Youngsters canvassed on home town revamp plans

May 1 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

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YOUNG people from West Kirby will be among the first to give their opinions on how the town should be redeveloped.

Next week, architect Christopher Egret will be at Hilbre High School as part of what is being described as a first phase in consultation on plans for the waterfront area.

Year 10 art and design pupils are teaming up with Mr Egret and celebrity chef Paul Askew from London Carriage Works Restaurant at Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool.

The students will be creating a seafront model of how they would like to see their waterside location looking in the future – and also cooking a gourmet meal to complement it.

The event, which is themed “My town . . . ” was organised by former teacher Sarah Beer, from Carpenter Investments, the development company chosen by Wirral Council to develop a new sailing school and hotel along the seafront.

Sarah said: “Carpenter Investments are currently undertaking a consultation exercise with West Kirby residents with regards to the planned waterfront development, and as part of that we feel it is vital that we include the younger people in the town in the decision making process.

“They do not have any public voice as such and we want to encourage them to help shape their local environment for the future.”

In January, the Liverpool Daily Post revealed the plans with a luxury hotel as the centrepiece of a wide-ranging development which will also provide the seaside town with a new sailing school, to replace the existing 43-year-old complex on the marine lake.

Plans for West Kirby centre around a hotel at the head of the Marine Lake, on the Dee Lane car park site, which will include a restaurant, bar, spa and conference facilities, together with retail outlets at ground-floor level.

The new sailing school building will be on the footprint of the existing site, and will include an information centre for Hilbre Island, a separate boat storage building, and additional retail unit and café.

Developers are aiming to integrate all the sites into a single waterfront attraction, which will create around 50 new jobs.

The architect behind the scheme is Mr Egret, who has 29 years experience on local and international projects and has worked with Sir Norman Foster, Ian Ritchie, John McAslan and more recently Will Alsop.

It was with Will Alsop that he managed the winning design for the Fourth Grace in Liverpool, and more recently he has been appointed to join the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Trust Board.

Deputy Head at Hilbre High School, Sally Beevers, said she was delighted that her students were involved in this community-based project.

liammurphy