Liverpool's Cruise Liner Cock Up-What is Southampton's View.

We at the LPT, on this blog, said right from the start, just pay the Cruise Liner European aid money back and we can start running a business that matters and helps the local economy.
The level of journalism at the local press, is alarming and we think needs correcting forthwith.
 There are certain journalists who seem to think they can help Joe Anderson to become Lord Mayor of Liverpool by giving him a platform, to perform, without telling the other side of the story.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/02/16/cunard-to-start-transatlantic-crossings-from-liverpool-cruise-terminal-99623-30338392/
This article by Peter Elson starts

CUNARD Line is set to start transatlantic crossings from Liverpool now the city’s cruise terminal turnaround row is resolved.
It will be the first such sailing in 47 years and a triumphant end to the Post’s Get On Board campaign to allow cruises to start and finish at the Pier Head.
It goes on;  Cllr Joe Anderson, Liverpool Council leader, said: “This is the icing on the cake for allowing turnarounds from Liverpool Cruise Terminal.
“We should celebrate restarting these historic links to America and it builds on what we plan to do.
“I am thrilled about this for our tourist industry and its job prospects. We can even think about direct Liverpool-New York air links to service the fly-cruise market.
“It is the rocket fuel for the future, giving us the opportunity to strengthen our sustainable growth.
“We have also got exploit this through the cruise-and-stay market by expanding our events programme and protecting our heritage.
“It also gives me the opportunity to ask Peel Holdings about developing its planned Liverpool Waters cruise berth.
“We could link the two facilities so two liners could berth at once.”

(It has 7 comments) the articles below have 200 comments combined.


 Sunday February 5th Southampton Echo
LIVERPOOL has been accused of jumping the gun after boasting it had struck a deal with ministers to expand its cruise operation within three months.  http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/district/southampton/9513207.Liverpool__rocking_the_boat_/
read the comments section


The shock development was revealed by council leader Joe Anderson, who said he was “really excited” about the city becoming a turnaround port – placing it in direct competition with Southampton.
Aside from repaying up to £9.2m to the Government, Liverpool is attempting to write off all of the £8.6m in EU funds it was given to build its £21m Pier Head terminal.
The Merseysiders’ move was branded “arrogant” by a Hampshire MP, who forecast a possible legal challenge from Southampton unless all the cash is paid back.
The Department for Transport insisted it was still waiting for an independent assessment of how much state funding Liverpool should pay back.
But Cllr Anderson, who has just launched a high-profile bid to become the new Mayor of Liverpool, said: “We can now look forward to the big ships returning to the Mersey to start and end cruises.” He also said Liverpool would be able to spread its UK repayments over “a number of years” – based on cruise income.
Southampton council leader Royston Smith said: “It’s nothing more than political posturing. I believe he’s trying to force the
minister’s hand by announcing a deal has been reached when it clearly
hasn’t.”
Southampton’s port boss Doug Morrison, right, said Liverpool’s announcement was “frankly bizarre” and insisted it must pay back all public subsidies for a “level playing field.”
“Full repayment of all the public money, including the European grants, should be a mandatory condition if the Liverpool terminal wants to compete with private investment for the turnaround cruise business,” he said.
Last month, shipping minister Mike Penning rejected Liverpool’s offer to pay back £5.3m of the £9.2m UK grants it received to lift a ban on cruises being allowed to start and finish at its City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal.
He said he would seek independent advice on an appropriate figure, and was clear that turnaround operations would require state aid clearance from the European Commission.
The Commission said it would wait for the UK government’s final decision before its next move. Liverpool believes it is under no legal obligation to repay any of the European funds, and is pressing ahead after claiming a deal with Mr Penning.
New Forest East MP Julian Lewis said he would accept nothing short of total repayment of both grants.
He said: “This shows a degree of arrogance which may well be humbled in the courts.
“It’s a particularly reckless move they may end up regretting.”
Southampton Itchen MP John Denham said: “There is no way a British minister can simply do a deal to
settle this. Our position has still got to be we are not afraid of competition, but it has to be fair competition.”
A Liverpool council spokesman said it was not being “presumptive”, but was “getting the wheels in motion”.
Councillor Anderson said: “We have held talks with the minister and agreed we will pay back any sum decided by the independent panel.”
A Department for Transport spokesman added: “As the shipping minister made clear last month, we are currently seeking independent advice on an appropriate repayment figure, and any decision on whether to lift the restrictions on turnaround operations will be subject to state aid clearance from the European Commission.”


http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9511420.Liverpool_to_launch_turnaround_cruises_within_months__leader_claims/
LIVERPOOL City Council has revealed that it plans to cater for turnaround cruises in three months’ time. Friday 3rd February

The shock announcement was made by council leader Joe Anderson, who said the city would pay back whatever cash is demanded to use it £20m taxpayer funded terminal to start and finish cruises.
The shipping minister last week rejected an offer by Liverpool to repay £5.3m of the taxpayer funding it was granted by the Government to lift the ban.
Independent experts are now advising ministers on how much Liverpool should repay after complaints from Southampton and other ports over unfair competition.
But the latest Liverpool announcement made no mention of the £9m of EU cash that it received to build its Pier Head terminal.
The public handouts were granted on the strict condition the City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal, which opened in 2007, was only used for stop-off cruises.
The audacious move was met with surprise and dismay in Southampton, which has fought Liverpool’s attempts to lift the restrictions on turnaround cruises before paying back all the public subsidy it received.
Councillor Anderson, who has just launched a bid to become the new mayor of Liverpool, claimed to have an agreement with the minister, and told the Liverpool Post: “I am very excited about what will be a new era for us.”
He added: “I expect Liverpool to be so popular for turnarounds we will be developing a second cruise terminal with Peel in its Liverpool Waters plans.
“I want to thank Mr Penning for being so attentive and giving us a fair hearing.
Southampton council leader Royston Smith said: "If he is now prepared to pay the entire public subsidy back then I can only say perhaps he should have offered that in the first place.”
The Department for Transport insisted nothing had changed, saying it was waiting for an independent assessment of how much state funding Liverpool should pay back.
Doug Morrison, ABP port director for Southampton, said repayment of UK funding could not be considered in isolation to the EU funding.
He said: “Our position has been straightforward all along. We have never had an issue with cruises starting and ending in Liverpool, but we believe the cruise industry should be run on a commercial basis and that there is no place for public subsidy of any kind.
"Full repayment of all the public money, including the European grants, should be a mandatory condition if the Liverpool terminal wants to compete with private investment for the turnaround cruise business.”

This article has 137 comments

Peel Holdings submit a planning application for a Cruise Liner Terminal in the Liverpool Waters Scheme.

So while Joe Anderson the Council leader is supporting the scheme for Liverpool Waters he is also openly supporting a Cruise Liner Terminal that Peel Holdings want to build..........that is a conflict of interests against the City's own Cruise Liner facility that is largely redundant and not fit for purpose.
Joe Anderson is openly supporting, saving the Cruise Liner operation, after the debacle where the Liverpool City Council cocked up the whole legal process of obtaining a going concern, for the city, by not having the ability to start and finish Ocean Cruise's from the Pier Head berthing, because European grant aid was used and this is in contravention to all EU competition laws.

Joe Anderson with his usual playground bully tactics then picked a fight, wrongly blaming Southampton, for blocking it when it is due legal process that stops it not another port. Imagine if European funding was used to build a car plant in North Wales that directly affected car plant assembly workers at Halewood.
This is what European laws are meant to stop from happening. If you have a city council who are dim enough not to understand this then the outcome is "A Cruise Liner Cock up" where it turns into a Navy jetty, instead of a usable facility.
So we put forward an idea to the local press to start a campaign in the Daily Post.
To campaign to Save Our Cruise Capacity, and this was taken up with great gusto by Peter Elson the local shipping correspondent.
Despite some terrible reportage by some at the paper, Peter has done quite well.............but he has not used all the facts. Wayne told him years ago that Peel Holdings who have the baggage handling and Customs facility at Langton Dock are set to undermine it all by building their own Cruise Liner Facility, and potentially making ours, that we paid, for out of public funds, redundant. 

So here is the application and the genie is now well and truly out of the bottle. Not only do they want to build a new cruise liner facility, but a new city centre, no wonder Grosvenor, who own Liverpool One (Grosvenor-pool) are worried.
Building right over Trafalager Dock that was filled in with the rubble from Chavasse Park, ironicly.
 Its about time that the Daily Post and Echo started telling the public as to exactly what is taking place and stopped the smoking mirrors.
One of the people who had great concern, about this matter, above and beyond the call of duty, was of course Peter Elson, who has now been pushed out by a dying regime who we cant trust with the truth.
This is most unfortunate and a detriment to anyone involved with Maritime heritage in the city. They could always rely on Peter to be first on board.
Southampton have requested that the European money is paid back by Peel Holdings the Port Authority..............but they will not do this while planning to build a Cruise Liner facility of their own, and of course they have the customs facility on their land that they wont give up.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/cruising-from-liverpools-langton-dock.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruise-from-liverpool.html
This is what we wrote, some time ago.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruise-from-liverpool.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/liverpools-cruise-liner-cock-up-its.html


This is what we wrote in 2009
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/cruise-wars-scouse-wedding-at-sea.html


Oh and this
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/cruise-control-naval-warfare-breaks-out.html
and this
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/council-cruise-liner-cock-up.html

Councillor Gary Millar-Set To Make A Packet On Parr Street Studio Sale.

I recall they were doing us all a favour..........saving an iconic piece of Liverpool history, Studio 2, The Parr Street Studios, once owned by Phil Collins, where Coldplay recorded, when in reality Gary Millar the councillor responsible for tourism, and his mates were out to make a packet for themselves.
Remember all the sob stories and how Warren Bradley and the ex Fib Dem council did all they can to help, with errr, saving the studios. Warren Bradley fast tracked him.
He turned up at One Park Worst looking like a baloon
http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/wondrous-place.html To hug the building nominated for the Carbuncle Cup award.  http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/hugs-from-mugs.html Correspondent had the measure of him.

Remember all the fuss when they wanted to buy the studios. Was public money used?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/05/25/capcult_parrst_feature.shtml

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/11994/phil-collins-plans-to-sell-parr-street-studios

Gary Millar then jumped ship from the Fib Dems and defected to the other side http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/04/26/senior-liverpool-councillor-gary-millar-defects-from-lib-dems-to-join-labour-100252-28582709/      Some may call him a two faced bar steward, but not I.


http://www.gigwise.com/news/17510/Protest-Against-Parr-Street-Studios-Closure-Takes-Place
There were public demonstrations to save the studios.

Now LIVERPOOL’S famous Parr Street recording studio and hotel complex is being sold with a price tag of just under £3m.
It was saved from closure in 2006 by a trio of businessmen – city councillor Gary Millar, Steve Macfarlane and Thomas Lang

Millar became business assistant to council leader Joe Anderson after defecting from the Lib-Dems to Labour in April this year.

They bought the studio in 2006 from a company called Hit and Run, which was part-owned by former Genesis lead singer Phil Collins.
Even Barry Manilow have all used the city centre facility down the years.
Cant think of a better reason to have closed it down!


The deal, believed to have been worth around £1.6m, was struck after a campaign against a plan by Hit and Run to close the studio and convert the building to luxury apartments.

Hit and run is the right name for this new crowd. What a profit margin. They will be selling the Picket next.
Now they are all set to coin it, and all on, and with, the godwill of the people they told they were doing us all a favour, when they got behind them as act of goodwill.


http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/search?q=gary+millar&updated-max=2009-11-03T19%3A05%3A00Z&max-results=20  Gary Millar now seems to be promoting the Cruise Cock up campaign.
Does he have a stake in that too.

COME BACK TREVOR JONES.

Liverpool Looting Their Own Community?

And its looting by the very council officials that are now empowered to clean up the "War Zones" that they trashed in the first place with a lack of respect and disdain for the people in their own area. You wont find this in the local press who turn the disturbances into an advertorial for Grosvenor.


A Council boss who described government cuts as "severe" and "daunting" received more than £2,000 a day for 39 days' work - equivalent to an annual package of more than £400,000.


Ged Fitzgerald, then new chief executive of Liverpool City Council, received salary and pension contributions worth £80,936 between February 7 and March 31 this year, according to the local authority's accounts.

The accounts also show that the outgoing chief executive, Colin Hilton , received £113,175 in salary for just two months in April and May last year.

Hilton also received £30,000 as "compensation for loss of employment" and a bonus of £26,396.

Eric Pickles, the local government minister, last year called Liverpool council "out of touch" after it advertised for a new executive at £197,000 a year - £50,000 more than the prime minister earns.

When told of Fitzgerald and Hilton's pay this weekend, Pickles said: "Good Lord. They had said they would be paying less to their executives."

Shortly after joining the council in February, Fitzgerald spoke publicly of the "whirlwind" he faced as the tried to balance the local authority's books.
"I don't think anybody really knew the size and severity of the challenge that we had around our budget," he said. "I literally .... sat in my office of the best part of a monthly with a calculator where only the minus button was working. It was very, very challenging.,
"I have every sympathy for all the members of staff .... It took us a lot of working through to balance the budget, and £91m out of a usable amount of £400m was a really big, daunting challenge".

A spokesman for the council denied that Fitzgerald was earning a salary of £400,000 a year, but was unable to confirm the true amount.
Matthew Sinclair director of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: "These eye-watering pay packages at Liverpool city council are a disgrace at a time when there is so much pressure on the finances of the council and the families who ultimately pick up the bill.
Taxpayers should not be asked to accept austerity on the front line but still see a gilded age in full swing in the town hall."

Colin "Cover Up" Hilton who was hand picked by Mike Storey and Warren "War Zones" Bradley should be paying a fine for the mess he created as Chief Executive allowing a billion pounds European Objective One Funds being squandered. 
All three of them were responsible for the Cruise Liner 'Jetty' Cock Up and the trashing of the World Heritage Site...........And whilst not condoning the disturbances what has happened to these people for allowing the destruction of huge areas of Toxteth such as the Welsh Streets. 

Liverpool Mercantile and Maritime City, What A Joke!

What a complete and utter mess we had a billion pounds of European cash and what did it get us.

A shopping centre at Grosvenor-pool and a ruined Pier Head. pic John Whittaker courtesy of Southampton Echo
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/06/03/cruise-company-abandoning-liverpool-says-city-has-not-got-its-act-together-100252-28811371/
Today Bobby Bartlett at The Daily Ghost reminds us what a shambolic state of affairs this is.

He says;
A LEADING cruise company boss said the company had pulled its liners out of Liverpool because the city had failed to "get their act together".

The ECHO and Post revealed last year how Fred Olsen Cruise Lines was pulling out of the city, despite practically selling out 7,700 berths on nine cruises in 2010.
Nigel Lingard, the marketing director of Fred Olsen, specifically pointed out Liverpool was not included while launching the company’s new 2012-13 brochure.
He said: "They still haven’t got their act together, so we are pulling out."
Liverpool council is currently lobbying the government to win the city the right to establish a full cruise liner terminal, allowing trips to start and finish on the River Mersey.

All the comments waffle on about all the same brainwashed stuff about Southampton blocking the use of the Cruise Liner Jetty as a going concern. Liverpool will be blocked from using this by European legislation on unfair competition rules that the Fib-Dem spivs who commissioned it thought they could ignore. And Peel want to build a facility in the proposed Liverpool Waters.........how convenient to have it not working!


Remember this was the same paper who proclaimed how wonderful it was that we had a new Cruise Turnaround Facility................without researching the facts, without revealing that Peel Holdings still own the road that leads to the jetty. 

Further reading or click the labels at the bottom of this post.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/cruising-from-liverpools-langton-dock.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruise-from-liverpool.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-have-peel-holdings-ever-done-for.html

Ferry Across The Mersey-Miserytravel.

The Crown Princess, one of the biggest Cruise Liners going, was in Liverpool last Thursday.......It rained all day,what a shame for all those American tourists it is said,spend

all their money in Liverpool when they get off the big ships down at the jetty.
In reality they go back to the ship for their dinner and it is very hard to get them to spend money in a city that they visit.
So the tour bus operators were lined up with the special deals of a hundred quid a go to visit the Cathedral. They can be whisked off to Strawberry Field to see the replica gates and stand in amazement at the Cavern Club....that was knocked down.
Or they could get on A Ferry...........well not with the balloons at Miserytravel running it they cant.
I wrote last week about the lack of a landing stage at The Pier Head and how £12,000,000 had been spent on a Terminal Ferry Carbuncle and we did not have a landing stage to depart the passengers from.
 Ferry Cross I was about this.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/neil-scales-of-miserytravel-where-is.html


So last week with a golden opportunity to show off the city and the disfigured waterfront to all those passengers, theycancelled all the ferries because the Crown Princess took up all the space needed at the Cruise Liner Jetty and they couldn't sail...................clever..........very clever............Miserytravel.
What an opportunity missed..what a joke.
Gerry Marsden has turned into Seasick Steve and recorded a blues version of On a Slow Boat To China.
You could not make this up.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/neil-scales-and-merseytravel-spend.html After spending 67 million quid on the Ferries this is beyond a joke now.

£4.2 million cutting up the U534 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-did-merseytravel-spend-42-million.html to...enhance the ferries. Herr Disector need to go!

 Was this reported in the local press http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/merseytravel-try-to-gag-us-we-will-not.html No wonder N eel Scales wants to gag us.

Neil Scales of Miserytravel-Where Is Our Mersey Ferry Landing Stage?

 I was down on the waterfront a couple of weeks ago playing with The Penny Lane Jazz Band. In all the excitement of playing a set of numbers for departing passengers I almost never caught the occasion of a Mersey Ferry stopping at the now redundant Cruise Liner Jetty. But I recall thinking why is that stopping there and not near the Terminal Ferry Carbuncle that N eel Scales, Herr Disector General of U534 commissioned with £12,000,000 of your money......strange I thought.

I then bumped into Rod Holmes in Princes Dock, who is always a nervous wreck when I see him. I told him we had just done a gig and he said he had just come from a Mersey Partnership party at the Albert Dock, how much did that cost us, I thought. 
"Did you notice the three Black Coffins on Mann Island" I asked
"Yes he replied as did numerous people who all seemed to say, Why did they obscure the views of the Three Graces".
Well at least he is honest and complimentary to the work we have done even though at several times I went head to head with him on planning matters. It is nice to know that an adversary can be pleasant and respectful to you knowing how hard you pushed them.  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/rod-holmes-came-in-my-shop-today.html
"You have left us a Carbuncle yourself" I said "At One Park Worst" he had already agreed to that one.

John Daley asked me to do a talk for the WEA about One Park Gone West but I was having a kidney stone done..........painfull, you don't want one of those.
So I agreed the week after to join them at the Terminal Ferry Carbuncle. David a respected colleague of mine joined us. The group were a nice old bunch and John let me fill them in about the council corruption that has taken place that now creates a pigs ear at the Pier Head.
I put a strong argument forward.
It is always nice to support the Workers Education Authority as its where I learnt to etch copper plates and hone my life drawing skills that I now find invaluable.
Then, while talking I noticed out of the window there was nothing there, the morons at Miserytravel had built a £12,000,000 Terminal Ferry Carbuncle that was voted the worst building of 2009 by Building Design, the architects weekly.................and they forgot to put a landing stage in for the Ferries. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html
Remember when it sank into the Mersey a decade ago and they have not replaced it yet.


What sort of plonker is organising this, Fred Carno could do a better job.


Considering the Isle of Man Ferries are also using the Cruise Liner Cock up facility, some-ones head should roll.......and its a very big head indeed N eel.   


As if confirmation that the MPTE is in a mess here is todays news reporting on a near fatal accident when a train derailed.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/05/24/merseyrail-ordered-to-pay-out-100-000-over-runaway-train-92534-28750348/ MERSEYRAIL was ordered to pay out more than £100,000 after a runway train careered onto the tracks.

The firm appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday after the empty train derailed near Kirkdale, in June, 2009 – but only after missing a working commuter train by five seconds.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/liverpool-european-capital-ofbad.html


More work on safety and less on Bad Sculpture please, Herr Disector.
Lets hope less attention to empire building in future. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-did-merseytravel-spend-42-million.html
And less on image building for Herr Disector
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/merseytravel-try-to-gag-us-we-will-not.html
No wonder they want to gag us because the more you look into Miserytravel, the more you find they are out of control.
I think we will ask the audit commission a few questions about them.

Wayne

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce-And Its Invested Interests. What You Dont Know Can Harm You.

Is the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce now a Collective Spiv for Peel Holdings?

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/liver-peel-conflicts-of-interest-begin.html

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce appoints top Peel surveyor to board

by Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Daily Post
May 3 2011
LIVERPOOL Chamber of Commerce has appointed a senior member of developer Peel’s team to its main board.
It will enable Peel development investment surveyor Ian Pollitt to forge closer links with the business community.
He said: “It is a great honour to be asked by the Chamber to join the main board, and I look forward to working closely with Chamber members over the coming years.
“These are both exciting and difficult times for the business community, and the Chamber is an increasingly important player.”
Liverpool Chamber chief executive Jack Stopforth said: “I am pleased to welcome Ian on to the board. The Chamber’s board prides itself on having many of the key business figures in Liverpool representing the city’s business community and Ian’s appointment will bring one of the city’s largest investors round the table to provide a valuable input into the Chamber’s management process.”
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2011/05/03/liverpool-chamber-of-commerce-appoints-top-peel-surveyor-to-board-92534-28622154/


So the Chamber of Commerce that cant even add its own books up, the LCC the organisation that lost £750,000 last year  http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/rex-makin/2011/01/28/rex-makin-things-seem-a-bit-stormy-at-liverpool-chamber-of-commerce-100252-28069770/ is thought of as being a organisation responsible for Liverpools Regeneration............more like a group of vested interested individuals, dole-ing out European Objective One money to each other.
Here is the crew that are promoting themselves and now it appears Peel Holdings through the new appointment.

The Earl of Derby DL (President) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-12860942


Neil Scales (Chair) - Merseytravel http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/neil-scales-and-merseytravel-spend.html

Vincent Owen (Vice-Chair)

David Wade Smith  
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/03/david-wade-smith-carping-on-with-same.html

Michael J Prince

Brian McCann

Dougal Paver

John Sutcliffe

Jack Stopforth - Chief Executive, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/trevor-jones-and-hole-in-ground.html

The Earl of Derby is on the board....whats his interest then? He was a trustee of NML when they decided to build the new Carbuncle in the WHS.............and what else is he connected with, lets see, Oh the proposals for Hatchfields Farm  http://www.historicnewmarket.co.uk/lord-derbys-disingenuous-statements.html where it is said Lord Derby’s statements on his proposed Hatchfield Farm Development 26th January 2010 despite a campaign against it called save historic Newmarket. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/01/13/get-on-board-liverpool-cruise-campaign-banked-by-earl-of-derby-92534-27977844/


Lord Derby at last came clean with the real reason for his plans to develop Hatchfield Farm last week in the Evening Standard (20th January). Save Historic Newmarket has been concerned since Lord Derby’s plans to develop Hatchfield Farm have come into the public domain that a number of statements have been made which are misleading.
Lord Derby is obtaining planning permission purely for financial reasons and does not as he says he has have the best interests of the racing industry at heart and a strong desire to deliver the government affordable housing targets. In the Evening Standard on 20th January: “Asked about his motives for the scheme, Lord Derby said’ Clearly Inheritance tax takes quite a hold on things, we have spent the past 15 years trying to improve the estate and clearly I carry quite a debt burden at the moment.”
Despite Lord Derby’s continual assurances that it is better to have a developer who understands racing, it has become clear after in depth studying of his planning application that he intends to sell Hatchfield Farm once he obtains permission:
Daily Telegraph, 18th December, Lord Derby is quoted saying: “And I would argue that it is far better to have someone who understands racing and its concerns working on this development than someone with no interest at all.”
On page 7, para 12.1 of this document (http://fhdcrw.onesuffolk.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D602021A-0C11-434C-8586-18229E298CEC/0/HSM85830.pdf)  contained within the 17-box planning application submitted by Lord Derby’s consultants to Forest Heath District in December , there was a line that indicates that Lord Derby will not be the developer but will sell Hatchfield Farm with planning permission to a developer.
“12.1 It is only possible to speak on behalf of Lord Derby and the Hatchfield Farm site. In this case, a planning application will be submitted shortly and it is envisaged that planning permission could be granted later in 2010, after the adoption of the Core Strategy. This will allow the site to be brought to the market in 2010/2011. For those reasons, the recession has had no impact on the delivery programme for Hatchfield Farm.”
Prior to the submission of his application, Lord Derby had publicly implied that the application was purely a housing development and had not raised the fact he was also intending it to be a significant mixed use commercial development. As well as 1,200 dwellings, the application comprises an 80 bedroom hotel, 27,000 square metres of offices, a cinema, restaurants,bars and retain outlets and a park and ride facility.
These will significantly increase all the traffic issues around Fordham road, where over 1,000 horses cross the roads daily and the urbanisation of rural Newmarket resulting in the demise of the town as HQ of racing. A summary of his application can be found on: http://www.historicnewmarket.co.uk/timetable-and-planning-application.html
Rachel Hood, Chair of Save Historic Newmarket said:
“Lord Derby has continually insisted that his motives are to help the government achieve its affordable housing targets and that he has insisted that he is the best developer for Newmarket as he is part of the racing industry. We have always disputed his “philanthropic” rationale and his developer credentials and plans. We are now clear that his motives are purely financial and he has no intention of being the developer - he plans to sell Hatchfield Farm once he has planning permission.
“I urge all residents of Newmarket to join Save Historic Newmarket Action Group in our efforts to stop this disastrous development for our town. Please come to the Newmarket Town Hall meeting on 1st February and sign our petition at http://www.historicnewmarket.co.uk/petition.html. ”

He is also on board the Cruise Liner Campaign which ensures he stays sweet with the local press


Neil Scales, Chairman http://www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/board-of-directors.html Self styled....Director General of Miserytravel. His resume goes.

Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General Merseytravel, which promotes an integrated transport network responsible for 300 million passenger journeys per year by train, bus, ferries and through the Mersey Tunnels - which provide cross river links 365 days a year.
Merseytravel, which controls assets of £1 billion, owns and operates the Mersey Tunnels. It is also the franchising body for the Merseyrail Electrics Concession and is unique in controlling a 25 year franchise for the locally controlled railway, managed on a devolved basis, with a record for delivering high quality service, running trains to 67 stations across the region.
Merseytravel also owns and operates the famous Mersey Ferries and associated tourism attractions, contributing more than £34 million a year to the region's tourism economy.
Under Neil Scales' leadership Merseytravel has been transformed into an award-winning learning organisation with the establishment of Merseylearn, a leader in its field and is the first PTA/PTE to achieve the ISO 14001
Before joining Merseytravel Neil Scales was an independent transport and engineering consultant working for the World Bank on projects across Europe. Educated at a technical school, he has a BSc in engineering, an MSc in Control Engineering and Computer systems, an MBA and is a Fellow of the three major engineering institutions.
Neil is Chair of pteg, the organisation that represents PTEs in England to government and is the elected President of European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM) which are a network of governments in European countries that are engaged in mobility management. Amongst his other responsibilities, he chairs ACT TravelWise which promotes sustainable travel, is a board member of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership and until recently, after nine years Chaired ITSO, the Integrated Smartcard Organisation
He was elected Chair of Liverpool Chamber in 2010
Now we are not saying anything is being carried out that is wrong, but............
What is a unelected public servant such as Herr Director N eel Scales, doing sitting with all these business people at the Chamber........someone needs to take a long hard look at the cosy relationship that is being played out right before your very eyes and ask Is this a conflict of Interests?
He should be getting the buses to run in time shouldnt he?

This is what he said in a letter to the Liverpool Daily Post
 
Full support

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/letters-to-editor/2011/02/28/worrying-changes-to-neptune-plans-92534-28246559/
LIVERPOOL Chamber of Commerce would like to extend our full support for the Liverpool Waters initiative. In light of the current recession and imminent public sector cuts, we are pleased to see the private sector drawing up this ambitious road map to the future.
Peel Holdings recently made a presentation to Chamber members, explaining the full scale and ambition of the project, the focus on local job creation and the visual impact of the development.

Following the meeting, several members cited examples of waterfronts that successfully marry the old with the new, including Copenhagen, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Seattle.
We would like to encourage Peel to be even bolder in its design aspirations for both building height and design.
Many of our members also made the trip to the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 and understand the global value of a spectacular waterfront. Liverpool’s waterfront is magnificent, and any development planned for the next generation must ensure that it remains an iconic symbol of great design and heritage for the future.
This project, we believe, has the potential to be a world-class exemplar of a modern waterfront city weaving around the historical footprint.
On the issue of heritage, we are pleased to note that Peel intend to bring the historic and architecturally interesting Jesse Hartley Clock back into use.
We would also recommend the approach adopted by Liverpool One, who implemented a policy of integration with the city by restoring all of the historical links to the old dock.
We would urge members of the region’s business community who wish to see Liverpool regain its rightful place as a world-class city, and see it prosper throughout the twenty-first century, to make their support known to both Peel and Liverpool City Council.

Neil Scales OBE, MSc, MBA, C Eng, Chairman, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce


David Wade Smith said all the same shit about Mann Island that decimated the World Heritage Site  http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/letters-to-editor/2011/02/28/worrying-changes-to-neptune-plans-92534-28246559/ and guess what he was the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce at the time.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce...............Are they Spivs for Peel Holdings. 

HMS Whimbrel-What Ever Happened To The Campaign To Save Her.

Here is a picture of Louise Ellman and John Livingstone lobbying Gordon Brown, the man who gave all our gold reserves away at two quid an ounce before the price lept to ten.
Then went on to sea lord over the biggest financial disaster of the century.
The Whimbrel was an important Black Swan Sloop,  playing a huge part in the Battle of the Atlantic.
 "Is there a secret war time headquarters in Martins Bank Buildings" someone recently asked me.
"Yes its that secret its shut down and no-one knows about it" I replied. Thats what we do with our heritage.

We support the campaign to bring the Whimbrel back to Liverpool and spend a fortune on it, even though the Canning Dock is now a World Heritage Blight with the three black coffins on Mann Island and it will loook out of place.
How come those in Liverpool Vision such as Joe Anderson got £12,000,000 to put a cut through the Pier Head and let in.....Canal Barges when we have no way to put a proper boat there. 
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/barge-watch-liverpool-canal-link.html
We could have had the U-534 only some tosser cut it up watched by the local maritime press who swallowed the excuse that they had no room for it, hook line and........stinker.
 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/u-534-cut-up-into-five-pieces-by-neil.html

HMS Whimbrel (U29) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Whimbrel_(U29) here is the wikipedia link.

Here is the last we heard from Oldham Hall Street blaming the Egyptian Government, for the ineptitude of the crusty old sea dogs trying to save her, watching as scrap, no I said scrap metal values quadrupled. Then complaining when the Egyptians up the price, and they asked them to remove the asbestos.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/02/22/hms-whimbrel-campaign-countess-mounbatten-plea-to-egyptian-president-to-save-warship-100252-25884781/  The last I heard.
COUNTESS Mountbatten of Burma has now written to President Mubarak of Egypt, asking if he can intervene in the deadlock over returning the last of Capt Johnnie Walker’s warships, HMS Whimbrel, to Liverpool, to become the only official British Battle of the Atlantic memorial.

The problem is caused by the Egyptian Defence Ministry having quadrupled the agreed price of HMS Whimbrel from £250,000 to £1m.

The negotiators for this rusting hulk full of asbestos used the Nigel Mansell approach to buying car insurance.
Err.... how much do you want, OK we will pay it, until they realised that the Arab nations negotiate as a way of life and don't just accept the first insurance quote like most of the British.
The Duke of Westminister had made a substantial donation, but his £250,000 was returned as it cant be left forever in a dormant bank account.
 Peter Elson who put a lot of his own time into this Daily Post Campaign, and is alright, wrote a Oldham Echo-ing piece in 2009, helping to evoke the spirit of the age.
AS THE merchant ship’s very soul groaned in its death throes, wallowing amid the pounding Atlantic swell on October 19, 1940, courageous men still combed her lower decks looking for life.
As they shone their torches around the bowels of the SS Assyrian, which was torpedoed while sailing from Halifax to Liverpool as part of Convoy SC7, they heard a cry.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/peter-elson/2009/03/30/peter-elson-could-hms-whimbrel-really-be-set-to-come-home-92534-23261140/
I had to ban John Livingstone from my shop, as I kept getting earache, he was just too heavy, but he means well, and wants a memorial to all those heroic sailors who saved the fate of Europe from the Nazis in the Battle of the Atlantic. Not just a closed room in Martins Bank basement.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/columnist/2010/03/11/hms-whimbrel-manxman-royal-iris-and-landfall-are-all-in-various-stages-of-rusting-or-sinking-100252-26006915/ Even big mouth Joe Riley joins in. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/columnist/2010/03/11/hms-whimbrel-manxman-royal-iris-and-landfall-are-all-in-various-stages-of-rusting-or-sinking-100252-26006915/
There is a bad monument to Johnnie Walker at the Pier Head by Tom Murphy. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/11/tom-murphy-dumping-bad-sculpture-on.html

So will we ever, in these economic times, caused by the very person who was asked to help the campaign, Gordon Brown, see another ship in the Liverpool Docks that we can call our own.
 Or is it just wading into deep water a sinking idea.

What happened to the Manxman. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/04/ss-manxman-its-over-its-scrap-and-its.html

But don't worry folks everything is alright we have saved the Cruise Liner Jetty and the embarrasment of planning a disaster.
It says so in the Daily Post and Echo today. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/12/10/chancellor-george-osborne-gives-new-hope-to-liverpool-cruise-terminal-plan-92534-27801487/  The headline reads.
Chancellor George Osborne gives new hope to Liverpool Cruise terminal plan
Quizzed by the Daily Post, the Chancellor hinted strongly that the decision – imposed by the previous Labour administration – would be overturned when the current government completes its review.
He described the block on cruises starting and finishing at the Pier Head as “rather odd”, giving a significant boost to the Daily Post’s campaign to lift the ban.
Talk about making a crisis out of a drama this is a front page.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/cruising-from-liverpools-langton-dock.html
Talk about Wading into deep water.
David Wade-Smith claims he saved the Cruise Liner jetty from the scrapheap at a Liverpool Vision board meeting. Thanks for that.
This is, in my opinion as the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, the moron, who promoted Mann Island development as beneficial to Liverpool, making it now look out of place to have boats there. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/david-wade-smith-not-right-choice-as.html


Joe Anderson is the longest serving board member of Liverpool Blind Vision. Mates with Wade-Smith for a long time eh Joe.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/12/09/liverpool-vision-to-be-taken-under-city-council-control-92534-27794467/ 
The same old people responsible for the cruise liner cock up are now getting on board.


Louise Ellman, the Riverside MP, who chairs the Commons transport committee, and part of the government who would not let cruises start at the Pier Head, in the article said:
 “I thought it was a very encouraging answer, on what is a vitally important issue.”
So we now have Louise Ellman trying to save the Cruise Liner Jetty, she cant even save her own son who was recently arrested. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/10/14/son-of-liverpool-mp-louise-ellman-held-by-police-in-meow-meow-drug-raids-92534-27467654/ 
She is now asking a Tory cuts reaper to help the get on board the Get On Board Campaign, and now its all fine because George Osborne describes the situation as "odd" and its all going to be saved.

Its all very odd to me, how the same old people are making the same old mistakes they always have, and are still getting away with it.

Mike Storey-Like A Bad Penny, He Always Turns Up.

Yes the old Dame is back, this time on the planning committee. He must have put himself there as a last Spiv-Dem act of defiance when they were booted out at the last elections.  It should be renamed the planting committee.
A SLEEPER FOR PEEL HOLDINGS, MAYBE? It seems possible the way this slippery old dame behaves.
He was mentored by Clever Trevor Jones, this is what he said when the eel retired to the Dukes estate in Chester. Cllr Storey said:
"Trevor is one of the outstanding politicians in the Liverpool political scene.

"He is a towering figure who has played a prominent part in the city's politics over several decades.
"Trevor laid the foundations for the huge strides made in Liverpool over the past 10 years."
He said Sir Trevor was instrumental in building bridges with Michael Heseltine when he was sent to Liverpool to help the city after the Toxteth riots.
"They became quite good friends, and that relationship helped to put in place a number of things that we now take for granted like the Albert Docks."
Cllr Storey was deputy leader under Sir Trevor's leadership.
"Every Sunday evening I would go to their house in Queen's Drive, we would natter away and when Doreen [Sir Trevor's wife] had gone to bed we would open the red wine.
"He's a consummate politician and also a consummate winner of elections.
"He is the forefather of modern political campaigning, he introduced the idea of monthly newsletters.
"He taught me everything I know about political campaigning.
"He was a hard nosed politician and a hard nose businessman, but he was also very caring.
"There is a huge number of examples of him helping people with humanity and kindness that people don't know about."
http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/09/tributes-to-sir-trevor-jones-t.html
Well not quite Mikey, but we can see where you learned all your slippery tricks cant we. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/city-has-been-run-by-spivs-and-gamblers.html

This week after his Spiv-Dem council declared no more bars on Lark Lane and Allerton Road here he is twisting it at the planting committee meeting after Florence Gersten made a defiant stand.  But committee member Cllr Mike Storey said:             “In an ideal world, we would like high streets to have grocers and bakers and delis, but life is not like that any more.

“This property has been empty for eight years and God forbid it’s empty for another three or four years because next we’ve got Save Our City quite rightly complaining it’s been left to rack and ruin.”
Planning officer John Collins, recommending approval, said: “We recognise the concerns of people, but the issue of licensing is not one before us here today.
“We are just here to consider the use as a cafe and wine bar, and if alcohol is to be taken then that’s an issue for another committee.
“It’s a difficult decision, I appreciate that, but given the history of the site and the latest assessment, we are recommending permission be granted.” http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/10/27/new-wine-bar-on-liverpool-s-lark-lane-approved-despite-bar-ban-92534-27549386/


The reality for Mike "Badpenny" Storey is unfortunately.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/mike-storey-destroyed-world-heritage.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/wayne-colquhoun-asks-will-alsop.html Ask Will Alsop what he thinks about Storeys involvment.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/05/mike-storey-he-is-guilty-of-liverpools.html
Or try this one or better still click the label at the bottom of this page to see how it all pans out, read the truth instead of the shit you used to get from Mike Storeys mate Larry Neild and co at the Daily Council in Oldham Hall Street.

This is the sod that did all the World Heritage planning blight, and in the context of a tedious campaign currently being run by the Daily Ghost to save our Cruise Liner "Cock Up" Terminal it must be remembered that it was he who nailed the coffin down, it was he who seeded the mess that the city now finds itself in. He was the Captain on Deck when it was signed and sealed. It was his watch that accepted the European grants and told us all we should thank him for it.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/10/26/top-liverpool-names-back-daily-post-get-on-board-cruise-campaign-92534-27541800/

Just why did him and Bernie Turner fall out will we ever know, or is that buried by the local press too.

You know like a bad penny, no matter how hard you rub, you just cant get the scum off. 

Tony McDonough And Yet Another Grosvenor Advertorial

What is the purpose of Liverpool’s local press? Is it to create profiles for grey suited lemons?
There was a time when interesting people were interviewed by journalists with an understanding of what the public want to read about.
Not anymore its boring bland greys who just pump it, and get pumped up, by business correspondents who never attempt to add up their own figures, check their stories, just believe what any tacky property developer or council Spiv tell them. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/city-has-been-run-by-spivs-and-gamblers.html

That may seem a bit hard, no, it’s not hard enough.
Grabbing any news item they are now reporting (sic) it has come to writing about a new deli that opens, its that bad. This combined with the lack of scrutiny to any new scheme, unaware of the cultural effects or the economic, just jobbing off their responsibility to the public, claiming they are understaffed. It is like the blind leading the blind, literally. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/is-bill-gleeson-peel-holdings-spiv.html

The Daily Post business team has had too many free lunches from too many Spivs in my opinion.

You would think that the sun shines in Liverpool, Mark Thomas lives on the Wirral so does Alistair MacRray. http://www.ldpeditor.merseyblogs.co.uk/2010/09/sorry_seems_to_be_the_hardest.html If it effects them maybe there is a story.
 Have any of them been to Toxteth to look at the dejection? Have they bothered to look around when on a Liverpool or Everton F.C freebie at Anfield? http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/louise-ellman-mp-dame-of-dereliction.html
No, they couldn’t have done they are too busy acting as “PLUMPERS” for Grosvenor and the likes.

The Daily Post with a declining readership decides to put all its eggs in one basket and become a business plumper, just as we hit a recession. Do they know it’s a recession in the Oldham Hall Street offices? No. Because it is the blind leading the blind, led by property dealers and council spivs. They have become Peel Poodles, unable to see the regions takeover by a private company.
Having to balance news items, they say, my arse, it is ignorance, an ignorance and an ability to shirk the responsibilities that the public expect.
How were things in Shanghai Mr Thomas, who paid for that trip, An Expo costing several million, an expo were we, the public subsidised Peel Holdings who paid in the region of £200,000 to be there, promoting Manchester and its ship canal while building Port Salford and heavily lobbying for the new Mersey crossing so industry doesn’t have to be in Liverpool. We paid the other £2,000,000 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-daily-post-and-echo-mouthpiece-for.html Port Salford barging jobs out of the city to Salford, I advised the Daily Post and Echo of this fact, they claimed they didn’t even know.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/liverpeel.html

It’s a sham. It only serves to create ignorance in the minds of the public while the true business reality is hard.  http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/10/21/city-developer-beetham-s-1bn-blackfriars-scheme-put-into-administration-by-royal-bank-of-scotland-92534-27516180/  Remember all the plumping for Beetham.

So we see another Grosvenortorial about how wonderful all the carbuncle flats on Chavasse lawn are, and how £25,000,000 of sales have been done there, when the reality is, you should have checked your figures Mr McDonut, call yourself a business editor, your wages are paid by the people who buy the chips that are in the paper, not Grosvenor.

Lets work it out for you shall we. At £94,000 a flat on average, with four grand of free furniture thrown in, they would have to sell over 200 apartments out of 250 odd. This combined with the fact that most of them are rented out to the people who were in Cornhill when the Crane collapsed on the block and they had to be rehoused. It is at best bad maths.

Well the devil make fool’s of idle men.
 http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/working-day/2010/03/17/liverpool-daily-post-working-day-grosvenor-project-director-guy-butler-92534-26047288/

Try another take by Correspondent.

http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/02/putting-con-into-confidence.html


While other more worthy news is buried by a system that stifles public perception.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/08/trinity-smoking-mirror-burying-dynamite.html

This article has been sabotaged at the highest levels in the paper after David Bartlett, The Prisoner, wrote it up. I apologise to David for assuming he never wrote it up but he has to ask himself questions about the credibility of his employers Trinity “Smoking” Mirrors on Oldham Hall Street who “muff” the truth.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/cruise-wars-liverpool-gets-full-naval.html

Though he did get it so wrong with picking a fight with Southampton.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruise-from-liverpool.html

As did the shabby reporters who didn’t question the fact we were getting a Naval jetty and “PLUMPED” it up for the Spiv-Dem council, telling us how a momentous occasion had unfolded. It just goes on and on and on.
 It needs to stop.

Come back Jane Wolthamstone all is forgiven, yes its that bad.

Cruising From Liverpools Langton Dock Is Scrap.

How can they do this to us. Cruise from Liverpool at the World Famous Langton Docks. What a disgusting joke. Made worse by the fact that Liverpool City Council under the stewardship of Mike Storey commissioned a new Cruise Liner Terminal that no ships can use. That has turned into a naval jetty. Take a look from the helm of the view we as a city present to our clients. A pile of scrap. This combined with the one and a half hour manouvre to get out the docks, and all this after the drive through Peels empire of mangled wire and concrete quays. Where a few ships that have not bypassed us down the Manchester Ship Canal load. It is a disgrace, a laughing stock. It is no wonder Fred Olsen is to pull out. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news//tm_headline=top-cruise-line-fred-olsen-to-axe-liverpool-from-its-schedule%26method=full%26objectid=26531292%26siteid=100252-name_page.html You really can't blame them they have hung on for years, and made a packet. The recent Irish Jig, as they term it, on the Boozicca as a Irish tour guide termed it, was 108% full. Meanwhile the new council leader sets out a new vision for the blind Quangi, who couldn't see this one coming http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/05/26/liverpool-vision-relocates-to-10th-floor-of-the-capital-92534-26522202/ Liverpool "Lack of" Vision, the public Quango. Do none of these idiots use the facilities of Liverpool or even ask the advice of anyone who knows about shipping. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/05/12/cruise-terminal-turnaround-debacle-is-unacceptable-for-business-says-new-liverpool-council-leader-92534-26426923/ This is what Joe has to say but in reality. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/06/11/merseyside-council-budgets-to-be-slashed-by-more-than-25m-92534-26631489/  Liverpool is facing a fnding crisis with a Culture of Capital hangover. Southampton is Fred Olsens busiest port.

This is what The Southampton Echo have to say about it. Gareth Lewis may be one column short of a full article but I cant imagine the local press in Southampton allowing such a Cruise Liner Cock Up to happen.

By Gareth Lewis » Business Editor

LIVERPOOL’S ambitions of winning a slice of Southampton’s lucrative cruise business have been torpedoed after a major cruise line quit the city saying it was too hazardous.
Fred Olsen’s decision to pull up the gangplank on its cruises over safety fears was branded “a devastating blow to Liverpool’s bid to become the major cruise base for northern passengers”
by the city’s paper.
Ship pilots on the Mersey docks said “there was too much risk” of an accident when manoeuvring in windy conditions, leading Fred Olsen to weigh anchor after the middle of 2011.
The move, estimated to cost city coffers £4m, comes despite the popularity of the Liverpool operation, which saw Fred Olsen almost sell out its 7,700 berths on nine cruises this year.
The news will delight leaders of Southampton’s cruise industry who have warily eyed its bid to ramp up the business, fearing it would lure away passengers and liners currently travelling from here. It further boosts Southampton’s cruise credentials, with the city already the biggest turnaround cruise port – where sailings begin and end – in Northern Europe.
At just 28,000 tons, Fred Olsen’s Boudicca is a fraction of the size of the giant ships, such as the 154,407-ton Independence of the Seas, that daily visit Southampton without difficulty.
Southampton is also Fred Olsen’s busiest port.
Nigel Lingard, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines marketing director, said: “There will be no more cruises from Liverpool after mid-2011 and none in 2012.
“We feel too nervous about the current docking facility to keep it in our programme. Until we feel more secure about turning around in the city, we do not plan to come back.
“Our team do not feel comfortable with a ship based here as matters stand. It is too hazardous.
“The pilots can easily say to us at any time there is too much risk in controlling the ship in a 20-knot wind.
“That will then throw the whole cruise schedule out.”
It’s not the first blow to Liverpool’s ambitions, with its Langton Dock cruise terminal, which is surrounded by a scrapheap, voted as one of the UK’s worst by passengers.
A bid to use the new Liverpool Cruise Terminal for money-spinning turnaround cruises was thrown out by the Government following fierce industry protests because it was built with public funds on the condition it be used only for calling cruises.  http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/business/shipping/shippingnews/8193577.Rival_cruise_port_competition_is_sunk/

Cruise from Liverpool

It would really be nice to support my city, no-one wanted the regeneration of Liverpool more than I but the way those in power in the city have and are behaving makes me embarrassed to be a Liverpudlian. Nowhere is it more evident than,in what Southampton Echo has called cruise wars. Yes Liverpool are behaving like thieving scousers, its hard to admit it, only its not the populace, its the polititions making a show of us with their tactics. Only this time they have run into big burly sailor type, a seaport with a history for no-nonsense. And look what happens when they start 'frigging in the rigging' with Southamptons sailors and their cruise trade. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/cruise-wars-scouse-wedding-on-sea.html   So its always interesting to get the other side of the story which the Oldham Hall Street brigade wont do, so imbedded are they with Peel Holdings and their plans, instead they try to sell the idea to an unwitting public http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/03/19/liverpool-city-council-in-cruise-terminal-swap-deal-plan-with-peel-92534-26065120/ and we get Peeled.  
http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/03/peels-press-gang-plan.html


So here is a Southampton take.
By Gareth Lewis » http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/business/shipping/shippingnews/5077150._Port_wars__resume/

A REPEAT of the bad-tempered port wars between Southampton and Liverpool looks to be back on the cards after the northern city revived controversial plans to use taxpayer-funded facilities to muscle in on the lucrative cruise business.
“It stinks,” says port director Doug Morrison after learning Liverpool still hoped to use its Pier Head landing stage, which was built with £21m of public funds, despite the idea being rejected by the Government in December last year.
The plan to use the Pier Head terminal on the iconic Mersey waterfront as a start and finish base for liners, known as turnaround cruises, is seen as a threat to Southampton’s core cruise business as the largest base for such trips in northern Europe.
It’s galling for Southampton docks owner ABP, which has invested £41m of private money in its cruise facilities in the past five years.
The Department for Transport (DfT) decided against relaxing its rules on publicly funded competition to allow a full turnaround facility at Liverpool’s Cruise Terminal on the grounds that it would have an “unfair and adverse effect” on the market.
Now officials from the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, owned by developer Peel, are again in discussions with the city council to transfer cruises from its existing turnaround facility, a tatty dock in Bootle, to Pier Head.
Now, however, Peel says the move would just be temporary, while it presses ahead with ambitious plans to build its own cruise terminal as part of the £5.5billion skyscraper Liverpool Water scheme. That scheme, the largest urban regeneration project in the UK, is likely to take years, with a planning application not due to be submitted until later this year.

In a bid to appease concerned rivals they say the number of turnaround cruises would remain the same, but ABP is unimpressed arguing if they wanted better facilities “they should have invested in them years ago”.
Mr Morrison said: “It’s nonsense. It’s the same proposal again only described as temporary.
“They are determined but ultimately if they want to use the publicly-funded terminal then let them pay back the £21m and they can start using it.
“I think this is a threat to all the other cruise ports, to the Tyne, Holyhead, Harwich and Dover and it’s a threat to Southampton. It’s a distortion of the marketplace.
“We will be lobbying for them to use the existing facility. They should have invested in their facilities years ago.”

Southampton Cabinet member for economic development Councillor Royston Smith said: “Whatever way they try to do it it’s still wrong. If you’re using public subsidy on a commercial basis it’s just wrong.

“I am surprised and disappointed. You can’t keep asking the question again and again until you get the answer you want.” Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said: “The key point is whether Liverpool is still using public money to compete with Southampton’s port. This move certainly appears to be against the spirit of the Government’s ruling and I will be speaking urgently with ABP and the Government to ensure Southampton in no way loses out because of it.”

Oh and this is what Peel Holdings do with our heritage..let it rot while Oldham Hall street tell us how wonderful they are.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/01/liverpool-waters-developer-peel-unveils.html
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-have-peel-holdings-ever-done-for.html

Liverpool Waters Developer Peel Unveils Proposals.

For the whole period of two days now thats public consultation for you. The horrendous idea to build Shanghai-On-Sea is to be thrust to the public for their views.....and then they wont take a blind bit of notice what anyone thinks. There are plans to site a Cruise Liner facility http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/cruise-wars-liverpool-gets-full-naval.html in the massive proposed development which will compete against its own scheme called Wirral Waters. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/peeled-in-front-of-our-noses.html Are they running the place, and are the Trinity "Smoking" Mirror group http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-daily-post-and-echo-mouthpiece-for.html  really telling the true story of Liver-Peel. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/liverpeel.html
Its exhibition near the city’s MetQuarter, at 9 Whitechapel from 10am-5pm tomorrow and Saturday, will feature the latest scale model of the draft project and exclusive new images, to encourage visitors to offer their views on Peel’s ambitious plans that could take up to 30 years to complete.
They say;  It is being designed to make a significant contribution to the economic resurgence of Liverpool and its wider area, with new and existing residents and increasing the number of visitors to the city.
I say: Its being designed to maximise profits for its tax exile owners who should undergoe a competition commission inquiry into thier stranglehold of the region. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/liver-peel-conflicts-of-interest-begin.html
The local papers says  Peel’s vision is for the waterfront area to become a base for a substantial workforce and residents, delivering many thousands of new jobs and homes. Part of the site lies in Liverpool’s World Heritage site and the plans are being carefully designed to protect and conserve the historic features of the area. Peel’s vision is for the waterfront area to become a base for a substantial workforce and residents, delivering many thousands of new jobs and homes. Part of the site lies in Liverpool’s World Heritage site and the plans are being carefully designed to protect and conserve the historic features of the area.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/01/28/liverpool-waters-developer-peel-unveils-latest-proposals-92534-25703283/2/
The project is to be exhibited for six months at Shanghai’s World Expo 2010, where Liverpool will have a dedicated pavilion with the aim of attracting international and national investment for Liverpool. Peel development director Lindsey Ashworth said: “We urge all who live or work in the Liverpool area to come to our consultation event.
“This is a great opportunity to see first hand what the scheme now entails and to find out what progress has been made over the past 12 months. Peel will welcome questions and comments.”


We say anyone can put a couple of perspex cones on a sheet of plywood and con the public if any turn up in the two days they have to join the the .........consultation. They have turned Princes Dock into Milton Keynes-On-Sea and now on Central docks in the WHS, Shaghai-On-Sea awaits

Liverpools Pier Head Another Carbuncle Planned. This Time its Next to The Liver Buildings.

Have a look at the picture on the right and guess where it is for. Milton Keynes I hear you say or some new town from the 60s. No you would be wrong. This is plot 7 Princes Parade and in effect it is next to the Liver Buildings. The artists impression is from where the Terminal Ferry Carbuncle is now. We are turning into the Carbuncle Capital. This building has already had planning permission passed. The architects said it was Mondrian esque I told the committee Mondrian died in 19966 and its already 40 years out of date. http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=cries-of--sacrilege--as-first-five-star-hotel-is-approved%26method=full%26objectid=18254253%26siteid=50061-name_page.html 06F/1371. I was there arguing when Liverpools "Dame of Disaster" tried to stop me speaking, she who has now buggered off to live on the Duke of Westministers Estate just outside Chester. She rubber stamped it. I recieved a planning letter on the 24th December 09 Planning application no 09F/2610 this was strangely described as to extend extant planning permission for said site. I knew the site, but how many others would see the importance of it where is plot 7 Princes Parade, it could be anywhere. I was just packing up for the Xmas and telephoned a collegue in disgust of the dodgy tactics employed by the planners. Chris Ridland was dealing with it, how come everything he deals with on behalf of Riechmarshal Lee seems to be dealt with in a suspect manner. The applications objections had to be in by 11 January. Most people will not be back to work till the 5th January...how very convenient I thought. Then we had the worst weather for 30 years and the whole of the country came to a standstill. If you want a contentios application dealt with its Xmas here in Liverpool. They know the score. The planners are confident that no-one will be paying attention. I made some further inquiries and complained this is Ridlands reply:

I can confirm that planning application (09F/2610) is applying to extend extant planning permission (06F/1371), which was due to expire on the 18th December 2009. This latest planning application (09F/2610) was received by the Local Planning Authority on the 17th December 2009.

I trust this is of assistance.
Regards,
Chris Ridland
Planning
So the planning app is about to run out and the day before it is resubmitted the day before, and within a week the applications are sent out in a speedily put together excersise. But the way it is handled in truth is a manner more akin to a third world country than a world heritage site city. I informed Unesco who are doing their usual silly dance around the English Heretics advisers.

In a city run by spivs we cant expect anything else. You can object http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Environment/Planning/ If you dont the spivs will get away with it.

Ben Scofield at the Daily Ghost makes an effort today telling us that the developers dont have any cash and have not filed any accounts and the Directors risk getting struck off, see link below. He writes
A LANDMARK waterfront complex is in jeopardy after its developers failed to secure finance for the scheme more than two years after buying the plot.

Lead Asset Strategies (Liverpool), the company that owns the Princes Parade site, could also be struck off the Companies House Register in a matter of weeks. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/01/27/landmark-liverpool-waterfront-development-in-jeopardy-after-developers-fail-to-get-finance-92534-25693570/  

Only in Liverpool could a crap building be plonked in a WHS in front of the Liver Buildings our symbol of the city. They have destroyed the views of Three Graces from the Strand, From the Sea and now for all the visiting Cruise Liners that are earmarked to stop at the Cruise Liner Jetty(another cock up) they are about to add to the mess at Princes Dock, it really does resemble, Milton Keynes-On-Sea.

Some History

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17159104%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=five-star-vision-of-city-s-top-notch-dockside-hotel-name_page.html

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=opening-to-all-a-bird-s-eye-city-view%26method=full%26objectid=18086130%26page=1%26siteid=50061-name_page.html

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17112292%26method=full%26siteid=50061-name_page.html