Everton’s Kirkby stadium plans ‘too big’

Jan 15 2009 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

EFC Stadium design, Kirkby 12 _200

EVERTON FC does not need to build a 60,000-capacity stadium, a commercial expert for Liverpool City Council told an inquiry yesterday.

Mark McVicar, a development consultant, said the size of the stadium was dictating the scale of the retail development proposed in Kirkby alongside it, which was unnecessary.

But Patrick Clarkson, QC for Everton and Tesco, questioned Mr McVicar’s expertise and whether Liverpool council had changed tack in opposing the stadium and not just the retail element.

Mr McVicar said: “It’s expensive to relocate a football club so there’s a financial shortfall and you need a lot of retail development to help meet the cost of that shortfall.

“If the stadium was only for 50,000 seats, the scale of the cross- subsidy would be far smaller.

“Is there really a need for this as it impacts on policy, the town centre and other town centres?”

He went on to say that Everton did not have a large waiting list for season tickets and that the extra 10,000 seats would have to be built, at significant cost, before being “mothballed for an unknown amount of time”.

The £400m development before the inquiry could even damage the existing town centre as it would draw shops into the new development when their leases expire over the next five years.