Peel Holdings Win Carbuncle Cup-What Hope Is There For Liverpools World Heritage Site?

Yes, they, at Peel Holdings, managed it, an award for carbunculating Salford with an architectural atrocity that is that bad it even knocked the new Museum of Liverpool into second place in the same competition.

Media City Salford scoops the award for the worst development of 2011.

The BBC put a brave face on it with a little snapshot on BBC Northwest.
The regional director was asked about the Carbuncle Cup award for their new home. "Well it suited our needs" he said. Two years ago when the Terminal Ferry Carbuncle won and One Park Gone West came fourth, there was extensive coverage. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html
They, at the BBC ran a series on name your carbuncle. Ed Thomas now on national BBC said it was great, it caused a sensation, tapping into something, the phone lines were on fire.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/09/museum-of-liverpool-runner-up-in-2011.html


"Which truly creative person would ever want to work in such a place?" The Guardian's Jonathan Glancey

A `crime against the built environment'… A `lack of urban vitality' are just some of the nicer things said about Peel Holdings' MediaCityUK site as it won Building Design magazine's Carbuncle Cup today – given to the year's worst building.
The sterilized Media City site even held off the squashed oblong that is the new Liverpool Museum to take the least coveted architectural prize in the country.

What Salford Star call MINGIN' MEDIA CITY

"…a city is the last thing one would mistake this development for"
http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=1084 You have to read the local opinion!!!!!!!!!!
 They go on, on their firebrand style webspace that holds no punches and tells the truth.

Referring to the BBC's move to MediaCityUK, the Carbuncle Cup commendation states that "it is hard to see how the corporation could set its aspirations any lower… Following the Blue Peter garden's recent relocation to Salford, one can only presume that the newly reinterred Petra must be turning in her grave."

Yes, Peel Holdings' flagship "crime against the built environment" absolutely stormed the award for the worst building in the UK today. The jury - architecture critics, Rowan Moore of the Observer, Hugh Pearman of the Sunday Times and the Guardian's Jonathan Glancey – were unanimous in their verdict that the £600million Salford Quays site visually stinks.

The commendation states that Media City "had every opportunity to be a piece of city to be treasured for centuries to come". Instead we got "a crazed accumulation of development, in which every aimlessly gesticulating building sports at least three different cladding treatments. The overriding sense is one of extreme anxiety on the part of the architects - an unholy alliance of Wilkinson Eyre, Chapman Taylor and Fairhursts."
It adds that "There is no urban idea to speak of whatsoever - no space that one might recognise as a street; no common architectural language; no difference between the fronts and backs of buildings; no distinction between the civic buildings and the private ones…"
It concludes: "No-one can be too surprised that Peel Holdings…is behind MediaCityUK but quite how the BBC has stooped this low is hard to fathom..."

http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=1031

http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=1075

Media City community money scandal Part 1 and 2,(worth a read)   http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=835       

PEEL HOLDINGS, WHO HAVE SUBMITTED PLANS TO CARBUNCULATE WHATS LEFT OF THE LIVERPOOL WORLD HERITAGE SITE WITH ARCHITECTURE THAT IS EVEN WORSE THAN MEDIA CITY.

Then they are building Wirral Waters with abysmal style architectural, of crass design, of the same style, that has just found them awarded the Carbuncle Cup for.

Just look what they have done on Princes Dock already, turning it into MILTON KEYNES-ON-SEA  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/04/milton-keynes-on-sea.html 

Further Reading

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/04/liverpool-malmaison-facade-is-falling.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/02/liverpool-waters-glass-pie-in-sky-we.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/liverpool-world-heritage-city.html

Liverpool City Council should take a long hard look on where they are spending our hard earned ratepayers money, though a decision has been put back until Unesco inspectors visit the Liverpool Waters site................all the warning signs are there already.

http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=838

Liverpool Library-To sell off 30,000 Books-Now Thats Liverpool Culcha, For Yerr!!

CENTRAL LIBRARY to become an internet cafe.


Well they have ruined the museum in William Brown Street part of the World Heritage Site, turning it into the Wacky Warehouse so why not destroy the Central Library and make it look like an Asda supermarket. It makes sense. Every little helps. It seems everything that this council, in my opinion, run by spivs, does, is a way of ruining the heritage of the city. Of homogonising it, turning it, into the same as everywhere else. Even its unique areas, its world heritage site. Its no good claiming that it is updating an existing structure, this does not look good, it looks very bad indeed. Not only have they got rid of all wagon loads of books from the library, selling off valuable first edittions to book dealers at knock down prices, they will now set about destroying the fabric of the structure, and the whole building. It will happen, with these proposals. Does no-one understand what heritage is in this city is, and how you merge old with new to create a sense of place and history.
 I wrote this as a post last October. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/liverpool-central-library-violation.html Now it transpires the Liverpool Library is to ebay 30,000 titles patiently collected for over a century. Not content with giving the library to a private company The Fib-Dems have now set all the conditions to have a Internet Cafe, in what once was the world renowned Central Library. What a disgrace. Running the sell off will be the most uncultured set of characters no doubt, who dont understand the need to keep books. The google generation, yes we all use it, but there is no greater pleasure than finding a good book with fantastic illustratios.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/11/liverpool-central-library-is-to-be.html I wrote further about the threats. The new Library in artists impression looks more like an Asda. Every little hurts.
So is Joe Anderson is now a chubby version of Warren Bradley? When will he save our culture.
Ben Scofield reports.
LIVERPOOL'S refurbished Central Library will have 30,000 fewer books than before its £50m re-fit.

The library was due to close this month for two years, during which it is going to be overhauled inside.
But, to free up space, Liverpool City Council are holding a fire sale for thousands of books, many of which are being sold for as little as £1. Any un-sold books are going to be given to a "social business", which will try to sell them online. Any it cannot sell will be given away to charity shops, schools and hospitals. The council said the 30,000 titles being ditched are rarely borrowed and are no longer significant.
It said it needs the space previously taken up by the volumes to display the library's special collections and the city's archives.
Liverpool Records Office will be expanded to provide for 20 more years’ worth of documents. The restored library is set to re-open in 2012. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/06/21/liverpool-central-library-to-sell-off-books-92534-26691563/

Liverpool Malmaison-The Facade is Falling Off.

So the binge building is over, and now we are all waking up to the hangover. To the shoddy workmanship overseen by a planning department  led by the Riechmarshal Nigel Lee who is  not fit for purpose.
pic courtesy Liverpool Daily Post whose offices in Oldham Hall Street can be seen behind. Todays Ghost says
The Malmaison opened in January 2007 in a blaze of publicity, but its £2.5m stonework started to come loose and a building survey determined the entire work needed to be redone.

It was the first time this specific cladding, which is attached to the building by a bracketing system, has been used in the UK.
Yes it was they, who give it all the publicity as it was a nice place for all the editors and the staff at Trinity "Smoking" Mirror Group to get the wool pulled over their eyes. "Would you like another cocktail Sir". This way well and truly oiled, with freebies, they forget to mention that its views were over the worst  looking  car park.............and it was in the world heritage site buffer zone. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/search/label/Nigel%20Lee Did the building not have a old fashioned clerk of works? Did someone not check the work?

 They say it was the first decorative cladding scheme to be bracketed on to a structure. The new Museum of Liverpool  also has this method of fixing the Jura Limestone that replaced the original Travertine Marble that was passed by delegated powers by the planning manager, all too quickly and under the table in my opinion.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/search/label/Milton%20Keynes-On-Sea The Three Grotesques on Mann Island has its black granite stick a brick things fixed with brackets.

Mark James, general manager of the Malmaison Liverpool, said: “It is disappointing that this has happened, but it is reassuring that Malmaison will survive for many years to come.
“Malmaison has made a very long-term commitment to Liverpool. We have had a great three years since we opened.
“This work is not because it is falling off, but we know there is a defect in it as there was extensive work done to survey it all.
“There was a tile that came loose, which was the reason for the investigation.”
He said the problem was related to the bracketing system and the fittings.
“The type of cladding that was used was the first time it had been used in the UK. It was quite an innovative design for the UK.
“Once we knew there was a defect, we took the best measures for the longevity of the building so that is here for the next 60, 80, 100 years.
“It is at no cost to the hotel, we are drawing down on the warranty for the hotel.
“The work is scheduled to take several months, hopefully it will finish by the winter.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/04/12/prestigious-liverpool-hotel-the-malmaison-loses-its-front-after-just-three-years-92534-26222613/

Yet this is all too familiar http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/alexanra-tower-100kg-pane-of-glass.html last month a whole building has to be checked for faults. The Alexandra Tower. Dont they realise the weather conditions. The Unity Building not far away had pieces fall off. Yet Peel press on with a tacky scheme  in the same vicinity. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/peel-holdings-want-pier-head-stinky-ink.html
This is all next to the Cruise Liner Jetty http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruise-from-liverpool.html

A spokesman for AMEC the Jerry Builders who threw it up said: “AMEC’s former construction business was the main contractor on the Malmaison hotel, Liverpool.
“Certain defects in the facade have arisen and we are honouring our contractual obligations by having the defects rectified.
“AMEC sold its construction business in 2007 and is now focused on high-value consultancy, engineering and project management services to the world’s natural resources, nuclear, clean energy, water and environmental sectors.”
Yes pull the other one. I had a client who ordered breakfast in bed and the operative who came in with the tray proudly proclaimed. "Compliments of the Malmaison the Hotel that Dares to be different" Yes it does doesn't it, it hasn't got a facade.

Alexandra Tower- A 100kg Pane Of Glass Falls Out

Emergency services were called out to Alexandra Tower on Princes Parade at around 1.30pm yesterday.

It is the green sore thumb in the centre of the picture that from a distance looks like its a chimney out of the Liver Buildings.
The Fire station manager, said: “It weighed 100 kilos and it is made of special toughened glass. There was a loud bang and when it hit the floor the debris sprayed up to 30 metres away. It went everywhere.” It is thought the glass may have shattered because of freezing overnight temperatures and yesterday’s sunny conditions.

A search and rescue team abseiled down the building to examine the damage. Roads were closed off.
A special crane was brought in last night to allow workers to remove the rest of the broken glass and repair the damage.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2008/07/08/developer-city-lofts-collapses-into-administration-96026-21299348/ City Lofts the developers went into administration in 2008.

I am so suprised that this has happened, I thought it would last at least 10 years before pieces started falling off.

Liverpool Waters-Glass Pie in the Sky. We Need a Public Inquiry.

It is that easy to put a few bits of perspex on a sheet of ply and tell everyone you are going to create a 5.5 billion pound development. I think this will never happen. What will happen is Peel will get planning permission and then knock the land out to developers such as City Lofts who went bust because they could not sell the appartments in Milton Keynes-On-Sea, Princes Dock. I attended the Peel exhibition in Whitechapel, it took me ages to find it there was no signs outside. Well when I finally got in, it is as bad as what I thought. All my life I have waited for Liverpool to pull its socks up to come back on centre stage to get investment and when we do get capital investment they destroy the world heritage site. These proposals are to turn Liverpool into Shanghai-on-Sea and they are potentially as destructive to Liverpool as what has happened to the world heritage site at the Pier Head.

I spoke to someone from the architects Chapman Taylors offices called Paul Taylor quite a nice man…..unlike the Development Director Lyndsey Ainsworth who was rather rude and obnoxious especially after I told him there should be a public inquiry. I did not introduce myself but he kept on accusing people of standing in the way of progress. I have heard it all before when they rolled out the Mann Island plans the Cloud Fiasco and here we have a new set of carpet-bagging arrogants who want to foist another set of third rate blocks of flats this time on Central Docks and calling it Liverpool Waters. We want to make things happen, look forward what are you doing”? he said “Well you don’t know who I am or what I am doing" as I never introduced myself”
“We don’t have to put this show on we don’t have to” he said. As if he was doing it for our benefit I told him this is for the benefit of Peels shareholders. “Shows you just how much you know we don’t have shareholders Peel Holdings is owned by one man” he knew exactly what I meant but considering that one man will benefit from all this if it is accepted by the planning authority is a very bad reality that needs to be kept in mind. This will in fact all benefit just one man. A tax exile living in the Isle of Man. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/cruise-wars-liverpool-gets-full-naval.html
There was a bloke talking to him who stood there staring at me said he was a local, no local talks with that accent. A group of Peel employees gathered around and Ainsworth flipped away comments I made about world heritage as if he didn’t care. “We have people working for us who know what they are doing professional people”
“Yes like Peter de Figeurido the ex English Heretic who should have advised against Mann Island and instead sold his soul”  He did not like to be matched and became a slight bit agitated especially each time I mentioned public inquiry which I did several times just to see his reaction and his twitching. “It meets all the criteria for a…public inquiry” http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/peeled-in-front-of-our-noses.html What about competing against itself with Wirral Waters.
“You just dont want anything to happen to a run down place” How long have they owned it.
You only have to look at Milton Keynes-On-Sea which is Princes Docks.
What was clearly visible to me was what I warned of months ago that Peel want to make a Cruise Liner Facility, not a jetty, and they have the customs office. Why don’t you just use ours and pay the 9 million European grant back I asked. “We don’t want to we want our own”. We can see right through the perspex blocks, we have heard it all before. When I questioned him about the press reports "Dont believe what you read in these local papers" he said in his Manchester  accent.
“Yes its all politics, I said, the Salford Star is the journal what tells it straight about Peel Holdings” http://www.salfordstar.com/default.asp put Peel Holdings or the NWDA into their search box http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=452 Try this one
He also said a underwater survey has been done of the old landing stage they have let rot but Peel has no plans to demolish it. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/09/liverpool-cruise-liner-cock-up-blame.html Yes and I believe that one.


"We are doing you a favour Ashworth proclaimed", It seems that a misguided arrogance from Peel will grow in the coming months………..until we have a public inquiry.

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

What Have Peel Holdings Ever Done For Liverpool?

Still waffling today is David "Stinky Ink" Bartlett about how showing he is not understanding the full situation with relation to the politics surrounding Liverpools Cruise Liner Cock-Up.

The full truth of the matter which Bartlett should be concentrating on is Peel are pulling the strings they want to build their own Cruise Liner Facility. So packaged up by Bartlett today is the first hint of the true story. I advised senior shipping writers in the Daily Ghost to these facts over 6 months ago. Is this selling papers? well if you look at the sales figures for the Daily Ghost you will note that it apears that the public are so fed up with Trinity "Smoking" Mirror making it up as they go along, http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/cruise-wars-scouse-wedding-on-sea.html or unable or unwilling to grasp hold of the truth. Lethargic in their approach, scared to upset the people who pay for advertising or place advertorials for them to package into a lazy days work. Peter Elson should have been consulted over this, or allowed to spell out the truth of which he is aware. Larry Neild was there years ago telling us all how wonderful it is we have got a new dawn with ships coming back up the Mersey. Unable or unwilling to work out the truth Larry Bartlett now follows in the Oldham Echo tradition. It apears I am not alone in my condensed thoughts.  http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/12/oldham-echo-fight-arranger-licence.html or http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/12/recriminations-but-no-regrets.html
So now we are informed that Peel will help us. Take a look at the picture above of the Cruise Liner Terminal at Langton Dock to see how they have been helping our visitors to the city...to a shed, to have their passports checked. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/council-cruise-liner-cock-up.html I spelt it out in July. So Bartlett now tells us http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news//2009/12/18/cruise-liner-terminal-plan-to-double-number-of-ships-at-liverpool-s-pier-head-100252-25419244/ Peel are going to help us by reducing the port costs. I am just laughing my head off while Peels director is laughing all the way to his Isle of Man tax exile branch to deposit another packet.
They filled in Princes Dock and built Milton Keynes-On-Sea http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/04/milton-keynes-on-sea.html that is the sort of stuff Peel do for us. While leaving the docks in a disgraceful state.

The Banalization of Liverpool

The Banalization of Liverpool

By Paul Robinson

In all facets of the city (and I imagine in all cities of the country) banality is demonstrated, conformity is rampant, there is no new milieu, just the reclassification of old principles. People are still scared to leave plates in the bedroom for fear of what other people might say. In the surge toward cosmopolitanism, we forgot to watch our backs as tedium crept up and snatched our wallets.

                                    ***
The new build sought only to conglomerate existing structures, not to threaten. The new tenements, espousing inner city living, are bland reconfigurations of brick and mortar, indemnifying the unity of the moneyed. No architectural rebellion, no challenge to the skyline or the eyeline has been implemented. No Liverpool revolution, only dash renovation to make room for transportation of citizens in and out of the city. The city must be rejected, it's edifices denounced.
                                                                                    ***
There has been no significant artistic movement for over half a century. The Merseybeat legacy has jammed new pathways in music and poetry: in music we look to continental Europe and America for inspiration, bringing back mere imitation; in poetry we pack no unified punch, no “wah! wah!” or hand jive, no imprisonment, none willing to commit poetic crime. Creativity frequently requires penury: contentment strangles creativity, reducing artistic purpose to a diversion, pastime or hobby. Investment is not a requisite for creativity. Where is the avant-garde Liverpool breathing artistic fire? A vision we must will to transpire, otherwise the monotony of reality will lock us up and throw away the key. The artist must reject the city.
                                                                                    ***
Originality is confined to subterranean hideouts, radicalism is a shop, protest is the new spectacle, no adventure or defiance stands-up in the crowd, no artistic infection that can revolutionise our town. Flash clubs and bars act as fashion parades, places for courtship serenades, the weekend providing destructive escape from the working days gone, and those to come, that mash us into the ground.
                                                                                    ***
Klimt cannot reclaim the city for “artists, lovers and poets”, nor continental tender, nor transmutation, be it lamb or banana, nor movement or scene be reared on gossamer dress, yet the throng will tread in ignorance sublime, ploughing through reactivate buildings assembled from hurried cement.
                                                                                    ***
A new expression must be seeded, a new artistic ideology needed, the old guard thrown aside, the sewers and the backyards opened to see what can be found. No care should be given to national trend, we should cut our own path through the earth, wear what we want, think what we want, create the profound, a new subterranean art that eschews pound, terrifies the classes and reclaims a Liverpool lost to contaminated investment.
                                                                                    ***
Let starved cars choke the roads, pedestrian streets be deserted, let litter festoon retail doorways, window displays wither until dead: the emphasis must be shifted. Let Liverpool create it's own masterpiece, let the domestic screams of Grafton street be condensed into artful streams of consciousness, let the river drown the town hall and absolve the Capital enshrouding our culture. Within a few years Liverpool can become a hub of progressive chaotic excellence saturated with artists, poets, musicians and lovers, reclaimed from the dull misery that we have been intravenously fed. The city must be rejected.


Paul Robinson Poetry http://www.paulrobinsonpoetry.co.uk/

Liverpool Central Library the Violation Begins

Well they have ruined the museum in William Brown Street part of the World Heritage Site, turning it into the Wacky Warehouse so why not destroy the Central Library and make it look like an Azda supermarket. It makes sense. Every little helps. It seems everything that this council, in my opinion, run by spivs, does, is a way of ruining the heritage of the city. Of homogonising it, turning it, into the same as everywhere else. Even its unique areas, its world heritage site. Its no good claiming that it is updating an existing structure, this does not look good, it looks very bad indeed. Not only have they got rid of all wagon loads of books from the library, selling off valuable first edittions to book dealers at knock down prices, they will now set about destroying the fabric of the structure, and the whole building. It will happen, with these proposals. Does no-one understand what heritage is in this city is, and how you merge old with new to create a sense of place and history.
Inspire Partnership has been named as the preferred developer, a collective that includes key investor International Public Partnerships, constructors and investors Shepherd Construction, city-based architects Austin-Smith:Lord and restoration specialists William AnelayCOR.


Building services engineers Buro HappoldCOR, asset managers Amber Infrastructure and facilities managers CofelyCOR complete the partnership.
The library is scheduled to be closed in June, 2010, and it will take around three months to completely empty.
The city council is about to finalise an arrangement with another city centre location to keep facilities accessible to the public throughout the closure of the building.
“We took a strategic decision that education is so important to the future prosperity of this city, and libraries are a finger on the hand of that,” said council leader, Cllr Warren Bradley., “While other councils have been streamlining, cutting costs and closing libraries, we have been investing.
“We have worked hard over the last six or seven years and are pleased we have now got a developer in place to deliver this scheme. This has been a long time in coming.”
He added: “On the back of Capital of Culture, we have invested £100m into the cultural infrastructure of the city.
“If you look at what’s going on with the [Everyman and Playhouse] theatres and what the museums have done, it’s phenomenal to see the investment in culture since 2008, and this is the icing on the cake.

This man really is dangerous the only reason he is placed in his position, in my opinion, was to allow people to faclilitate use of the huge European Slush fund, he talks about getting a developer in.......this is our library Mr Bradley not a speculative development sceme. He has waxed lyrical about every scheme that has come on board, carbuncle after carbuncle, he has backed, telling us how great everything is. My opinion is he is being puppeteered by Mike Storey still.
With Bradley in charge they can ruin what they want. With The Daily Ghost and the Oldham Echo as your PR company you have it made. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/10/30/50m-liverpool-library-refurbishment-plans-unveiled-92534-25050438/ Vicky Anderson reports on behalf of the council this time.
To use your cultural assets in a manner, that does not undertand them is beyond belief. Housed in the Central Records office is the Chambre Hardman archive that I had a hand in saving for the city, while the Liberal Democrats, activly, campaigned to have 240,000 negatives of his work sent to Bradford and his house, now owned and run by the National trust, was to be closed.
When will this city ever learn.
A full planning application will be made on November 23and a four-week public consulatition event will be held in Central Library throughout December.

Its up to the public but with the spirit shown in the past it looks like its a done deal. Milton Keynes-On-Sea in a world heritage Mercantile and Maritime City, it just doesnt seem right.
CODA
I have just seen the front page headline of the Daily Ghost. "Stunning new £50m library sheme plan revealed". This has to be an editorial headline and it runs even with Mark Thomas style, describing the fantastic new Ferry Terminal and the stunning new museum. The Terminal Ferry building later went on to win Building Design National Carbuncle Cup Award.  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html
Every tacky scheme that come along is pounced upon by the Daily Ghost and edited as a good news story with a lack of architectural education that astounds.
One of the main reasons the world heritage site is ruined to such an extent it is being laughed at by architectural cultured people is because of the quality of the local journalism and its lack of architectural knowledge. They cant even do the people right by taking an opinion, no wonder they cant even give it away.
Losing the Ghost paper, will be no loss really, it wont. What happened to inquiring journalists in this town.

Beatrice Fraenkel-Liverpools Design Tsar Fraud

Fraenkel says: ‘Architecture is an incredibly diverse profession, and I have a passion for it. I love buildings from the “Bling Bling” building in Liverpool by Piers Gough to Wilkinson Eyre’s bus station [at Liverpool One].
Hey there is a statement for you, so confident in what she knows.
Frankeal is now the chair of ARB. (How she got there is beyond me).
Ed Vaizey, the shadow minister for culture, has claimed he would save CABE from a Tory ‘bonfire of the quangos’ but again promised to kill off the Architects’ Registration Board (ARB).
http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/vaizey-we-will-keep-cabe-but-arb-must-go/5208838.article
Just how did this woman get appointed into such a high position in the first place...She says her favourite buildings in Liverpool is Herberts Barnet on Hanover Street.......still empty after two years. http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=14432235&method=full&siteid=50061 Oh and the bus depot by Wilkinson Eyre who also designed the Liver Street Car Park carbuncle on the same site. It seems quite hard to take someone so seriously with such obvious misgivings in her style opinions. But Design Tsar she was for Liverpool. Mike Storey endorsed her.
http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/riba-launch-independent-review-of-arb/5208578.article

When the Fib-Dems PR machine pushed her to the front she was a high flyer in the Fib-Dems.
A councillor in the city for 23 years, Fraenkel (above) hit the headlines following her high-profile defection to the Labour Party. She cant even decide which party she is in.....was she jumped or was she pushed?
Fraenkel said she was ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ of the Liberal Democrat Party and blamed standards at local level for her departure. The Lib Dems hit back, questioning her absence from important meetings.

I am ashamed and embarrassed about the way, she, as design Tsar has manoeuvred herself into such a position. In my opinion she is a talentless confidence trickster. While under her Design Tsar stewardship. in Liverpool we have had such Carbuncles as the Terminal Ferry Building, One Park Worst. The Three Ugly Sisters were planned and passed and are now going up at an alarming rate, as is their NWDA funding partner the new X-box museum on Mann Island.
Princes Dock has become Milton Keynes-On-Sea. What a joke, when even the spivs of the Fib-Dems did not want her. She obviously, true to form never turned up to any design meetings to discuss the architectural mess we now find ourselves in, with a World Heritage Disaster.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=12924808&method=full&siteid=50061

She is quoted as saying, when talking about her design Tsar appointment,
"Liverpool is one of the first cities in the country to do it and it happens to be me. It's about cities starting to realise that the way they develop has an impact on the economic and social well-being of their people.
"It's about telling private developers and other people we work with that buildings, design and spaces matter a great deal.
"It's not a matter of just putting something up as quickly as possible or maximising the return on it."
What a pathetic masquerade she has played with the urban landscape of my city, it is now obvious that she did not a clue what she was talking about.
A note from her then Friend Mike "Jackanory" Storey.

Who says talking about her newly formed role "It will ensure Liverpool's rich architectural heritage will be protected".
He went on to say: "This design guide is long overdue. It places good design at the heart of all activity in the city.
"In the new Liverpool, quality counts. We have learnt from the mistakes of the past. We will no longer put up with second best.
"Good design is not just about bricks and mortar. It is also about the social and cultural environment in which we live, work and play."
He is mentioned on a website called Enemies of the People along with the Criminal Hurst of whom he said "I would trust him with my life".

HOW WRONG CAN YOU BE MS FRANENKEL.
NOW AS THE CHAIR OF THE ARCHITECTS REGISTRATION BOARD QUANGO....IF THAT ISN'T A REASON TO KILL IT THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
With Frankeal as Design Champion and Berni Turner as Heritage Champion and Mike Storey in charge of Regeneration, Oh, and the complete and utter waste of space John Hinchliffe as World Heritage Officer, no wonder we are in such a mess.
We didn't stand a chance.

Liverpool World Heritage City, Carbuncles-R-Us

The award, or shall we say disgrace of having the Carbuncle Cup award for Liverpool's Terminally ill Ferry Building has left a few with red faces, and others such as the council leader who recently said Prince Charles told him, yes told him, that he thought Liverpool's regeneration was brilliant. It was Prince Charles who first termed the phrase Carbuncle into common currency to describe a architecturally disgraceful new construction.
I think Warren Bradley is making it up when he says Cllr Bradley also revealed that he had recently spoken to Prince Charles about the changes to the city’s urban environment, saying: “Prince Charles thinks we’ve done a wonderful job.http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/06/26/leading-politicians-face-liverpool-s-young-professionals-92534-23985324/

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=430&storycode=3147432&channel=783&c=2But what of the other recent Carbuncles. The Unity Building that started all the blights on Liverpool's Iconic Skyline.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6105720/Britains-ugliest-building.html?state=target#postacomment&postingId=6120693 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8226211.stm


One Park Worst on Chavasse Park came 5th in the same Carbuncle Cup competition despite a desperate rear guard action by Grosvenor.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/08/28/architecture-critics-name-liverpool-ferry-terminal-uk-s-worst-new-building-92534-24551826/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/08/27/liverpool-pier-head-ferry-terminal-voted-britain-s-ugliest-building-100252-24548157/

Milton Keynes-On-Sea on Princes Dock.

The Carbuncles that Liverpool's planners and the Spivs running the place thought they could get away with are now here to haunt us forever. Here is a Car-Park in the shadows of the Liver Buildings. Why do this with your best asset.

Council Cruise Liner Cock Up

The Local papers are at it again filling front pages with old news without really explaining all the facts. Telling us what the council want us to know.

pic Liverpool gateway to the world at the glamorous Langton Dock...Customs shed.

This is the gateway shed from Liverpool for all those travelling on a cruise at present.

Bon Voyage.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/07/27/liverpool-council-wants-cruises-to-start-and-end-at-pier-head-92534-24246297/

The full situation could be explored much better with a FOI request as to what was negotiated in 2006 between the City Council and Peel Holdings.

They, Peel Holdings, allowed...yes allowed the public to use the road adjacent to the cruise liner facility instead of it being CPO'd by the council like they did in the Albert Dock with access to the new Arena. This is why you can still be clamped down there as it is private property.

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/News/archive/2006/newsdetail_1552.asp a example from a document that I found but the Daily Ghost can't be bothered to unearth.

25/01/2006
Cruise liner work set to start
WORK is set to start shortly on the cruise liner facility at Liverpool's Pier Head following the signing of legal agreements.
The agreements between Liverpool City Council and Peel Holdings following several months of negotiations allow for access to the site at Princes Dock.

Sir David Henshaw, Council Chief Executives said: "This is a very important and exciting development which is being delivered for the city. Along with the other developments taking place it means that the waterfront will be a major visitor destination.
"This has been a highly complex scheme because of the number of different interests involved but by working together the partners in the scheme are going to deliver something which is very important to the future of the city and the region."
Lindsey Ashworth, Development Director of Peel Holdings says:-"All stakeholders have been working extremely hard to ensure that the Cruise Liner Terminal goes ahead. It's not been easy but we were all confident that solutions and compromises would be made for the greater good of Liverpool.
"What is important is that this is seen as the start of the regeneration of the entire waterfront from Pier Head through Central Docks and beyond.
"To attract these cruise ships from exotic and far away places, we have to provide a waterfront that is befitting the great City of Liverpool.
"Peel intends to keep the momentum of regeneration going forward by creating a vibrant and exciting waterfront with buildings and public realm of the highest quality and so adding to Liverpool's attraction.

IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS WERE NOT IN FAVOUR OF US THE PUBLIC BUT PERTINENT TO PEEL KEEPING THEIR LANGTON DOCK FACILITY WITH A POTENTIAL FOR THEM TO INSTALL THEIR OWN FACILITY...shown on their plans.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/landing-stage-left-to-rot.html

Liverpool's new "Naval Jetty" masquerading as a cruise liner facility has been sold to us as a new beginning for Liverpool instead it has opened up a whole new series of problems mainly we don't own the land that it is on....What a Cock Up.

Warren Bradley-You Are Not Very Clever

Did Prince Charles really say to Warren Bradley this is worthy of a WHS.
http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/06/prince-charles-seal-of-approva.html

Not many people ever leave a comment on Dave Bartletts blog but this one seems to have kicked up a fuss.
pic Milton Keynes-On-Sea
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/06/26/leading-politicians-face-liverpool-s-young-professionals-92534-23985324/2/ He mischievously posted it after a report by...guess who, Alan Weston.
Warren Bradley says during a conversation with Prince Charles "What do you think of the Waterfront" and Charles say "Hey its great what you are doing there in Liverpool it looks marvelous". I think not. http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpooldailypost/news/regionalnews/tm_headline=charles-calls-for-need-to-preserve-heritage-site%26method=full%26objectid=18931210%26siteid=50061-name_page.html
I think it looks like another load of tosh spin from someone who wouldn't know a decent building if it fell on him. While he is driving round in his appliance putting fires out in historic buildings does he not see the dereliction in Toxteth. The Georgian buildings such as The Wellington Rooms still in a perilous state.

The Daily Post recently ran article on the developments at Mann island which was a fair and balanced one. How can you get a balanced view by going and finding the only three people in the city who support something. Its like making a balanced argument over the Third Reich...well not quite but you know what I mean. http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16763546&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=mann-island--your-views-name_page.html Can a argument ever be fair when the answer is already made by the people putting the view forward?

Here is a old debate on the BBC that I took part in with the Barons views.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2007/06/22/building_britain_debate_feature.shtml
Bradley is mates and fellow Fire Bobby with Burst Hurst http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/search?q=steve+hurst
As planning committee member Hurst passed most of the eyesores that now make us look like Milton Keynes-on-Sea.
Here is Larry Neild take on the Bradley/Hust affair http://www.liverpoolconfidential.co.uk/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNwEiNwElKWJ6IHqjNwB6IA.

Larry used to have views on a lot of things relating to Liverpool's Heritage and ran several articles about the loss of views and WHS status and the need to preserve our past.
What are his views now he works for October Communications who have been employed by the City Council, NWDA, Neptune developments and were the company who first sold us down the river with the competition for the Will Alsop "Glass Pie in the Sky" Cloud?

Old Customs Die Hard.

Here is an old photo looking from within the Colonades of the Old Customs House which was demolished in the 50s to give people work (it would have been as easy to rebuild it) this is one of the biggest disasters to Liverpools Architecture.
But look at the same view and what the current bunch are doing right under the noses of Unesco who are a complete waste of time.
We have recently been advised that the sum of £135,000 comes from the UK government and their total budget is £2,000,000. There is no wonder they will not complain. The DCMS are assisting in running it as a member state of UNESCO.
You may note the New Liverpool, the Milton Keynes-On-Sea is not quite of the same quality as the old where we had Quality Architects such as Lutyens, Shaw, and Gilbert Scott working here.
This is the corner of Chavasse Park and the god'am awful Cesar Pelli monstrosity on the corner of Grosvenor-pool. In the background is the New Museum inspired by a design by ....Manweb and the Three Ugly Sisters next to our Three Graces, which are just about to be clad in stick a brick black Granite. It is going to hit home soon just what the lunatics who have taken over the asylum have done.






It is a crying shame.
We know you have to move on but this is going backwards.
Liverpool had a blank canvass on which to paint a new picture and it seems we have turned away from Palladio and got into Puff Daddio.

Jonathon Glancey touches on the subject in BD Magazine.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=427&storycode=3142110&channel=783&c=2&encCode=00000000019a7d9e
Phil Redmond the Chair of NML replacing Loyd Grossman, who was allegedly "grassed up" to the DCMS by David "Fuzzy Felt" Fleming. Dr Redmond who coined the phrase "Scouse Wedding" well he nicked it from one of the local writers recently said to me looking over from the Albert Dock to the New Liverpool "At least they will fall down in 50 years, and wont be around after that".
"Yes in the meantime I have to look at them, thats no good to me." I replied.
Some attitude that from the master of spin whose wife is also a trustee of NML.
I don't think there are many Scouse Weddings in the leafy Cheshire Village of Utkington where he is now Lord of the Manor.
The City has been binge-building and now we are soon gonna wake up and have one hell of a hangover.

Henry Owen-John, English Heretic

HE HAS DONE MORE DAMAGE THAN THE LUFTWAFFE. pic Lancashire Economic Partnership In the realms of the destruction of Liverpool’s Architectural History one name stands out above all others,that of Herman Goering. He and the Luftwafe saw to it that during the blitz we lost so many architectural masterpieces that they could never be replaced. We were once The Athens of the North . The Customs house by John Foster Jr seems to spring to mind when thinking in a solemn mood. Bombed and then knocked down to give work to people after the war. They didnt think to rebuild it to dole out work!!!  

Second on the list is Henry Owen John of English Heritage.  Henry is an archeologist by profession. 

What the recent English Heretics series has shown the nation is that the ministry is run by buffoons who act out their whims and fancies and are misguided, while the people with common sense get ignored. Why is the most important person in the regions heritage entitled North West Planning and Development Director for English Heritage. 

The whole set up leads one to believe that EH are more interested in assisting property developers such as Grosvenor and the arch vandals at Liverpool Museums and Neptune Developments than the people who pay their wages, the public. 

They, EH, are now sitting at the top table with Peel Holdings assisting them, in my opinion, on how to crawl all over what is left of the WHS that does not already look like Milton Keynes-on-Sea.

I did a walkabout with Peter Elson for the centre pages of the Liverpool Daily Post http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/01/29/living-on-the-eve-of-destruction-64375-20405391/ 

He went on the defensive with a public relations exercise and along with his mate The Riechmarshal Lee Liverpools Chief planning officer.

 Theybegged to be interviewed to put thier side of the story over. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/03/22/the-changing-face-of-liverpool-64375-20658839/ Just as recently with M.Ps expenses when you look at the set up you find there is a culture of distrust. But we stand off respectfully and say nothing. NOT ANY MORE. 

We decided several years ago that the very people who were supposed to be protecting it English Heretics were making the biggest mistakes to Liverpool’s heritage. 

They are corrupted with a culture that does not befit its remit and its principles and when you watch Chief Heretic Simon Thurley, it beggar’s belief that the whim of one man can wield so much power. 

And what of Sir Neil Cossons making a fortune out of talking about heritage while promoting its destruction. Read more here.

https://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/05/sir-neil-cossons.html 

Especially if the very people who are making the decisions do not have the requisite skills to protect us. The World Heritage Site, before the ink was dry, on the Unesco Inscription was carved up by the NWDA and its “cosy” developers. 

Ruined While Henry Owen John never said a word, in fact the opposite he activly encouraged it. He gave a talk at the recent Merseyside Civic Society AGM and was SHAKEN by the aggression from elderly gentlemen towards EHs government sponsored destruction in Liverpool. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/business/business-local/2006/12/04/heritage-lessons-learned-64375-18204231/ 

The term A Educated Idiot springs to mind but we consider him to be more than that. 

We cannot understand how and it is our opinion this man has rubber stamped more damage to Liverpools history by helping to shape its future with poor architecture that we will have to live with for the rest of our  lives. And he lives elsewhere.

Imagine the world outrage if they were to build three monstrous blocks of flats and a Museum that looks like a giant egg box in front of the Taj Mahal or the Pyramids. 

46 Listed Buildings Destroyed while he stands by. 

A plague on your house Mr Owen-John it is our opinion you are a disgrace to your profession and the whole Culture of Capital that is English Heritage. http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/82/owenjohn/pathfinders.html

Update  30.9.2021

Liverpool has lost its world heritage site ststus while this man is now  head of World Heritage UK.

We told you what would happen Mr Owen John how you are still employed is beyond us.

MILTON KEYNES-ON-SEA

LIVERPOOL'S EMERGING SKYLINE.

The two pictures are from the same spot and you may just be able to see the top of the Symbol of the city, the Liver bird atop the Liver Buildings.
Why would you want to do this with your world heritage site?
These are not the worst views.
They, the city council and its incompetent planners have managed to undo the Overall Universal Values of the World Heritage site within 5 years of its inscription it is incredible to think that they are able to get away with this

WHY DO THIS, WHAT IS THE POINT IN BUILDING EMPTY FLATS IN THE WHS.

The first thing you would see from one of the new to Liverpool Cruise liners that don't seem to be arriving yet is.....Milton Keynes-on-Sea...Yes it is that bad.




They promised us Shanghai only it is us the population of the city who have been Shanghai-ed.

Where are you Unesco? Are you watching?