Plan to remove Edge Lane eyesores

Oct 1 2007 by Nick Coligan, Liverpool Daily Post

PLANS to improve a retail park next to a key gateway into Liverpool have been submitted to planners.

Isle of Man-based multi-millionaire Albert Gubay’s Derwent Holdings, wants to initially concentrate on bulldozing part of ageing Edge Lane retail park, building seven new stores and refurbishing several others.

Further proposals to completely transform the rest of the retail park into a 21st-century shopping and leisure complex will then be submitted to the council.

Derwent said it had been trying to strike a deal with the council to improve the retail park for years, but had so far been unable to reach a compromise.

The council claims the firm had not listened to its advice and guidance, and had even threatened legal action to tidy up the Edge Lane eyesores.

In the new planning application, Derwent proposes to:

Demolish the former Homebase store, which closed about two years ago.

Replace it with seven new smaller shops.

Refurbish the neighbouring stores, including JJB, Kingsbury, Carpetright, Kingdom of Leather and Land of Leather, to bring them up to modern standards.

The firm claimed its ideas would turn it into “one of the many icons of Liverpool”.