Residents are still wary of new West Kirby plans

Jul 2 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

CAMPAIGNERS last night continued their opposition to a major revamp of West Kirby as developers claimed they had the support of most of the community.

Proposals to build a new sailing school and four-star boutique hotel in Wirral’s premier waterside location of West Kirby were on show for the public to scrutinise.

Visitors to last week’s three-day public consultation exercise on The Sail proposals held at West Kirby’s Concourse Building were asked to complete a questionnaire. The results revealed by Carpenter Investments show 46% in favour of the scheme, 18% don’t know and 36% negative.

Sarah Beer, of Carpenter Investments, said she was pleased with the feedback .

She said: “As a lifelong resident of West Kirby I understand how important it is to consult with the public and am pleased there has been a positive response to the proposals and I would like to emphasise that at this stage in the consultation exercise that is all we are presenting just ‘proposals’ and not final plans.

“I would like to thank everybody who took the time to come along and make their views known to us and we will now go away and consider all their comments.”

Many West Kirby residents are still opposed to plans which include a new hotel overlooking the marine lake.

Ally MacDermot of the local Chamber of Commerce, said she knew of many people who had yet to return their questionnaires and it seemed very quick between consultation ending and the analysis of people’s responses.

She said: “Being a representative of the business community I have had feedback from both residents and businesses who have been unhappy with the way consultation has gone so far. In view of positive feedback Carpenters say they have received, I can wholeheartedly say the feedback I have from businesses and residents has been negative.”

Local councillors were also critical of the consultation, with West Kirby Cllr Geoffrey Watt saying he was “appalled” at the consultation.

Cllr Watt said there was “very little on display” and there was no picture of how hotel would appear.

He said: “The feeling was if they can’t show us what they really want to build they will have to have another public meeting.

“We thought there would be consultation and people would have a chance to say no.”

And Cllr Gerry Ellis described it as “a lost opportunity”.

liammurphy