60,000 seats without altering the roof."

He explained that developing the current stadium would have meant three years of disruption as new stands were built.

"Even 10 years ago when the Kop was rebuilt football was very different from the game we know now.

"With mid-week European dates, TV and pay per view commitments, games are moved all over the place.

"You can't just hand the stadium over to the builders during the week and claim it back on a Saturday any more."

A specialist company has now been called in to embark on a two month programme of intensive consultation with every Anfield resident and organisation.

Mr Parry said: "We are going to talk to individual residents, a street by street referendum measuring feedback.

"We hope to carry the people of Anfield with us. This is a total package, not just a football stadium.

"It is not for us to dictate what happens now. It is what the community wants." Liverpool council chief executive David Henshaw said: "This is the first holistic look at the regeneration of Anfield and the effects of Liverpool Football Club on regeneration.

"It is a powerful piece of work. We need to be radical and comprehensive. "It is when you are being radical that you make change. If you do not get radical then we could not have a very big impact on solving some long term problems."

Council sources doubt that the club's 2005 ambition is achievable, believing that 2006 is more realistic, with 2007 a possibility if the plans go to a public inquiry.
 

May 17
Liverpool's realism over romance

By Phil McNulty
BBC Sport Online chief football writer

Liverpool's willingness to ignore the romantic option of renovating Anfield in favour of the reality of a new ground is based on hard economics.

No business - whether it is football or any other industry - can afford to turn away 20,000 committed and willing customers on a fortnightly basis forever.

And while the sentimentalists will mourn the moving of the Kop, the loss of The Paisley and Shankly Gates, and the statue of the great Scot, Liverpool have no option.

Liverpool still have some hard talking ahead, and much persuasion of locals, but it is clear their preference is now to leave Anfield behind.

It will break the heart of chairman and former Kopite David Moores to leave his beloved Anfield, but time and tide wait for no modernising football club.

And Liverpool simply cannot sustain the economic disadvantages in ignoring the commonly held view within the club that they could attract 55,000 fans regularly.

In fact, the major surprise is that Liverpool have decided to opt for a capacity that is only 10,000 above the current level at Anfield.

Liverpool's former chief executive vice-chairman Peter Robinson was a long-time advocate for ground-sharing with neighbours Everton, but this eminently sensible idea never got off the ground.

The ideal scenario for Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry and his board would be to stay at historic Anfield and build on its rich traditions by increasing its 44,000-plus capacity up towards the 55,000 mark.

But Anfield has been renovated on three sides in recent times and it is difficult to see where Liverpool can go within the confines of the old stadium without undertaking a total rebuilding programme.

Liverpool, like Double winners Arsenal, must move to cash in on the revenues they are currently unable to bank.

Manchester United's ability to build a 67,000-seat Old Trafford - and possibly increase the capacity further - has only brought the dilemma facing Liverpool and Arsenal into sharper focus.

And so it is that Arsenal are leaving behind the cripplingly low capacity of 38,000 Highbury, and Liverpool look ready to leave their spiritual home and move the few hundred yards to Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is the picturesque area of parkland that has provided a natural barrier between Everton and Liverpool.

But Everton themselves are also planning to quit Goodison Park and move to a new 55,000-seater stadium on the banks of the River Mersey at King's Dock.

Liverpool have believed for years that, certainly for weekend matches at Anfield, they could attract well in excess of 60,000.

This makes it a conservative decision to settle on 55,000 for the new stadium.

They will be well aware of the revenue they have been rejecting at a club with a renewed worldwide profile, thanks to the success of Gerard Houllier's rebuilding programme and the winning of silverware at home and abroad.

The romantics will understandably leave Anfield with reluctance, but the realists will embrace the need to move Liverpool on the next level and put themselves even closer to the commercial successes of Manchester United.

Arsenal recognised the problem swiftly - Liverpool are right to follow suit.
 

May 17
What the scheme may mean

Liverpool Echo

HOUSING

The scheme will involve demolishing 1,405 "obsolete/low demand" houses near the stadium.

A further 1,871 homes will be refurbished and 390 new houses will be built. A new village centre will be created at the junction of Walton Breck and Oakfield Road to provide a social and commercial focus to the area.

EDUCATION

An Education Innovation Centre will be built into the stadium, providing 800 student spaces.

A North Liverpool City Academy will be created to replace Breckfield Comprehensive School but Anfield Comprehensive will be left untouched.

The scheme also undertakes to improve and modernise primary and secondary school facilities in the area.

TOURISM

The project aims to bring 200,000 new visitors a year to Anfield, with a wide range of non-match day attractions linked to the football club itself.

A new public open space, Anfield Plaza, on the current stadium site will link

the new stadium with a proposed village centre. Its features will include a Memories of Anfield attraction, Anfield Fountains, memorials and statues and a Kop bar/restaurant.

Visitors will be taken along a "path to glory" through Stanley Park to the stadium, through Gladstone Conservatory and a Pavilion of Legends. There will be a Story of the Reds exhibit along with stadium tours.

TRANSPORT

Transport plans for the new stadium include providing 3,000 park and ride spaces in Gillmoss and Aintree, and 500 off street "park and walk" spaces near the ground.

Ticket holders will get free bus/rail tickets for match day travel and extra Soccerbus routes are planned.

Pedestrian and cycle routes will be improved, and the council will toughen the enforcement of the controlled parking zone around the stadium.
 

May 17
Lib Dems throw gauntlet

Liverpool Echo

Anfield's local Liberal Democrat councillors today threw down the gauntlet to their colleagues to fight to block Liverpool FC's Stanley Park dream.

Kiron Reid and Jeremy Chowings condemned the Stanley Park plan - and called on all their 63 colleagues in Liverpool's ruling council group to help block the scheme.

They say they were both elected, and Cllr Reid re-elected, on the Liberal Democrat policy of saving parks and green spaces.

In a joint statement they declared: "We will use every method possible to put forward opposition to any proposal to develop Stanley Park."

They point out that 13 of the 66 Liberal Democrat councillors represent or live in an area within half a mile of Liverpool Football Club.

"The 30,000 people who live within a mile of the football club nearly all have Liberal Democrat representatives.

"The Liberal Democrats in Anfield will support Liverpool FC expanding their current stadium if this is part of a community led regeneration strategy, and involves Liverpool FC as well as Liverpool city council investing in regeneration in the Anfield and Breckfield areas.

"We support the proposals of the Anfield Breckfield Community Steering Group.

But every resident must be consulted.

"The Anfield Liberal Democrat councillors will oppose ANY Liverpool FC plan if it leaves any resident financially worse off than before house prices were first blighted by stadium rumours three years ago."

Walton Labour MP Peter Kilfoyle was on a trip to China and not available for comment today.
 

April 10
Spotlight on Anfield plans

By Jane Woodhead - Liverpool Echo

Proposals for the future of Liverpool Football Club's Anfield home could be revealed shortly.

Independent consultants have been looking at the two options facing the club - expanding on its existing site, or building a new stadium in Stanley Park.

They will announce their findings next month and begin a new round of public consultation.

This latest research by the Manchester company GVA Grimley has taken into account how the expansion of the club's stadium fits in with the regeneration of the area, including housing and environmental improvements.

Peter Bevington, project manager for the Anfield and Breckfield community steering group, launched in 1999 to canvass the views of local people on the regeneration of the area, said: "We welcome the latest consultation which will hopefully move things forward and remove much uncertainty."

Liverpool Football Club has said it is committed to remaining in Anfield. No-one was available for comment from the club today.

The consultants have identified what they believe to be the best way forward, but it will then be up to the club to say if this is a feasible and affordable option.

An 18-month public consultation with residents and businesses in the area has already been carried out. This showed that people remain divided over the club's future.
 

January 19
Probe into new stadium plans

Daily Post

A feasibility study is being carried out into Liverpool Football Club's new stadium proposals.

The study, commissioned by the club and Liverpool City Council, will look in detail at the two options being considered - Liverpool expanding on its existing site or a new stadium being built in Stanley Park.

The results are expected to be made public in March.

Peter Bevington, project manager for the Anfield and Breckfield Community Steering Group which was launched in 1999 to canvass the views of local people over the regeneration of the area, said: "This study will look at the technical and financial feasibility of the two options and the contributions which either of them could make to regeneration.

"We are expecting more information to come out of this study to help people to understand the importance of the club's proposals for the area, including any additional value which the club could bring to the area and potential spin-offs in areas such as education and infrastructure."

An 18-month public consultation with local residents and businesses showed people remain divided over the club's future.

Mr Bevington has said there is probably also a small minority who would like to see the club move out of the area entirely.

The club has said it is committed to staying in Anfield - either on its current site or in Stanley Park.

Thor Zakariassen ©