A LIVERPOOL property expert has criticised Everton FC, Tesco and Knowsley for failing to release full financial details of their £400m plans for Kirkby.

In a short session yesterday, Charles Hubbard, managing partner of Edmund Kirby consultancy, was asked to give evidence on behalf of the combined local council objectors.

He attacked the developers’ decision to withhold the financial rationale behind the move, because it is a matter of “commercial sensitivity”.

In a written summary, he said: “Without the full appraisals, it is impossible to analyse the project.

“The levels of information to support a scheme of claimed ‘enabling’ development are inadequate.”

There has been lengthy debate about whether the retail element next to the planned new Everton stadium makes it an “enabling” development.

Opponents claim it means the plans do not meet planning requirements. The only justification for the scheme in this case would be if the scheme “enabled” big enough benefits to Kirkby and Everton FC to outweigh the question marks over policy, they argue.