South Liverpool's first Entertainment Park

[Kev]

Peel Holdings, owners of Liverpool John Lennon Airport have unveiled plans for South Liverpool's first Entertainment Park that could create up to 1000 new jobs.

Aptly named Wings, the park is located close to Liverpool John Lennon airport, bringing over 1.2m passengers from Merseyside past the site.

Peel have planning consent for a 245,000sq ft entertainment park that will serve South Liverpool and the M62/M57corridor. The park will be Liverpool's newest leisure facility with unrivalled access to the whole conurbation and with a size and mix of uses to attract people from far and wide.


The park will include:

A Multiplex Cinema
Two Hotels
A Bowling Alley
Restaurants
Bars
A Health & Fitness Club
1000 free car parking spaces

Roger Wheeldon, Development Manager at Peel said: "Wings will complement the other developments in the area which now provide major high quality retail and employment facilities to which wings will add a state of the art entertainment complex of a quality not seen in Liverpool before."

It is hoped the completed scheme will be open in 2005. For further information please contact Alison Tennant

[Kev]

While I'm on the subject of South Lpool.....



Derelict and adjacent to the Mersey Estuary is set to be transformed into a Nature Reserve by a steering group including landowners Peel Holdings.

The 70 acre parcel of land south of the northern airfield in Speke and Garston is to receive a major facelift. Peel Holdings in partnership with Liverpool City Council identified the area for improvement and in conjunction with the National Trust, The Mersey Basin Campaign and the North West Development agency have formed a steering group to bring the project to fruition.

Situated adjacent to the Mersey Estuary coastline the land is currently in a dilapidated condition and although access to the coast can be gained at the moment via the Mersey Way it is currently an unpleasant and hostile environment.


The Mersey Estuary itself is designated as a 'Ramsar' site of International Significance and renowned for its wintering wildfowl. It is also a SPA, Special Protected Area. The coastline and this land in particular lying to the west of Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an undeveloped asset, used at the moment only by a few walkers and the guardians of Liverpool Sailing Club.

The emerging coastal reserve will be predominantly a nature area open to the public for the enjoyment of the coast. The actual content of the nature area is not yet determined and the local communities and interested groups will be consulted in the near future for their ideas.

Once planning permission is obtained the first phase of clearance works can begin, the work will be undertaken on a phased schedule basis due to begin this autumn.

The works are expected to take 3 years and the Steering Group hope to achieve an overall budget of £5m over this period of time to achieve the improvements to the area as Louise Morrissey, Head of Land & Planning at Peel Holdings said:

"At this stage there are no guarantees, but a planning consent is a major step forward to achieving the steering group's goals of obtaining support from the various grant sources that may be available.

There is a lot of hard work to be undertaken on this project and we as a steering group will need a lot of support from the various funding bodies and support from the local communities. However, a nature reserve in this location, available for the public to use will be a fantastic facility".

Walter Menzies, Chief Executive of Mersey Basin Campaign Added:

"This is a wasted asset and it's transformation will bring major benefits to the local community and contribute to the wider Mersey waterfront Regional Park"

Aidan Manley, NWDA Area Manager for Merseyside said:

"This exciting new development will breathe new life into the Mersey Estuary and will prove beneficial to the whole community of Speke and Garston. It is a pleasure to be working alongside key regional partners in creating these substantial environmental improvements to enhance the image of the area".

[Kev]

ONE of the most exciting developments proposed for the Speke area of Liverpool is expected to be given the go-ahead next week.

City planning officers have recommended full approval of a multi-million pound entertainment park and leisure complex by the owners of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Provisional consent for the scheme has already been given, but now the detailed scheme needs formal approval.

The Wings Park scheme, by Peel Holdings, will create 1,000 jobs with the building of a multiplex cinema, two six-storey hotels, a casino, bowling alley, wedding hall, bars, restaurants and a health and fitness centre. The 245,000sq ft park will be at the junction of Speke Boulevard and Speke Hall Avenue.

A spokesman for Peel said: "There is nothing like this in south Liverpool to provide night-time leisure entertainment. Figures show 40% of people using the airport come from Merseyside and they will all pass our front door.

"Following the recent improvements in Speke Garston, and the expanding business parks, we think the time is right for this development."

Following concerns expressed by design watchdog panel, LUDCAP, the scheme has been significantly revised. LUDCAP initially said it thought the submission was of poor quality for a gateway to the city. The panel called for a scheme of high architectural merit. The new scheme, to be debated by the planning committee on Tuesday, largely overcomes LUDCAP's concerns.

The new scheme is now considered to be of good architectural merit for the prominent corner site. ¦ THE planning committee is expected to approve a second major scheme for Speke, creating an estimated 450 jobs.

Morrisons supermarket is seeking approval to build a two-storey supermarket, 15 shops, health centre, petrol station and car park between Speke Boulevard and Conleach Road. It will become the estate's new "town centre".

The development is aimed at replacing Speke's original centre, Central Parade.

Because of the scale of the development it will have to be referred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Prescott will have the power to call in the plan for close scrutiny or he may decide not to intervene, paving the way for an early start.

A new junction will be built on Speke Boulevard to give access to the new store from the main road.

More than 70 homes will have to be demolished. The bulk of the existing Speke District Centre will also be pulled down.

Source- Liverpool Echo