Residents, businesses and visitors are now being invited to have their say on proposals that include new access routes and highway improvements. In addition, there will be improvements to car parks and junctions in the town as well as better access for people walking and cycling.
Cllr Maher, Sefton Council Leader, said:
“This is an exciting step in the regeneration of Crosby town centre and the delivery of the Crosby Investment Strategy. Our plans will help to ensure Crosby’s historic town centre is a vibrant and diverse place to live, work and visit.
“The Council has an ongoing commitment to supporting the community, listening to valued feedback, and working and living among the community so we are already well-aware of how much this regeneration plan is needed to boost south Sefton.
“I strongly encourage people to take part in the public consultation and have their say on the future development of Crosby town centre.”
We want the views of all those who live, work and visit Crosby. Please have your say by completing the online survey at www.yourseftonyoursay.sefton.uk/
The consultation is live for 6 weeks from Wednesday 22nd September until Wednesday 3rd November 2021.
For people wishing to read more about the plans, resources can also be found at www.yourseftonyoursay.sefton.uk/. Easy Read versions of the plans are also available.
If you have difficulty completing the survey online and need to speak to somebody, you can call us on 0345 140 0845. If you have any further questions that have not been answered, you can contact our Regeneration Team on regen@sefton.gov.uk
The proposals are about doing the things we agreed to try and do in the Crosby Investment Strategy, which is a plan for making improvements in Crosby that were identified previously. The Crosby Investment Strategy is available online and was consulted upon 2014/2015. The Green Car Park is identified as a key development site in the Strategy.
Earlier this year Sefton Council and its partners submitted a £19.2 million bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The bid is guided by the Crosby Investment Strategy and the ‘Connected Crosby’ vision born from earlier consultations and conversations with key stakeholders.
The bid focuses on the future development plans for the Green Car Park, including the creation a new library, healthcare facilities, and additional town centre living spaces. The outcome of the application should be known by late 2021. If we are unsuccessful in our bid, we will keep looking to try and secure funding from other places to make these improvements happen.
The works will be carried out in stages and efforts will be made to avoid disruption as far as possible during the busiest periods for the area. It is inevitable that there will be delays and these will be monitored to try and avoid any unnecessary problems. We will make sure we let everyone know when things are happening so people can plan as far ahead as possible to avoid the worst periods of disruption.
The Council will contract this work through the appropriate procurement processes. The Council will make sure that whoever carries out the work provides the best possible opportunities for the local community, for local businesses, skills and learning. This in addition to ensuring that we secure the best value for money whilst doing a good job.
The works will cause disruption on some routes into the town centre and there may be a need for short temporary closures of certain roads. This will be limited however due to the staged approach to carrying out the works. The town centre businesses and facilities will however remain open and accessible and parking will be provided throughout the works.
We have commissioned parking surveys to take place in the early Autumn and after that a refreshed parking capacity assessment will be undertaken as part of the transport assessment work. This will include consideration of all the wider developments, including the Central Buildings Development and will assess car parking across the whole of the town centre.
Parking will be available at Cooksland and Allengate and these car parks are being modified and improved to maximise the number of spaces.
There will be a phased approach to the programme and some disruption during construction is inevitable however this will be kept to a minimum. We will keep a continual dialogue with businesses as we develop our plans and the programme.
The enabling works will allow for access to be easier to the town centre car parks with modern updated parking.
Getting to the town centre by bus will also be encouraged by the enhanced bus stops as part of the Green development. Walking and cycling will also be encouraged by the improved public space works and the improved crossing points as part of the junction changes. We will also encourage other, more sustainable modes of travel.
The current public transport services to / from the town centre will remain with enhanced bus stops at the Green development.
In addition, further improvements for pedestrians and cyclists will be included in the works and as part of the public realm strategy.
Cycle only lanes are not part of the existing enabling works plans but are being considered as part of the wider active travel strategy work being developed for the Council. Access to and through the core of the town centre and the enhancement of the existing cycling parking is however being considered as part of the public realm works which are being developed. More information on the public realm will be available as more details on the development emerge. This will form part of future consultations and therefore everyone will have a chance to feedback more on these plans.
The existing central library building at Waterloo is in very poor condition with the civic hall element already having closed. A new library will provide the best up to date facilities and by locating the new library in the town centre it will be more accessible and benefit the town centre generally.
Until we know we have the funding for the new library we can’t finalise our programme but plans have already been made to make sure the process happens with the minimal level of disruption.
At this point we can’t confirm exactly what health services will operate from the proposed new facility but we are talking to a range of health providers about the building and they are very interested in being a part of this project.
As part of the agreed Crosby Investment Strategy, the Green site has been flagged for development for some time. Since the Strategy was produced, a lot of work has been undertaken on the analysis of the potential effect on traffic and car parking of taking away the Green Car Park and this work is continuing and will be refreshed for the planning application. All work to date has shown that the town centre car parking capacities are forecasted to still be adequate; alongside a need to take a more holistic approach to travel to the town centre, which caters for all modes of travel including public transport, walking and cycling.
Consultation will be assessed and fed back to the public online, any relevant comments will be considered within the designs and concerns addressed.