SEACOMBE (POULTON ROAD) ACTION PLAN

This Action Plan is a comprehensive strategy for potential future development and change within the (Poulton Road) Local Centre area.

The Action Plan builds on the Wirral Town, District and Local Centres Study and Delivery Framework 2011 (“2011 Town Centre Study”) which is a broader strategy for the regeneration and growth of the Borough 23 local, district and town centres outside . This in turn updated the Wirral Strategy for Town Centres, Retail and Commercial Leisure produced for the Council by Roger Tym & Partners (“the RTP report”) in 2009. Detailed analysis and consultation work was undertaken in producing the 2011 Town Centre Study, including wider consultation at a strategic level (Core Strategy) and more focused consultation with key stakeholders and traders. The findings and conclusions of this work form the basis of the Seacombe Action Plan .

In producing the Seacombe Action Plan, further consultation work has been undertaken. We have engaged with key stakeholders and traders, providing the opportunity for their input into the plan. The consultation responses and feedback have therefore been captured within the proposed Action Plan and have informed the key issues identified.

The Seacombe Action Plan provides a more detailed framework for shaping the regeneration of the centre, setting out issues, objectives and potential interventions in respect of regeneration, planning, design, sustainability and transport. It articulates a shared vision for the enhancement of Seacombe as a local centre. Its use is therefore neither led nor limited to council officers and it should be utilised by traders, community groups and any one else with an interest in their town centre. It is also important to emphasise that the vision for Seacombe cannot be achieved by the Local Authority alone. New businesses will be created by entrepreneurs and investors, not the public sector. Community and voluntary effort will have an important role to play in championing the vision and devising and delivering events and other initiatives in the town centre.

The Seacombe Action Plan sits alongside the Traders Toolkit (which can be viewed at (link)) which provides general information to town centre businesses about issues such as planning and licensing. The Action Plan is related to and should be read in parallel with a number of other strategic planning documents, including the Wirral Unitary Development Plan and the emerging Core Strategy. It will also provide an evidence base to inform more detailed aspects of the Local Plan for Wirral, including the proposed Site Allocations DPD and a potential ‘Town Centre SPD’. The Action Plan will not be adopted as a Development Plan Document and will remain non-statutory, but will be used to shape the future of the area.

Statutory Non -Statutory

Core Town Centre Strategy Strategy

Town Centres Site Town Centre Town Centre Allocations SPD Action Plans Toolkit Local Plan

SEACOMBE (POULTON ROAD) LOCAL CENTRE NOW

This section represents a portrait of Seacombe (Poulton Road) Local Centre as it functions today. Here we identify the main elements which define the identity of the centre and the main issues that are impacting upon it. These issues have been grouped into key themes which form the core of the Action Plan and a framework for future targeted actions and interventions.

Diversification and Identity

Seacombe (Poulton Road) is an established local centre, with a large residential catchment area within its immediate surroundings. It is located on a main thoroughfare with a strong presence on the high street.

The centre provides a reasonable local convenience role that has managed to sustain itself albeit that the offer beyond this is very limited. The comparison offer is at the lower end of the spectrum and dominated by independent discount retailers.

The centre is suffering from high vacancy rates both interspersed and concentrated. There has been some contraction within the centre, particularly on Borough Road and the western end of the centre on Poulton Road. Between 1986 and 1994 there was a significant amount of improvement work to shopping centres in the inner urban area including Seacombe funded by a combination of “City Lands” City Challenge and Urban Programme money. The works in Seacombe included new shop fronts and refurbishment of premises.

There are signs that the size of the centre at present is not sustainable. Seacombe (Poulton Rd) needs to strengthen its role as an important local centre meeting the needs of the local community, attracting and retaining a loyal customer base and reducing loss of convenience shopping to other centres in the vicinity. The centre is in need of further, yet carefully managed contraction to a size that would be appropriate to its changing function.

Uses within the Centre

The Town Centre Study 2011 identified 32% of units as vacant. A re-survey in March 2013 suggests a fall in the percentage of vacant units to 24%. Contributing to this fall has been the re-opening of Kwik Save on Poulton Road and the opening of Rightway DIY in the last vacant unit in the Tesco redevelopment. There has been little change in the proportion of units given over to convenience, comparison and service uses identified in the 2011 study (6% convenience, 15% comparison and 27% service).

The new Tesco development has improved the offer within the centre, with the adjacent units providing a complementary offer. The existing accommodation is however almost solely limited to units within existing Victorian buildings which prove difficult to adapt and provide limited opportunities for businesses to grow.

The retail provision overall is relatively limited. The convenience offer is primarily made up the recent Tesco Express Store and recently reopened Kwik Save located towards the western edge of the centre. The comparison offer is primarily in the form of small independent discount stores, ‘bric a brac’ shops and DIY stores but there are also several well-established ‘destination’ businesses within the centre which draw from a wider catchment, including a wedding shop, carpet shop, a catering equipment company and an aquatic centre.

There is a post office, pharmacy, dentist and children’s nursery located within the centre along with a solicitor, hairdressing salons, bookmakers and other service uses. There is no

longer a bank within the centre. The night time/ leisure economy is primarily made up of a number of hotfood takeaways and a public house on the corner/ intersection of , Poulton and Borough Road and the Sports and Social Club on the corner of Mainwaring Road/Poulton Road. Although this reduces the amount of vacant units overall, the takeaways exacerbate the problems caused by inactive frontages during the day.

The library sits immediately adjacent to the centre and although within a primarily commercial area, provides an important community function. The physical linkages with this building and the centre could benefit from improvement.

The boundary of the centre as originally defined included a high number of residential units on the northern side of Poulton Road, with some corner retail units. These retail units have now fallen out of use or been converted to residential use. There are a number of other residential conversions of shop units of varying quality throughout the centre. At the eastern end of the centre on Borough Road, some shop units on the southern side have been replaced by family housing and most recently there has been a development of purpose-built flats incorporating ground floor retail units, although the ground floor units have never been occupied.

Transport and accessibility

The centre is well served by public transport, with a number of bus services serving the centre. These services could be exploited for attracting inward retail or leisure journeys to Seacombe if the centre created this demand.

A large residential community borders the centre with a large walk-in catchment. Being situated on a main thoroughfare ensures the centre is both accessible and visible.

Parking provision is limited due to the constraints of being located within a built up area on a main road. There are on-street parking restrictions on the approach to the Poulton Road/Mainwaring Road cross roads. There is limited off street and on-street parking, due to traffic restrictions. Although the Tesco development has provided some improvement to the parking provision within the centre, this is intended to serve only the Tesco development and other units and not the centre generally. As such the rest of the centre does not fully benefit from the potential for passing trade or short stay convenience stop-off trips.

There is limited cycle parking within the centre, they are not easy to find and do not benefit from adequate surveillance.

Placemaking

The form and layout of the centre is quite extensive as it branches out in several different directions, with several busy intersections and crossing points, notably the Poulton Road/Wheatland Lane/Mainwaring Road cross roads. The centre is therefore dominated by the presence of traffic and there is very little to soften its overall appearance, in terms of planting, greenery or features of interest.

There is little sense of arrival when reaching the centre and no signage providing a sense of identity or coherence. The units do however benefit from a strong frontage onto the high street and the Tesco development has provided more focus to the centre.

A combination of high vacancy rates, groupings of inactive day time uses and poorly designed security measures result in areas of inactive frontages within the centre. The blocks situated between Wheatland Lane and Clarence Road are suffering significant levels

of vacancy. The measures taken to secure such units heightens this problem, with timber boarding and solid shuttering resulting in a poor aesthetic appearance.

The design of the frontages in some instances, add to this problem, providing limited animation or interest in relation to the shopping parade. The block between Gladstone Road and Wheatland Lane is in need of improvement with a number of poorly designed frontages and timber boards over vacant shopfronts. It is in many cases difficult to establish whether the business has ceased operation or operates outside of core day time hours due to the roller shuttered frontages. Within Borough Road the recent apartment development incorporates ground floor commercial units, all of which remain vacant and have been boarded over with timber, resulting in inactive frontage with little pedestrian activity along the western end of the road.

There are a number of residential conversions with the centre which are mainly concentrated in areas that have naturally contracted at the western and eastern ends of the centre. The quality of the residential conversions and their frontages is poor, often disregarding the proportions of the existing building and the ground floor within the centre and using low quality materials.

Events and Marketing

The centre benefits from a number of ‘destination’ businesses that do not appear to be more widely publicised. We are not aware of any local initiatives to promote the centre.

Seacombe Next Steps

The centre is in need of some change to adapt to meet the needs of the local population and re-establish its important role as a local shopping centre. The centre has a loyal customer base but needs to ensure it does not lose shoppers to other centres for day to day shopping.

SEACOMBE LOOKING FORWARD

Vision By 2018 Seacombe will be a sustainable, safe, thriving local centre, providing a range of services appropriate to its role and serving the needs of the local community. An uplifted high street and enhanced convenience offer will create a vital and vibrant centre and an enjoyable shopping experience, promoting the unique aspects of its offer.

This section sets out actions and interventions to achieve this vision. It identifies areas within the existing centre boundary that can accommodate alternative uses to reduce vacancy rates and increase vitality. There are opportunities to improve the identity of the centre and improve the offer in the centre, with new retailers to secure its future.

Diversity and Identity

It is proposed that when reviewed in a future site-specific Local Plan, the existing centre boundary is redefined to remove areas that are predominantly residential in character or are suffering a high concentration of vacancy. This will not result in any drastic change and is more an acknowledgement of the changes that have already taken place over recent years.

The Action Plan therefore identifies a potential contraction of the boundary, excluding areas that are suffering long term high vacancies or are predominately residential in character, enabling the appropriate re-use of long-term vacant units on the centre’s fringes :

Poulton Road - northern side at the western end of the centre – as indicated above, this area comprises residential units, with some corner retail units which have now fallen out of use or been converted to residential use. Given vacancy levels elsewhere in the centre there is little benefit in retaining these isolated corner units for retailing. The position and manner in which the conversions have been undertaken has introduced complimentary uses and reduced vacancy levels overall. The contraction proposed within this area would therefore regularise the changes that have already taken place.

Western tip of Poulton Road – south side, beyond the Kwik Save store – this area includes a number of conversions of varying quality. Apart from the conversions the block is almost entirely vacant from retail uses. A contraction within this area would result in a more compact and focused retail core. The few businesses that remain within this area could remain without causing any disturbance to residential uses within the short term.

Borough Road - the western extent of the Borough Road area of the centre includes a fairly recent residential block. Beyond the retail units the area is largely residential. The ground floor of this block was designed for commercial but has remained vacant since completion of the building. It is now boarded over with wood boarding, looks unsightly and detracts from the existing streetscene. A contraction of the boundary within this area is proposed to exclude the existing residential areas and potentially allow for further residential development within the vacant plot and units.

Residential conversions and other non-retail uses could therefore be directed to these areas ensuring that the central retail core remains.

A more focused core should be centred on the recent higher quality developments and the key services within the centre. A sustainable size of centre will focus retail uses within this area, and encourage the take-up of vacant units, enabling Poulton Road to re establish itself as an important local centre.

The table below summarises the analysis undertaken as part of the Town Centres study and further work for the Action Plan. It identifies the key issues, objectives and potential intervention to enhance the centre.

GOALS/ AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE TOGETHER HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT… … Making Maintaining a nucleus of services to serve Contraction of centre, to exclude Seacombe a the needs of the local community blocks suffering greatest decline sustainable and clustering of residential uses local centre A more vibrant high street Links with other nearby shopping A convenience offer that is able to attract areas and retain customers all year round and resist loss to other areas. Encourage temporary or pop-up uses for empty units within the A centre where people choose to shop centre

A high quality environment and enjoyable Promote the toolkit to help the visitor experience Traders Group and individual businesses to be more proactive in identifying and meeting the needs of town centre users.

A marketing strategy that identifies opportunities to link with Wirral wide events that promotes the centre Strong sense Features such as signage to create a strong Signage strategy of arrival sense of place and identity Ensure a consistent design Strong approach to conversions and identity for the shop frontages throughout the centre centre

Accessibility and Transport

The centre is well served by public transport, with a number of bus services serving the centre. Being situated on a main thoroughfare ensures it benefits from having a good level of accessibility and is visible. There are however several issues that could improve accessibility:

A large residential area surrounds the centre with a large walk-in catchment. The environmental quality could be improved to encourage people to walk to their centre. The area falls within the developing Cycle Network. The Cycle Network currently consists of signed routes to schools, shops and other local facilities, improvements to junctions and some new crossing facilities that aid both cyclists and pedestrians. It is still under development (subject to securing funding) but improvements and new routes for cyclists are evident.

GOALS/ AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE TOGETHER….. IT….. Improve the Environmental improvements that would A greening strategy to include pedestrian soften the impact of traffic on the centre planting/ hanging baskets and experience of other features of interest within the centre the high street.

Increase Consider locations where short stay parking Consider scope for more on- parking may be appropriate to provide more street parking provision provision for convenient ‘pick up’ points for the centre centre

Improved cycle Improved cycling parking facilities in the Assess the scope for cycle parking area to encourage use of the Wallasey parking facilities along the main facilities Cycle Network roads with improved signage

Placemaking

There is very little opportunity for physical works within the centre, which is constrained by the existing layout in terms of the buildings themselves and being situated on a main road. There are however several issues that have been identified which could improve the environmental quality of the centre overall.

GOALS/ AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE TOGETHER….. IT…. Improve sense Create a good first impression of Seacombe A consistent feel and character to of arrival to the with a strong sense of arrival the area centre A strong brand for the centre , which could be achieved through a signage strategy including banner signs

Improve the A cleaner, greener, more attractive high Appropriate landscaping to soften environmental street the appearance of the area. quality of the centre to A high quality public realm which has a Ensure pedestrian routes are provide an strong sense of identity, is useable and unobstructed, moving or removing interesting and accessible obstructions where necessary active streetscene An enhanced Public Realm and interesting Design guidance for shopfronts streetscene and shutters/ security and residential conversions High quality shopfronts and conversions through out the centre, especially in areas proposed for contraction

A diverse offer Links with the library and other services Clear and enhanced pedestrian providing a well within or just outside the centre routes integrated range of Directional signage/ information community boards promoting links to services services, and community uses complimenting and enhancing the centres offer as a local convenience centre.

Events and Marketing

A marketing strategy for the centre could include the scope for promotional leaflets advertising destination businesses as well as local convenience offer. The library could also be utilised as a way of advertising to a wider customer base and encouraging linked trips. Linking to local tourist destinations such as the Mersey Ferries and the Space Port could increase visitors to the centre.

The Wirral Events Advisory Group acts as a one stop shop to provide organisers of public events in Wirral with appropriate advice and guidance to enable events to take place safely. Tel 0151 691 8269 or e-mail [email protected] for advice and a free copy of 'Organising Public Events in Wirral'

GOALS/ AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE TOGETHER HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT…. Maximise and A lively, interesting and useable high street Encourage use the outside space diversify use of with improved vitality and a better visitor for active and informal uses, such the pavement experience as street entertainment. area Greater participation in Wirral- Wide events.

Link to events elsewhere

Utilise vacant Re-use empty shops to add value to the Reuse empty shops for innovative units centre destination marketing/ pop up shop opportunities

Encourage landlords and trader groups to be more proactive in securing temporary uses for empty shops

Utilise the toolkit for Trader Groups to enable them to improve the attractiveness of the high street as a retail destination

Increase A sustainable centre with a unique and well- Introduce loyalty benefits for customer marketed offer that retains existing regular customers or service expenditure in customers as well as attracting new ones users, such as loyalty cards the centre Explore opportunities for web based marketing, dedicated website for Seacombe/ production of a newsletter/ promotional leaflet

Key Contacts and Support

Wirral Council Neil Mitchell / 0151 6918423 / [email protected]

Useful Websites 100 Ways - www.100ways.org.uk/ ATCM - www.atcm.org CLG - www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local- government Local Councillors www.wirral.gov.uk Design Council www.designcouncil.org.uk/ All Council services – www.wirral.gov.uk