Liverpool Escapes UNESCO World Heritage Site Deletion-By The Skin Of Its Teeth.

Today in Krakow during the 41st World Heritage Committee meeting we avoided deletion.......for another year. By the skin of our teeth, it was close.
No-one at Unesco it seems, really gives us a hope but on the list we are, for another year.
They have given us one last chance.
Icomos representative was scathing of the State Party with overall responsibility but unable to control Joe Anderson.
Lets round up all the useless suspects. Henry Owen John of Historic England was there.
And surprisingly Malcolm Kennedy in Mayoral chains pretending to be the real Mayor.
Malcolm Kennedy was largely responsible for the Lime Street disaster that saw the Futurist demolished.
Here's one we did earlier. Is Malcolm Kennedy a developers consultant

Heres another one we did earlier.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/councillor-malcolm-kennedy-manipulating.html

A statement was read out by Gerry Procter ......who.....a council plant paid for by public funds to make it look like there is support and he is part of the Cabal.

Poland and Philippines delegates really fed up with Liverpool all had given up on Liverpool.
Finland wanted to support us but we really looked like a World Heritage basket case.
 Like a third world country.
The Ivory Coast was removed from In Danger list after working with UNESCO.

WHY ARE WE IN THIS SITUATION?

Reclaim St Luke's Church and Preserve It As A Blitz Memorial........Before Its Too Late.

Why have the public now been barred from St Luke's Church and Gardens?
We are worried that, the people who should be in charge of our historic buildings, and St Luke's is registered with The Imperial war Museum as a memorial to the blitz, are being Gerry-Mandered by Malcolm Kennedy and his foolish idea of regeneration.

 I.E Lime Street, which he was in charge of.

Read about some of Malc's previous work here.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/save-futurist-from-neptune-developments.html

The public do not want st Luke's, our church, our blitz memorial to be carved up as a trendy wine bar.
Or worse remember Lawrence Kenwrights idea for a wedding venue..

The Church and Gardens have been closed for repair for a year now.
So why aren't we the public allowed access again?

SAVE ST LUKES from another Malcolm Kennedy Regeneration disaster.

Visit   http://www.bombedoutchurch.com/

Save The Futurist-From Neptune Developments. And Liverpool City Council Spivs.

Its that man again Malcolm Kennedy, the property developers friend, and this time its Neptune Developments he is helping. Neptune who trashed the World Heritage Site with the Three Black Coffins on Mann Island. (Did one of Neptune's Directors work at the City Council planning department)? This time Malc has taken time off from his main job working for Peel Holdings to do some part time work for Neptune.

We say; You cant have a city council that are property developers.

There is a conflict of interests.

But this is Liverpool where Mayor Joe Anderson has allowed the line between acceptable development that benefits the city, and down right money making schemes for dodgy property developers to become blurred. Remember the scheme whereby the city council sold St Andrews Church to a convicted fraudster for a quid. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/st-andrews-church-sold-to-convicted.html

Previously we wrote about the Lime Street decay.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/call-this-regeneration-liverpool-lime.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/david-bartlett-takes-city-council-to.html


David Bartlett recently wrote
A PROJECT to revitalise Liverpool’s rundown Lime Street area has taken a major step forward.
Liverpool council is in the process of agreeing a deal to take over a series of properties on the eastern side of the street between The Crown and The Vines.
Liverpool-based Parkmoor Group has agreed to sell its interests to allow the city to create a large single development plot.
And the council is also in talks with Anglo Irish Bank, which controls the historic derelict former Futurist cinema, after its owner Futurist Development Limited went into liquidation.
The scheme is by Regeneration Liverpool, a joint venture between regeneration specialist Sigma Inpartnership, Neptune Developments, and Liverpool council.
Architects Broadway Malyan, who designed the three granite block buildings at Mann Island, were asked to draw up some initial ideas including a series of offices, shops and student flats.
The project is estimated to be worth around £38.7m, with the potential to create 310 jobs.
Cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, said: “This is one of the key projects for Liverpool that I want to see happen.”
A campaign is currently running to save the facade of the Futurist, which first opened in 1912, but has sat abandoned since 1982.
But Cllr Kennedy said he was unable to give a firm commitment that the facade could be saved because the exact condition of the building was not yet known. Much of the building behind the facade is in a major state of disrepair.
He said: “I have given a commitment to the campaigners and their architectural advisers to involve them once the proposals are drawn up.”
Regeneration Liverpool’s business plan reveals that an application has been made to the Homes and Communities Agency for funds to acquire the Futurist.
The report also states that a heads of term agreement has been reached with Parkmoor about buying the firm’s properties on the eastern side of Lime Street.
The cost of buying up properties to assemble the site will cost an estimated £6m.
Architects BDP, who devised the blueprint for Liverpool One, have also been asked to draw up a masterplan for the Adelphi Hotel area of Lime Street which leads into Brownlow Hill.
The study will look at potential ideas for developing key sites in the area such as the Mount Pleasant car park.
The business plan estimates that a planning application could be submitted as early as the summer for the first phase, with work possibly starting next year.


http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2013/04/15/progress-in-plan-to-revamp-liverpool-s-run-down-lime-street-100252-33173162/


One commenter says

10:19 PM on 15/4/2013
I was initially delighted to hear of the intended revamp of Lime Street. But, when it became clear that there would be a direct involvement of Neptune Developments, my happiness soon dampened. This company have the knack of gaining access to high profile locations, and blighting them with buildings of banal mediocrity, which detract from what is already there. Their development on Brownlow Hill now means we are denied views of the iconic Victoria Building from across the university campus.. The nondescript clutter around the Catholic Cathedral is theirs. as is the carbuncle at Mann Island, along with the Lego monstrosity at the mouth of the Mersey at New Brighton.. They did Queens Square and now they will do Lime St.. Well and truly

another calling themselves Dubliner says

3:16 PM on 15/4/2013
More sloppy journalism from the Echo. The Anglo Irish Bank hasn't existed since it was wound down in 2011 being one of the major players in Ireland's Banking Crisis. Now either the journalist meant it's successor the IBRC or more likely the Allied Irish Bank (AIB).
Echo please double check your facts before reporting them, your mistakes are becoming far too common place these days.


So why are the City Council buying land for property developers?

Kings Waterfront Exhibition Centre and Hotel-More Boring Bland Boxes Next to the Albert Dock.

Today we reproduce a recent extract from Correspondent see Scriblings Jottings and Musings on the right hand roll of bloggers we trust.
Writing about the horrendous plans for Kings Dock Exhibition Centre, thrust on the public by Malcolm Kennedy and his willing lap dog Marc Waddington........where do they get these comedians from.
Here is one they did earlier. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/cllr-malcolm-kennedy-spins-marc.html
And another http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/councillor-malcolm-kennedy-manipulating.html
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/peel-holdings-running-liverpool-city.html


What has Malcolm Kennedy actually done?


The awful plans look like they are done by a student and here is an extract from a recent email and guess what they are being touted by a graduate.

" You will no doubt be aware of the proposals to develop an Exhibition Centre and Hotel at the Kings Waterfront, to the south of ACC Liverpool.

As you have an interest in the adjoining land, we would like to invite you to come to our public consultation exhibition, which is being held on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th February at ACC Liverpool. This is a pre-application consultation to which members of the public and local residents and businesses are being invited. The details are included in the attached invitation. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information regarding the project or the event."

Kind Regards

Ian Ford

Graduate Planner

Monday, February 04, 2013


Metropolis On The Mersey



One can only surmise that Big Al Machray & his minions at the Oldham Echo saw the silent movie classic Metropolis some years back & decided that Fritz Lang's 1927 production ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8Ba9rWhUg  ) should act as the blueprint for the city of Liverpool & its port in particular.

That's the only conclusion to be drawn from the fawning adoration bestowed by Oldham Hall Street on yet another plan to "transform" the Kings Dock (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2013/02/01/futuristic-masterplan-to-transform-liverpool-s-king-dock-revealed-100252-32722917/
 ). A fetish for a futuristic dystopia would normally be sufficient reason to consult a psychiatrist. In Big Al's case, however, it qualifies him to edit a paper whose capacity for self-delusion & denial would impress Saddam's former spin doctor, Comical Ali.

The Echo's piece has been penned by Marc Waddington, who enthuses:

"Up to 1,000 jobs could be created by the new masterplan for the waterfront area, which will include apartments, offices, hotels & leisure complexes."

Here we go again with Echo buzz phrases. "Up to" a thousand jobs, you say? So it could be considerably fewer than that. Going by previous instances, it would be sensible to view that phrase as, well, imaginative. Additionally, the use of "could" is a sure indication that Oldham Hall Street is doing its usual trick of whistling in the wind while the icy blast of a triple-dip recession, coupled with the cuts, freezes Merseyside more effectively than any meteorological factors.

Then there's the artist's impression of what the Kings Dock "could" (copyright Oldham Hall Street) look like, &, yes, it is truly hideous, a fact not lost on a few commenters. "BigEnd" (nice moniker) declares:

"This looks like the lovechild of the Malmaison Hotel and the new museum. With a dash of DNA from the ferry terminal. Please -- are there any architects out there with some sense of style? We deserve better than this."

Yes, BigEnd, we certainly do. Alas, we won't get it while the Oldham Echo champions such monstrosities.

Another commenter (Stewart f43) asks:

"Is it just me, or do these designs look like something out of Star Wars? 'Brutalist' isn't the expression for this -- try 'plain ugly'. Was nothing learned from the awful old Pier Head design?"

To which one must sadly reply that nothing will ever be learned by the latter-day Bourbons who hail such grotesque vanity projects as graceful adornments to the city's Botoxed waterfront.

So who is behind this plan that the Echo is keen to promote? Well, it's the work of the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), whose chief executive Deborah McLaughlin is quoted in Waddington's piece. However, she cautions:

"No specific figure has been put on investment in the overall development plan, but it is likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds."

That's conveniently ambiguous, wouldn't you say? Moreover, it beggars belief to view the project itself as viable in the near to mid-term future when the economy is, at best becalmed in the ConDems' Doldrums, & any lending from the banks for infrastructure projects is a bit like Liverpool's chances of a Champions League place: nice in theory, but impossible in practice.

The role of messenger is crucial in cases such as this. As messenger, the Oldham Echo yet again shows a dispiriting willingness to publish what is effectively a puff-piece for HCA. The Echo is well-versed in promoting the interests of unaccountable, unelected business interests & their schemes to "regenerate" the region (do I hear the name Peel Holdings faintly in the distance?). That Waddington's article is a puff-piece is apparent from reading HCA's own blurb about the project (http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/plan-transform-kings-dock-liverpool ), the use of terms such as "transform" & "masterplan" eerily evident in the HCA piece as well as a suitably supportive quote from Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, the city council's cabinet member for regeneration. Cllr Kennedy has been vocal in his view that the "development" of the Lime Street area has been good for the city. Those with aesthetic taste would beg to differ.

The waterfront has been disfigured by supposedly grand projects which say more about the backers of such schemes than any PR blurbs could hope to obscure. Those schemes have veered between farce & wilful civic vandalism (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/mann-island-has-structural-problems.html
& http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/unesco-state-of-conservation-report-1st.html

Fritz Lang's classic was supposed to act as a cautionary tale against the dangerous cocktail of hubris & technology; the apparent "progress" being merely a mirage. It's a lesson the civic goons, the Oldham Echo & the business interests they eagerly acclaim are destined to ignore.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy Spins Marc Waddington another One...Just Like The Other One.

When are the local hacks going to realise that they are not PR for the council and are not there to make councillors look good with empty promises and PR spin.

This time its Marc Waddingtons turn to make Malcolm Kennedy, Liverpools Regeneration officer (who has not regenerated anything but his own career)  look good, with twaddle about a fifteen year plan to transform Islington.

He says:

LIVERPOOL’S Islington district is in line for a multi-million pound face lift over the next decade.
There are plans to transform up to 1.5m square metres of land with hotels, houses and offices in a bid to revamp one of the main routes into the city.
The council and developer Downing hope that the growing demand for high-quality student accommodation and the need for homes for ‘key workers’ like nurses and doctors will help stimulate the project.

All speculation Mr Waddington, but there you are making the council look as if they are doing good, getting all the (rigged by the council) comments section on the corrupted Echo website wound up, on Downing developments behalf.

He goes on to say: 
The plans, originally conceived in 2005, were shelved in 2007, when it became difficult to raise finance for the scheme because of the credit crunch.
THE plan for the multi-million pound regeneration of Islington was progressing well before it became one of the many development victims of the credit crunch.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/10/04/15-year-masterplan-for-regeneration-of-liverpool-s-islington-gateway-100252-31962120/
(Our understanding is that the credit crunch started in 2008 Marc).
Are the council somehow subsidising Downing?

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/councillor-malcolm-kennedy-manipulating.html
So is Kennedy Manipulating the press
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/david-bartlett-takes-city-council-to.html
Or are they all in on it togther
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/peel-holdings-running-liverpool-city.html
What has Malcolm Kennedy actually done.

So why are we being spoon fed with half thought out ideas by Marc Waddington and co at the Oldham Echo about creating jobs, when they have just put all the Merseymart delivery boys out of a job.
All those old blokes who used to be kept busy with their trolleys, are now down the pub every Thursday and Friday drowning their sorrows with nowhere to go just because they now give it away free in the Echo........... er, hang on......... you have to buy an Echo to get a free paper.

It just gets worse.
Soon you will get a free Post in the Echo and its likely it will be full of he sae old ouncil spin that nobody believes anymore.

Councillor Malcolm Kennedy Manipulating The Liverpool Echo.

Here is todays news from David Bartlett with a headline in the Echo "City's Historic Gems Protected". You have to laugh

West Derby Village and Princes Park conservation areas to be extended

pic courtesy of the Oldham Echo.
Two conservation areas in Liverpool will be extended to give extra protection to more houses and other properties.

It is obvious that this has been fed hook line and silver spoon to David from Malcolm Kennedy who seems to get away with rather too much of late.

More than 100 buildings in West Derby Village and two leafy roads lined with Victorian villas in Princes Park, Toxteth, are to be included in the conservation areas.

Today, Liverpool council’s ruling Labour cabinet will approve the extension, subject to there being no objections during a statutory 21-day consultation period.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration, said: “This plan will give additional protection to the heritage of these beautiful areas.

“They are much-loved parts of the city and the feedback we had from the consultation has been very positive.”

At West Derby, the extension will take in another 17 listed buildings as well as the ancient monument site of the Norman Castle and extend protection to streets which retain the character and pattern of the 19th- century village. It will encompass the existing West Derby Village Conservation Area with an extension southwards to include most of the property on Hayman’s Green, Eaton Road North, part of Crosby Green and a longer section of Mill Lane.
It will also extend farther westwards to include the West Derby Community Centre, Field House and the Margaret Beavan School. The Castle Field and St Mary’s Rectory to the north will also be included.
At Princes Park, the conservation area will be extended to include Greenheys Road and Bentley Road, following a request by local residents, supported by councillors, through the Greenheys Road Forum
Houses in these roads were built in the mid-Victorian period and have a complementary character and history to the rest of the conservation area.
The city has 35 conservation areas covering 1,005 hectares (about 9% of the city area) and protecting some 19,000 properties.
Conservation area status does not prevent new developments, but means extra protection for buildings.
Any proposed demolition of buildings is subject to greater controls with a presumption that there should be no demolition of architecturally or historically significant buildings.
There is greater consideration given to the design of new buildings and structures in planning decisions.
Minor works, not normally subject to planning permission, such as replacing windows and adding minor extensions, are subject to greater controls.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/08/17/west-derby-village-and-princes-park-conservation-areas-to-be-extended-100252-31640157/

This is Orwellian, and David who is not paid to think should know better because by doing this sort of inadequate reporting it lets the council off the hook.

So lets just look at the situation

Liverpol has seven Conservation areas at risk here they are

Castle Street, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

Ogden Close, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside


Derwent Square, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

Newsham Park, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

Duke Street, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

Stanley Dock, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

Princes Road, Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside

So Malcolm Kennedy is extending a Conservation area that is on English Heritage Conservation Area At Risk register.

Asset Type: Conservation Area at Risk

Name: Princes Road, Liverpool

District/London Borough: Liverpool

County: Merseyside

Region: North West

Designation: Conservation Area

Condition: Poor

Vulnerability: Medium

Trend: Deteriorating

New Entry: No

http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=5072&rt=0&pn=1&st=a&ctype=all&crit=liverpool

Mr Kennedy is out of control.

David Bartlett Takes The City Council To Task Over Lime Street Dereliction.

Or does he just give them the chance to defend the atrocious mess that is Lime Street?.

We have been banging on about this for years.

This block is ended by two listed buildings The Grapes public hous and the Vines.

Bartlett writes;

A FIVE-YEAR masterplan will attempt to revitalise Liverpool’s Lime Street.

City regeneration leaders admitted the road and neighbouring Renshaw Street are top of their list of priorities after becoming blighted by numerous derelict properties.

They have relaunched a joint venture company called Regeneration Liverpool, with Sigma In partnership, which will develop at least five sites across the city.

Lime Street and Renshaw Street is one of those projects and the company has already been tasked with drawing up a masterplan.
Between 2007 and 2010, £35m of mainly public money was lavished on improvements after Lime Street station was rated one of the worst in the country.
It involved knocking down the eyesore Concourse House and a row of shops in front of it, with the public square built at the main entrance in their place.

Read more http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/08/09/derelict-and-forgotten-does-liverpool-s-lime-street-have-a-future-99623-31579623/ Wayne informs me he spoke to David last week and highlighted Liverpools need to regenerate the Central Docks while Lime Street lays derelict and fair enough he has sharpened his pencil and got a story out highlighting the need to regenerate this area..............It does not mention the need for regeneration In a sympathetic manner though.
Malcolm Kennedy who has not regenerated anything also gets some air.to regenerate his career he says;

Cllr Kennedy said Lime Street’s problems stem from it previously not being seen as a priority and the fragmented ownership of properties, an issue which also affects Renshaw Street.
He said discussions around what the masterplan will entail are at a sensitive stage and could not release exact details.
But he added: “Everything needs to be smartened up. Some buildings may have to go and new buildings put up. It is about transforming the area and that goes beyond a simple clean-up.”
Some take the view that areas around the main train station in many big cities around the world inevitably show their grubby underbellies, so should Lime Street be left as it is?
“No, not at all,” said Cllr Kennedy firmly.


Heres one we did earlier;
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/call-this-regeneration-liverpool-lime.html
Regeneration, Regeneration, Regeneration.

We even have a Regeneration Officer (Code for lets help Peel Holdings) by the name of Malcolm Kennedy.
Those in charge of Regeneration seem to concentrate on all the easy jobs while the old stock falls down.

The Futurist, that's Ironic, is a mess, left to rot while being so close to the world heritage site it may as well be in it.

Last I heard it was being left to fall down by Neptune Developments who wanted to develop the site. On one end of this block we have the Grapes (this block is next to the Adelphi) and the other end the Vines, both listed buildings because of their architectural merit.

While we are being spoon fed about Liverpool's (false) new dawn those in charge of Regeneration watch while whole blocks lay in decay. Is it a tried and tested plan. Let it fall down, the city council wont use their powers to have the building kept in a good state of repair. Then the developers claim it is in such a bad condition that the only thing to do is knock our historic pieces of architecture down and then build a modern block of flats. Just to the side of this is the Grade II listed ABC Cinema that those Urban Splash people said they were going to restore ......and then didn't, is rotting away.

If only those in charge of Regeneration really were genuine and sincere in the job in hand and stopped dodgy developers in this city letting our historic architectural stock fall down by serving them repair notices.

 

Another page filler from the Daily Ghost last year went no-where.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2010/03/22/urban-splash-reaffirms-commitment-to-liverpool-lime-street-and-southport-s-pleasureland-92534-26081951/

So where will this story lead to not more public realm money wasted on naff rubbish public art. Lets hope not.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/liverpool-european-capital-ofbad.html

The article mentions the demolition Concourse House, heres what we say One step forward and one step back. Dont forget they kncocke it down and built the most awful block, breze block of student flats imaginable.

  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/concourse-house-one-step-forward-and.html

A World Heritage Site Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas.

Awaiting a Unesco report, The Spivs running the city must be nervous.
Like good little Peel's Poodle's they have gone headlong into a Cultural Back Alley on their behalf.
It shows up, what the likes of Joe Anderson, with his property speculators  moll Frank McKenna, and his friends at Downtown Liverpool, who as representative for what Private Eye's 'Piloti' calls "the sinister Peel Holdings" really want, a free run on our heritage.
Through all the binge build years we have now woken up with a hangover.
And they still want more.
We dont have a planning officer anymore..........how convenient.
Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, who despite being in the paper everyday, has regenerated.......well a road for Peel Holdings, using up nearly all the road repair budget for the year in the process.
  http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/12/06/dock-road-in-liverpool-given-new-lease-of-life-after-1m-resurfacing-92534-29901116/ 
Really don't Peel have to spend any money?
Do we have to fund their business dealings?
Is Joe Anderson too close to Peel Holdings?
Will John Hinchliffe the World Heritage Bungler be sacked?
Will The Cruise Liner Jetty balls up, be settled and will they, wrongly, stop blaming Southampton for it?
Will the local editors Alastair Machray and Mark Thomas be sacked? 
Instead of them blaming everyone else for the lack of job creation, while sacking half the workforce at Trinity "Smoking" Mirror Group and shipping out the printing presses to Oldham. They should hide their heads in shame.

These are just a few of the searching questions that will be continued to be asked in the New Year.

We wish all our colleagues, friends and fellows who are interested in solving the problems that a city corrupted and poisoned by the spivs lurking behind the scenes create, A very Merry Xmas.

If we have upset you during the last year............well tough, you must have deserved it.  

St Andrews Church-Should Liverpool City Council Be In Charge Of Our History?

Months ago I wrote of the risks to letting Liverpool City Council look after our historic past.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/08/st-andrews-church-rodney-street-call.html

I have watched as St Andrews Church has been left to decay to a shell of its former state while we are told about Regeneration... by the Council Con Merchants, who keep telling us how well we are all doing from their leadership, when in reality, and in my opinion, the whole system is corrupted.

Two years ago I asked questions about why the council had not issued proper repairs order on all the Buildings on the English Heretics at risk register.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/st-andrews-church-rodney-st-liverpools.html

I asked why they have put a shed on top of the Rodney Street building.

It now seems that they are trying to sell the building, or may have done so.
Will this historic building now be knocked out to some shady property developer turned into flats or even touted as a timeshare.
We are making enquiries. Watch this space.

Stanley Dock-Lets Hope This New Scheme Is Not Hot Air.

The Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse has lay rotting for over 50 years.
It can be restored, I recall playing as a child in the open space that was the Albert Dock. Fishing for Flatties. Strolling amongst the grand ruins wondering why.
How many false dawns have we heard to get this historic landmark, a listed building.
Wasn't it Urban Splash that were about to do a scheme, our heritage saviours who really did cock up Park Hill along with English Heritage and their Chief Exec Dr Simon Thurley.

The Tobacco Warehouse Standing 125 foot (38m) high, the building was at the time of its construction, in 1901, also claimed to be the world's largest building in terms of area. Its construction used 27m bricks, 30,000 panes of glass and 8,000 tons of steel. It was designed by AG Lyster, the Dock Engineer, but Arthur Berrington almost certainly played a part.
The distinctive tobacco warehouse at Stanley Dock is the world’s largest brick warehouse.


English Heritage call it a travesty and keep it snug on the EH "At Risk" Register.
Even Dr Simon Thurley comes out of his Ivory Tower to say how important the Industrial Heritage is to the country.
Despite allowing Manchester Dock to be destroyed that predated the Albert Dock by 60 years.
English Heritage said that listed industrial buildings were more at risk than almost any other kind of historic site. This was said, In a general comment press pack, Alan Weston slots it into a story he did on October 19th 2011 http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/10/19/liverpool-s-stanley-dock-included-in-english-heritage-at-risk-list-92534-29619805/
He writes: Chief executive Simon Thurley said action was needed to save what he called the “world’s most important industrial heritage”.
The decision to focus on industrial heritage is backed by a poll of public attitudes, which revealed that 86% believed it was important to value and appreciate buildings such as mills and collieries, and 80% thought they were as important as country houses and castles.
Dr Thurley said there were many reasons for people to be passionate about industrial heritage. He added: “Part of it is family ties, there are so many people whose families have been involved in these industries.
“Many of the buildings are extremely prominent in their locations, such as big chimneys or big buildings, and people acquire affection for things around them.”


So two weeks later after it was announced as a "At Risk" building a  fresh press pack from Malcolm (let's regenerate my political career) Kennedy hits the local press.
In which a plan is announced to renovate it and its area.
But there is controversy last nights BBC Northwest News said there was a problem that need more explaining. http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b016p50v/ They said 10 minutes 42 into the article that the Regional Growth Fund Members had recieved millions.
In Parliament questions were asked about the RG fund which decides were the cash goes.
The BBC alleges one of the recipients that was co-owned by a panel member that decides were the the fund goes and that it is said is, RedX Pharma.
The Government said that a panel member has declared an interest but played no part..............apparently.
The Eldonian village will get a new power station so they are to remain silent to any of the new developments.  http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/11/02/eldonians-rose-like-a-phoenix-from-flames-92534-29703573/ The first two projects for immediate delivery are the mixed use redevelopment of the landmark former tobacco warehouse at Stanley Dock and a low carbon combined heat and energy plant and work space by the Eldonians. David Bartlett says.Far more delving into this scheme needs to be done and it looks like the local papers will not do that.



http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/11/01/stanley-dock-rebirth-at-heart-of-130m-cash-boost-for-north-liverpool-92534-29695756/
Instead they anounce another dawn for the derelict area........in a recession, that apparantly has funding?
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/11/02/stanley-dock-plan-developer-revealed-as-harcourt-developments-builder-of-new-titanic-attraction-in-belfast-92534-29703575/
It is now announced that a Titanic Theme Park Developer is to transorm the redundant warehouse.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration and tourism, said it was great news that would act as a catalyst for further development.


“It will give a major impetus to the regeneration of the area and to the green energy agenda which will benefit the city as a whole. This approval provides the bridge between the transformed city centre and the tremendous investment opportunities in North Liverpool.”

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-daily-post/2011/11/01/stanley-dock-scheme-the-key-to-north-s-revival-92534-29695673/ Lets hope they dont have

The City Fringe Programme for north Liverpool is intended to provide an investment strategy for the area between Liverpool city centre and the Liverpool Waters Enterprise Zone to ensure future employment growth while the regeneration of this area proceeds.


It includes plans to revamp the junction of Leeds Street and Great Howard Street to breakdown the physical barrier between the city centre and the more industrial area to the north.

Liverpool Supplementary Planning Document-Its Law, Adopted by the U.K Government.

They can tell you all the rubbish they like about how they will persuade Unesco's reactive monitoring mission, but this Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is the reason that we escaped the wrath of Unesco's last monitoring mission........by making them empty promises of how we as a city will protect the Overall Universal Value of the WHS.
Its no point in Malcolm Kennedy, charged by Joe Anderson, the council leader, with Regeneration and Heritage, who appears to be seconded to Peel Holdings, who are planning to destroy the WHS with their plans for Shanghai-On-Mersey, telling us everything will be fine, it wont. Despite being employed by the citizens of Liverpool, Malcolm is now telling us how he will tell Unesco we will protect the WHS while setting out to destroy the OUV along with Peel Holdings. He is bluffing us with PR rubbish, the same as the Fib-Dems did before starting the job of WHS ruination.
 http://liverpool.gov.uk/council/strategies-plans-and-policies/environment-and-planning/local-development-framework/local-development-documents/adopted-documents/world-heritage-site-spd/
Click the link to expand on the Supplementary Planning Document that we as a city adopted to secure the WH status, after the threats of removal. Unesco have said Peel Holdings Liverpool Waters planning application, if to be passed would destroy the Overall Universal Value of that World Heritage Site.

So lets break it down here is the SPD, its a long read but Unesco will do the work, I am sure. http://liverpool.gov.uk/Images/SPDWorldHeritageSite.pdf
Anyone commenting on Liverpools WHS needs to read this and that includes the local press.
http://liverpool.gov.uk/Images/SPDWorldHeritageSiteSustainabilityAppraisal.pdf
Here is the sustainability section of the SPD.
http://liverpool.gov.uk/Images/SPDWorldHeritageSiteStatementCommunityInvolve.pdf
Here is the section on public consultation in which the LPT are named as consultees to the preparation of the document as are the arch vandals Neptune Developments who decimated, along with Liverpool Museums, Liverpools WHS and its waterfront views.
This City Council can not be trusted.
 http://liverpool.gov.uk/Images/SPDWorldHeritageSiteAppropriateAssessment.pdf
This section is called an Assesment Screening Report.
The report was prepared by Atkins who have also drawn up a set of plans to fill in Wellington Dock
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/10/wellington-dock-to-be-filled-in-is.html

Malcolm's mugs at the council and its sub division of Peel Holdings can put their head in the sand all they like but the lawful planning document has been adopted, by the city council.
This is what Unesco actually said that the current plans for Liverpool Waters goes directly in conflict against the SPD.

118. Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (United Kingdom) (C 1150)


Decision: 35 COM 7B.118
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B.Add,
2. Expresses its extreme concern at the proposed development of Liverpool Waters in terms of the potential impact of its dense, high and mid-rise buildings on the form and design of the historic docks and thus on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
3. Notes that the independent Impact Assessment commissioned by English Heritage clearly sets out the significantly damaging negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
Decisions report WHC-11/35.COM/20, p. 150
4. Also notes that the proposed development is not in compliance with the property
Management Plan nor with the Liverpool Urban Development Plan;
5. Urges the State Party to ensure that these proposals are not approved, as failure to do so could lead to consideration of loss of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
6. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission, as soon as possible, to assess planning procedures and the overall development strategies for the property;
7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2012, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the above, examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.

http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2011/whc11-35com-20e.pdf

Peel Holdings-Running Liverpool City Council

David Bartlett has been fed this article in todays paper by the city council and PeelHoldings

A CAMPAIGN committee has been set up to persuade Unesco officials not to strip Liverpool of its World Heritage Site status.

The committee is being run by Liverpool University’s Prof Ian Wray, who is former head of planning at the North West Development Agency.
The group, which has representatives from Peel Holdings and Liverpool council, is currently drawing up an itinerary for the visit of the Unesco “monitoring mission” being sent to assess the city’s world heritage site.
The visit has been delayed by a month and is now pencilled in for mid-November.
Unesco is concerned about the impact of Peel Holdings’ £5.5bn Liverpool Waters skyscraper scheme.
It has warned the city could lose its world heritage status if the project is given planning permission.
The monitoring mission will report back to the next annual meeting of Unesco’s committee, due to be held next summer.
Liverpool has delayed making a decision on Peel’s planning application until after the visit from the Unesco inspectors.
Ian Pollitt, senior development surveyor at Peel who is charge of Liverpool Waters, said: “We have set up a steering group with the city council and Ian Wray to plan the visit.

“At the moment we have been told the 14 -16 of November, and we are currently waiting for confirmation of that.”
He said the Unesco inspectors were not just coming to see the site for the planned Liverpool Waters development, but the whole of the World Heritage site.
He added: “They are coming here to see that the council is capable of policing the World Heritage Site. Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration and the city’s appointed heritage champion, said he was proud of the way Liverpool is working to protect the WHS.
“I think what people have to do is come with an open mind, and examine what Liverpool is doing to enhance and protect the World Heritage Site.
“The World Heritage Site is not just about the Waterfront. It’s about William Brown Street, the Rope Walks and other areas.” He pointed to the recent reinstallation of the gates to the former Sailors’ Home, copies of other elements from it in a special garden in Liverpool One and the launch of a campaign in August to get companies to display WHS branding.
“It shows that we are doing something positive after years of relative inactivity.
“For me it is about the need to get the true picture across when they come.”
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/10/24/campaign-committee-set-up-to-save-liverpool-world-heritage-site-status-ahead-of-unesco-visit-92534-29647812/2/

How can you have the people doing the damage trying to save the WHS

Liverpools Heritage Open Days

100 historic buildings across Merseyside will be open to the public as part of the Heritage Open Days.

Williamson Tunnels, West Derby Courthouse, the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth and all Three Graces.

Unusual attractions include the Wavertree Lock Up and a tour of St Helens Cemetery.
Sir Edwin Lutyen’s Crypt on Saturday, September 17.
You can learn about the building’s rich history and enjoy a range of performances in a majestic setting.

FOR more information on booking details, visit http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/



But remember we still have a number of properties on the at risk register.

St Lukes Church
St James Church

Royal Insurance Building Dale Street

St Andrews Church  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/08/st-andrews-church-rodney-street-call.html

Wellington Rooms http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/01/wellington-rooms-liverpools-disgrace.html
etc, etc, etc,
http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/2010.aspx?rs=1&pn=1&crit=liverpool

Here is the list 

Call this Regeneration.

St Andrews Church Rodney Street-Call This Regeneration.

How can a City watch a Grade II* listed building deteriate to such an effect that it is a shadow of itself. 
Even the English Heretics describe its condition as "very bad".

The Old Presbyterian Church on Rodney St.
John Moores wanted to use this as a library and resource centre after it was on fire.
 John Moores were promising to make it structurally safe and give it a fresh vibrant use. So the whole scheme was kyboshed, and the decay set in really hard.
Now at this precise moment there will be a load of shifty developers waiting for it to completely fall down

But now, as if to make matters worse, it has a shed on it.

Steve "Ronnie" Corbett at the waste full Liverpool Conservation (sic) Office wanted to store his garden tools and lawn mower on the top of it.
While Chris Griffiths the waste of space masquerading as the buildings at risk officer pots his geraniums up there of a weekend. It is a waste, an absolute waste.
This building was designed and built by John Foster Jr in 1823. The above picture what it looked like only a couple of decades ago. Its decline was swift.

Now this is the picture of St Andrews with Steve Corbetts potting shed on top.  Is this a joke?
There should be laws against doing this to a listed building anyhow.
So what of Malcolm Kennedy and the new buzz word, Regeneration. (code for we are all working for Peel Holdings)
Where is all the puff powder PR going. The smokescreen.
 Every day you read in the Daily Ghost more 'Plumping' about how well its all going, when in reality our some of our historic buildings are rotting. The Old Presbyterian Church on Rodney Street, now gets a shed, on its heavy ballustraded attic.


We lost the Welsh Chapel on Penny Lane corner recently
 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/05/welsh-presbyterian-chapel-demolished-by.html But what of St Andrews listed Grade II* why has it been allowed to get into this state. Not a recent mention in the local press.
Peter Elson once used to be heavily involved in heritage matters!
Who is to keep a tag on the decay of our history?
Its not all about nicely toned sepia prints.
There are vital issues to be raised and those at the local paper need to "Get on Board" instead of inventing fights with Southampton over the Cruise Liner Cock Up Jetty, that the local press have held no-one accountable for, even though the current leader, of the city council, was wrapped up in it all, as part of Liverpool Vision. Our history is our future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Andrew,_Liverpool


http://www.walkingbook.co.uk/liverpool/  Here is a few more sepia prints.


SHEDS DIRECT GIVE THEM A CALL 0151 233 5623 ask for Steve Corbett or Chris Griffiths.
Further LPT reading
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/sheds-direct-new-architectural-craze.html

Another Hacking Scandal-Right In Front Of The Liverpool Conservation Officers Eyes.

It started some while ago, a complete lack of disregard for history.
Those concerned slowly become ignorant to the law, and the law lets them get away with it. Because they were the law.

A subculture unfolded, where no punishment is dished out, there may even be advice given directing people how to get way with it.
Those rioters did no damage compared to the Liverpool planners and their property developing councillors.

It started, with Trevor and Doreen Jones, so said Private Eye, who wacked down the last Ships Chandlers on the Strand, next to the Baltic Fleet public house. They downed it on the Saturday after a listing application was received by the council on the Friday.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/superlambanana-land.html
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/undeclared-interest-of-jones-vote.html  

Lady Doreen Jones was the then chair of the City Planning Committee. What a scandal.

Then it was 6 Sir Thomas Street, they, of Iliad, the developers, seemingly quite cosy with the city council, sent out a team of ignorant little hackers with jack-hammers to smash up the frontage, carved Liver Birds and all.  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/heres-one-they-did-earlier.html
The task to smash off the façade……right under the window of the then council leader Warren “War Zones” Bradley, who said “I wondered what all the noise was”.
This happened while awaiting the visit of an English Heritage Inspector. It now looks like a pigs ear.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/01/layla-hotel-liverpool-destroying.html

Then the arrogant Maghull Developments smashed off the façade of Josephine Butler House when, guess what awaiting a listing visit from the English Heretics.
Hahnermann House had received a Grade II listing that we applied for, hours before a planning committee decision to develop the site with a horrendous extension.

Mike Hanlon would tell me later on “You did us a favour there, with Hahnermann House”.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/04/liverpool-preservation-trust-11-13.html
He did himself no favours in destroying JBH as all the fluffy duffys were out in force declaring it a national disaster. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/httpwww.html  While they dont give a hoop to anything out of Hope Street.
JBH is now credit crunched. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/03/03/100m-redevelopment-of-liverpool-s-hope-street-is-the-latest-victim-of-the-credit-crunch-92534-23047723/


Still, in the Baltic Triangle, see above picture the same old, same old is happening.
Despite them telling us the Baltic Triangle will become a Cultural Quarter. Not quite sure how you get a triangle into a quarter?
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/liverpools-baltic-triangle-to-become.html  

Its a Culture of Facade Hacking more like. Some things never change.
 I drove down Bridgewater Street and there was a cherry picker and hackers at work, twatting off yet another facade, nothing changes. Its not listed. Steve Corbett says it has architectural merit though.....and thats about it.


Here's the sketch, smash the façade about on any given property, its a tried and tested method, and it looks a mess and then claim its an eyesore and then an otherwise decent building is downed and hey Presto!  a Jerry Build goes up for half the cost. Hacking scandals, Liverpool is full of them
There are already plans for next door. 3, 5 and 7 Bridgewater Street.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/04/57-9-bridgewater-street-up-for.html

The Conservation Officer is a waste of time, I even get the feeling he has to be aware of it all, as no-one in the job of Conservation, in my opinion, can be so thick, or so behind the times, well apart from John Hinchliffe the World Heritage Waste of Space that stands by and watches the WHS be decimated.
Not sure if the both of them are deaf and dumb because they never hear anything and never say anything. On the rare occasion they do stutter some rubbish its usually wrong and misguided. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/08/heaps-rice-mill-grade-ii-listed-and.html
Heaps Rice Mill will be down next.

While Malcolm Kennedy, the Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration (code for lets help Peel Holdings destroy the WHS) appointed by Frank McKenna, I mean Joe Anderson, tells us how wonderful it all is.

Regeneration or Degeneration, another hacking scandal, this time, half a mile from what we are told, is a booming Grosvenor-pool.

Call This Regeneration? Liverpool Lime Street A Disgrace.

 Regeneration, Regeneration, Regeneration.
We even have a Regeneration Officer (Code for lets help Peel Holdings) by the name of Malcolm Kennedy.
Those in charge of Regeneration seem to concentrate on all the easy jobs while the old stock falls down.
The Futurist, that's Ironic, is a mess, left to rot while being so close to the world heritage site it may as well be in it.
Last I heard it was being left to fall down by Neptune Developments who wanted to develop the site. On one end of this block we have the Grapes (this block is next to the Adelphi) and the other end the Vines, both listed buildings because of their architectural merit.

While we are being spoon fed about Liverpool's (false) new dawn those in charge of Regeneration watch while whole blocks lay in decay. Is it a tried and tested plan. Let it fall down, the city council wont use their powers to have the building kept in a good state of repair. Then the developers claim it is in such a bad condition that the only thing to do is knock our historic pieces of architecture down and then build a modern block of flats. Just to the side of this is the Grade II listed ABC Cinema that those Urban Splash people said they were going to restore ......and then didnt, is rotting away.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2010/03/22/urban-splash-reaffirms-commitment-to-liverpool-lime-street-and-southport-s-pleasureland-92534-26081951/  

As is Littlewoods on Edge Lane that we saved from demolition, only to see it lay empty. 
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/07/there-was-scheme-to-relocate-school-in.html

If only those in charge of Regeneration really were genuine and sincere in the job in hand and stopped dodgy developers in this city letting our historic architectural stock fall down by serving them repair notices.

The Henry Pooley Gates Return-Can We Have The Sailors Home Back Too?

I stumbled across the unveiling ceremony this morning for the Henry Pooley Gates which was part of the old Sailors Home that was demolished in a savage act of civic vandalism when the building was, in not too bad a state of repair.

They were just about to pull the curtain and it was fair turnout.

Now I am getting sick of people harking on about the past, yes I hear you thinking, what are you saying, but it is true that once the past has gone, what can you do about it?
Me and my valued colleagues at the LPT have fought for the future not the past.
But, I am sick of looking at old sepia tints and listening to people with a sad lamentation of what we once had...........while doing nothing about it.
http://www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/gates/pooley12.html
The Dockers Umbrella crowd don't seem relevant to me anymore, harking on about how we lost a little treasure, that in reality was an eyesore and was falling down and needed demolishing anyhow.
If you cherish your past you will have a good future, of that I am sure.
We fought for the future, and preserving what we had was to have been our goal, look at the World Heritage site destroyed and weep.
Those Heritage Wallers waffling on about our history while too lazy to do anything about it are of no use to themselves, they will, of course, be out in droves when the last surviving carriage of the Dockers overhead railway is put in the new museum.
We tried to save the Manchester Dock Gates from a act of vandalism by of all, the Liverpool Museums, who are supposed to protect our heritage. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/manchester-docks-obliterated.html
They are now promised, by the Museums Director to be restored and placed in the new Museum of Liverpool. Lets see, shall we, after the very museums, JCB, smashed them to bits.

So, on a personal note is it a good thing or a bad thing that the Pooley Gates now seem to look out of place next to John Lewis and appear as a monument to a past tragedy that should never have happened?
Should I be thinking is this a good thing that we have spent a fortune reinstating them while care homes close and those inner city's re-ignite?

This picture was taken 1oo yards from the newly reconstituted Pooley Gates last night, as there were more riot police turning out to protect our streets from those vandals who have no respect for property.

While their city council trashes their own areas such as the Welsh Streets, creating Warrens "War Zones".

Is this a new use for the term "Gated Community" where we become a heritage theme park while a hundred yards south the Heaps Rice Mill a listed building lays rotting, and the Police protect Grosvenor-pool and the Dukes Fiefdom.

50 yards the other way, past the awful looking Liver Street Car Park, that the last Unesco mission of 2006 described as truly bad, where the memory of the Mole of Edgehill, is insulted with a awful bit of Jerry building, by a drunken bricklayer, if that's what you could call him, as it is, an insult to drunken bricklayers.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/08/here-lies-mole-of-edgehill.html

But its alright the local press say so.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/09/alan-weston-of-liverpool-daily-post-is.html

While over in Duke Street the rot continues, while Malcolm Kennedy, Liverpools cabinet member for Regeneration (code for Peel Holdings) and Joe Anderson will be today taking the plaudits for the Pooley gates while doing nothing for the Wellington Rooms or St Andrews Church.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/11/boy-stood-on-burning-deck-picking-his.html

I cant make my mind up really, it seems on balance they are better being there, just, even if they serve as a monument to a horrendous past mistake and provoke thoughts of how Liverpool, as a city, is continuing in the same heritage tradition of showing disrespect for its past. 

Wellington Rooms-Call This Regeneration.

The Wellington Rooms-Liverpools Disgrace.

They at the City Council talk of Regeneration and even have a Regeneration Officer appointedbyJo Anderson called Malcolm Kennedy, who it appears, to my mind, is so wrapped up with Peel Holdings that he cant see the true nature of our citys historic past.


What is the point in letting this historic building rot.
Here is a picture taken in 1989 by Jeremy Hawthorn, I hope he won't mind me using it.
I am revisiting a plea I made years ago.
click on the pic as a demonstration to save the buildng was unfurled all over it
It was on a calender that was published by The Nerve a local magazine that does its best to highlight some of the rubbish put out by council spin doctors. http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/
How can this building be left to rot after a billion pounds of European objective one funding has been swagged to the cronies who have contacts in the North "Vested Interest" Development Agency.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/joe-anderson-to-save-liverpools.html  What will Joe Anderson the Tory Cuts Reaper do.
Here is Correspondents take on the situation.
http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/01/joe-anderson-implements-tory-cuts.html

The Wellington Rooms in Mount Pleasant were once described as a ‘house of mirth and revelry’. They were erected after funds were raised by public subscription in 1815.
An Adaptation of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates of Athens, which was illustrated in the influential publication by Stuart and Revelt Antiquities of Athens.
It had a porch on one side for the setting down of sedan chairs.
The Portico was originally open but was found to be draughty and a disfigurement to the original design was made with the blocking up.
A ballroom of some 80ft by 40ft it had a card room and a supper room.
It was thought to have been frequented by the upper classes, as subscription balls, assemblies and occasional fancy dress balls.
How that description conjures up the most remarkable images of Georgian Liverpool. A Maritime City at the nucleus of its upward growth taking it to the city of its height in the early 20th century.
I grew up with it being known as The Irish Centre in the 70s and 80s, and ignorant of these facts relating the building back to the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleons defeat by the then axis powers under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington.

It was 2008 that I highlighted its plight in a walkabout with Peter Elson. And this Georgian gem still rots.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/01/29/living-on-the-eve-of-destruction-64375-20405391/  This was for the Daily Ghost.
The deterioration seems to have been helped by the lead on the roof going missing. What state inside to the plasterwork?
There were ghastly plans to develop it by sticking a rubic cube sort of extension on the back, this was done by a consortium of Flanagans, the local builders.
 Did one of the Flans go to Shanghai as a guest of one of the senior, very senior members of the council.
 The plans looked more like a sketch on the back of a jerry-builders ciggy packet than a professionals work . http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/tm_method=full&objectid=20615285&siteid=50061-name_page.html

On the English Heretic at risk register for as long as I can remember. Henry Owen John http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/03/22/the-changing-face-of-liverpool-64375-20658839/  the area director should be ashamed of himself as should the joker who was the Historic Buildings advisor Peter De Figeurido who let it rot while sucking up to the developers of Mann Island, who it is alleged is now working for Peel Holdings.
 Click the link above to see him and the Reichmarshal Nigel Lee making excuses after my article sent waves out about the neglect. Waffling on about the joke about Liver Building Controversy.
While today the Royal Liver is to leave its spiritual home. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news//tm_headline=jobs-axed-as-royal-liver-head-office-in-liverpool-to-close%26method=full%26objectid=29196403%26siteid=100252-name_page.html With the loss of 110 jobs. Now there is contoversy.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/190609north_west_2009_har_register.pdf  
And what of Chris Griffiths and Steve Corbett of the useless Liverpool Conservation office.
Next to it and with objective one funding an extension was built on the Gibbard Cathedral, that Oscar Niemeyer rip off, Paddys Wigwam while this wonderful little Georgian gem lies there, rotting, a forlorn looking Mausoleum to Liverpools Regeneration Con.

A disgrace. The Council Have Powers to Save This Historic Gem.