Artist's impression of Everton's new stadium & shops in Kirkby _400
MERSEYSIDE shoppers are being bussed to Manchester by a lobby group railing at opponents of Everton and Tesco’s plans to develop Kirkby town centre.
The free coach trips are designed to hit critics of Destination Kirkby where it hurts – in the cash register.
Kirkby Residents In Support of Progress (Krisp) are laying on the trips to the Trafford Centre to deprive Merseyside of shoppers.
The stunt – which organisers say will continue as long as there is demand for seats on the coaches – is designed to punish Liverpool City Council for formally objecting to Destination Kirkby.
Tesco’s £400m scheme would see a giant retail complex and a 50,000-capacity football stadium built in Kirkby.
Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and West Lancashire councils lobbied for the proposals to be “called in” to a planning inquiry claiming they would be ruinous for existing retail centres.
But Krisp says Liverpool’s objection was based on a desire to ensure the dominance of the 42-acre Liverpool One complex.
Its vice-chairman, David Dodd, said last night: “The only reason Liverpool are objecting is to force people in Kirkby to shop in town.”
He added that Krisp will announce how much money shoppers spend in the Trafford Centre to show “how much money Liverpool has missed out on”.
