This is Anfield
By Jane Woodhead and Mark Thomas - Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Football Club wants to build its new stadium
in Stanley Park.
The ECHO can reveal the first glimpse of the spectacular new 55,000 seat home Liverpool aims to build from scratch in the park.
The club says the first matches could be played in the £70m stadium as early as 2005.
The venue would form the centrepiece of a £240m development plan incorporating a new village centre, college, museum, a new Vernon Sangster sports centre, a possible hotel and extensive tourist facilities.
The plan includes the clearing of 1,405 houses, the refurbishment of 1,871 homes and the building of 390 new ones.It is bound to cause controversy in the local community.
Club chief executive Rick Parry said: "What is being presented is a complete regeneration initiative for the area with the stadium as the catalyst for that. There will be as many benefits for the community as for the club."The club declared its wish to stay at Anfield last year, and faced a choice between developing a new stadium on its current site or building a new Stanley Park home.
A joint steering group involving the club, city council, the Anfield Breckfield Community Steering Group and other key agencies has spent four months evaluating the impact of the two options.
Today the council's ruling executive board was told that consultants GVA Grimley have concluded Stanley Park is the best option both for the club and the Anfield Breckfield area.
The report says: "The decline of the Anfield Breckfield area has been rapid and continues at a significant rate.
"The spiral of decline is vicious and unless arrested will result in the death of Anfield Breckfield as a community.
"What is clear is that doing nothing is not an option."
There is no overall estimate of jobs created, but the report claims that, in addition to construction work, 80 non-match day jobs would be created in the stadium together with 350 indirect jobs and 23 jobs at the education innovation centre. The overall figure is expected to be much higher.
Liverpool FC's board has already decided in favour of the Stanley Park option. Controversially, the scheme will cut a large swathe into the park, but with the current stadium site being opened up, planners insist that there will be no overall loss of public space.
The club originally planned to build a 70,000 seat stadium, but that would have cost almost twice as much as the current plan.
Mr Parry said: "It is an economic decision. To increase the capacity by a further 20,000 people could double the cost of the new stadium.
"The new plans are expandable to 60,000 seats without altering the roof."
He explained that developing the current stadium would have meant three years of disruption as new stands were built.
"Even 10 years ago when the Kop was rebuilt football was very different from the game we know now.
"With mid-week European dates, TV and pay per view commitments, games are moved all over the place.
"You can't just hand the stadium over to the builders during the week and claim it back on a Saturday any more."
A specialist company has now been called in to embark on a two month programme of intensive consultation with every Anfield resident and organisation.
Mr Parry said: "We are going to talk to individual residents, a street by street referendum measuring feedback.
"We hope to carry the people of Anfield with us. This is a total package, not just a football stadium.
"It is not for us to dictate what happens now. It is what the community wants." Liverpool council chief executive David Henshaw said: "This is the first holistic look at the regeneration of Anfield and the effects of Liverpool Football Club on regeneration.
"It is a powerful piece of work. We need to be radical and comprehensive. "It is when you are being radical that you make change. If you do not get radical then we could not have a very big impact on solving some long term problems."
Council sources doubt that the club's 2005 ambition is achievable, believing that 2006 is more realistic, with 2007 a possibility if the plans go to a public inquiry.
This is from way before New heartlands the name for the Anfield HMRI scheme and clearly shows the Stadium and Housing being linked together. This piece is from April 2002 and before the HMRI scheme even existed.
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=17672.0LIVERPOOL Football Club today (Monday, September 15) reassured residents they would not be abandoned as the club presses ahead with plans for a £250m stadium on Stanley Park.
The application going to Liverpool council next month does not include detailed plans to regenerate the old ground.
But the club today promised the regeneration of the whole of Anfield would be addressed.
A spokesman said: "The club will be taking into account the regeneration of the whole area in its plans to develop a new stadium."
Council officials also said regeneration in Anfield remained on target.
Residents had expressed fears that they would lose out on the promise of a major facelift after Liverpool leave their famous stadium.
When the plans were first revealed, the club announced proposals for new education, health and sports facilities for the area.
The Anfield Regeneration Action Committee, set up three years ago to fight the stadium move, says it has not been presented with any concrete proposals for improving the area.
Secretary Mike Butler said: "We are left wondering what is happening with the regeneration of our area.
"It is as if the people of Anfield do not matter. Everything is being concentrated on LFC."
Around 1,400 homes face demolition to make way for the new ground but residents say they have no idea which ones.An LFC spokesman said: "The planning application is just for the stadium. But as part of the planning application process, information about what is planned in terms of regeneration for the whole community is included.
"This is something which has followed extensive dialogue with the community in the last three years.
"The club sees the new stadium as a catalyst for the regeneration of the entire area, which will be to the benefit of the whole community."
Liverpool council say residents have been extensively consulted.
A spokesman said: "We have used every means possible to engage the local community. Roadshows have been held and consultants carried out a survey, visiting 4,000 properties.
"There have been exhibitions of the proposals and newsletters have been sent out."
Some locals still have some reservations over the development:
* CATHERINE Farrelly, 63, from Arkles Lane, who has lived in Anfield all of her life: "We are being told the new building will be a 365-day arena. Things are bad enough just living on top of a football ground without having a venue which will have people coming in and out every day of the year. I have spent a lot of money on my home and all I can envisage now is the value of my home falling."
* ARTHUR Brown, 70, who has lived in the shadow of the ground in Watford Road for 40 years: "There is concern about the impact the stadium will have but what is more worrying is that we are being kept in the dark. We want to ensure that we are all part of the regeneration process which is what has always been promised."
* RAY Barrigan, 68, a widower, who has lived in the area for 40 years: "I welcome inward investment to the city but we do not want the stadium transferred to the park which belongs to the people of this city. We need to be told about what the plans are for regeneration in the area."
Upgrade for 60s estate
SOME regeneration projects have gone ahead in Anfield.
Work already done includes the refurbishment of the 1960s Radburn estate through stock transfer and an £8m investment in the refurbishment of houses on Skerries Road next to the football ground.
The council has promised that the community steering group, which has been working on plans for the regeneration of the area, can expect to see its proposals coming into effect at the beginning of next year.
These include the demolition of around 1,405 houses, the building of 400 new homes and the refurbishment of 1,800 others.
A local regeneration office is also due to open next month.
Plans to be submitted
THE club is due to submit its plans for a new 61,000-seater stadium to council chiefs on October 3.
If the go-ahead is given, the stadium could be ready for the 2006/07 season.
The club's original plans announced three years ago included proposals to regenerate the site of the current stadium:
* An adult and further education centre to be run by Liverpool Hope university
* Sports centre for the local community and schools
* Local health centre with GP and specialist services
* Internet youth cafe
* The restoration of Stanley park and Anfield cemetery and the creation of an Anfield Plaza on the site of the existing stadium.
The plaza is likely to include a market place, hotel, community centre, restaurant and café. An area of open space will also be created for concerts.
