Edge Lane cleanup row may cost city council £1m

Mar 20 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

THE legal battle over the clean-up of a number of “grot spots” in a key gateway into Liverpool could reach almost £1m, the Daily Post can reveal.

Liverpool City Council’s failed legal challenge to get Derwent Holdings to clean up the former Traveller’s Rest site on Edge Lane has cost around £100,000 in legal costs.

The council has issued eight similar notices for other sites which Derwent, owned by Isle of Man multi-millionaire Albert Gubay, said it intends to fight all the way in the courts.

According to calculations by Derwent, the cost of losing each notice to the council would be £100,000, although if the council wins the costs would be much lower.

Derwent, which owns 100 acres of land on Edge Lane including the retail park, wants to build a £200m retail and leisure development to rival New Mersey Shopping Park at Speke.

Last night Labour leader Joe Anderson called on the council and Derwent to “get round the table and negotiate”.

But the cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Berni Turner – who last week suggested the judge who ruled against the council “wanted a very sound slap” – insisted that taking legal action against Derwent was the “right and proper” thing to do.

She has always maintained that Derwent are using their current sites as leverage over the council in an attempt to get the planning permission it wants.

Last night the city council said it was using different legislation with the current notices to that used on the former Traveller’s Rest site to try to secure a more successful outcome.

The authority said it was not just targeting Derwent and had served notices on other landowners in Edge Lane as part of a comprehensive package to clean up the key route.

In January the Daily Post revealed how Derwent had offered the council £20m to plug its shortfall in the Capital of Culture budget in exchange for Rathbone Road Recreation Ground for development.

Derwent has a number of planning applications going through the system for its land in Edge Lane.

The argument between the council and Derwent seems to be about the sheer scale of development, and neither side seems willing to budge.

Cllr Turner said: “Edge Lane is one of the major gateway routes into the city and these grot spots are a complete eyesore.

“I am very disappointed with the recent High Court judgement, but let’s be clear that it will not deter us at all from taking further action.

“It is absolutely the right and proper thing to do for the sake of the city, and I am confident we will get the right result.”

John Taylor, property adviser to Derwent, said: “We did not see the recent court case as a victory, because no one wins until we get planning consent to re-develop the site.”

He said Derwent wanted a retail park on the scale of that at Speke, which is around 500,000sq ft.

Derwent and senior council officials are due to meet soon, said Mr Taylor.

Cllr Anderson said: “The council should be putting its energies into getting round the table rather than seeking battles it can’t win.

“The council has to accept that businesses are sick and tired of this dogmatic and stubborn behaviour.”

OPINION: PAGE 10

davidbartlett