SEFTON COUNCIL ACCUSED OF 'LETTING IT GO'

Lord St - usually considered the jewel in Southport’s crown and a Conservation Area in it’s own right remains on the 'at risk’ register according to Historic England, the national body responsible for preserving our heritage.

Rob McAllister-Bell , Liberal Democrat candidate for the post of City Region Mayor has accused Sefton Council of neglecting Lord St and having no plan to address its decline which is particularly marked at the south end.

"Sefton are clearly not making owners keep the precious glass verandahs and canoplies in good condition through their enforcement powers”, says Rob McAllister-Bell, "That may be understandable if you don’t want the traders to decamp off elsewhere, but anarchy is not the answer.

We all know retail has changed but Sefton does not even have an updated retail report on the footfall in Lord St and the town centre to guide its policy.

The policy appears to be “build a new events centre and all will be well”. It seems incredibly naive. With the new developments up at Meols Cop it may already be the case that more trips are made there than to the actual town centre.

The reality is that Southport is best known for Lord St and we cannot let that go- a serious recovery plan is needed and quickly."