Council and St Modwen plough on with £150m Project Jennifer scheme
LIVERPOOL City Council and St. Modwen have completed a review of objections relating to the CPO process for its £150m Project Jennifer scheme in north Liverpool and decided there is a “robust case” to progress.
As revealed by TheBusinessDesk.com last month, the council will formally ask for the government to call in the scheme to bring forward a Public Inquiry.
The council hopes that this could be heard next summer. Since the process usually takes around 12 weeks, it is hoped that it will be concluded during autumn 2012.
The scheme has faced strong opposition from a number of business owners in the area, who have argued that the compensation that had been offered for the purchase of their premises was insufficient to allow for a relocation elsewhere.
However, the council has said that it is “confident the scheme will be successful” at inquiry and said negotiations with property and business owners currently occupying the 45-acre site would continue in the meantime.
Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member responsible for regeneration and transport, Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, said: “We have listened to businesses and we remain committed to ensuring that fair compensation is agreed with all land and business owners, to allow businesses to relocate to suitable alternative premises and to enable this vital scheme to progress.
“A huge amount of work, dedication and effort has gone into bringing the plans to this stage. The partners are continuing to work together closely, to bring forward the transformational change needed in the area.”
Michelle Taylor, regional director at St. Modwen, said: “Project Jennifer will comprehensively regenerate the Great Homer Street area, providing much-needed new housing, community facilities and creating more than 1,000 jobs.
“This is the scheme that the local community wants and it will act as an important catalyst for future regeneration in north Liverpool,” she said.
However, a spokesman for the Taylor Street Action Group said that it would be “disastrous” if the city council decided to take the CPO forwards in its current form, arguing that its own legal counsel had indicated it would fail.
“It would be declared illegal,” he said. “It would not be to the benefit of the city or its businesses and would very likely lead to job losses and potential business failures.”
St Modwen’s proposed scheme will be anchored by a 110,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s supermarket and contain around 80,000 sq ft of additional retail. There would also be a new market, a transport interchange and 480 new homes.
