LISCARD ACTION PLAN
The Liscard Action Plan is a comprehensive strategy for potential future development and changes within the Town Centre area.
The Liscard 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’s 23 local, district and town centres outside Birkenhead. 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 starting point for the Liscard Action Plan.
In producing the Liscard Action Plan further consultation work has been undertaken 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 Liscard Action Plan and have informed the key issues identified.
The Liscard Action Plan provides a more detailed framework for shaping the regeneration and management of the town 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 and growth of Liscard as the most important retail centre in Wallasey. Its use is therefore neither led nor limited to council officers and it should be utilised by traders, community groups and anyone else with an interest in their town centre. The vision for Liscard cannot be achieved by the Local Authority alone. New shops, restaurants, businesses and property 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 Liscard Action Plan sits alongside the Traders Toolkit (which can be viewed at (link) which provides general information to town centre businesses on a range of 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 and neighbourhood plan. It will also provide an evidence base to inform more detailed aspects of the Liscard Action Plan for Wirral, including the proposed Site Allocations DPD and a potential ‘Town Centre SPD’. The Local Area Action Plan will not be adopted as a Development Plan Document and will remain non- statutory. The diagram below demonstrates where the document will sit within the wider planning policy framework, its status and its relationship to other documents
Statutory Non -Statutory
Core Town Centre Strategy Strategy
Town Centres Site Town Centre Town Centre SPD Allocations Action Plans Toolkit Local Plan
LISCARD NOW
This section presents a portrait of Liscard Centre as it functions today. In this section we identify the main elements which make up Liscard and highlight the main issues which are affecting the centre. These issues have been grouped into key themes which form the core of the Action Plan and a framework for future targeted action and interventions .
Diversification and Identity
Liscard Town Centre remains relatively busy, but has been subject to long term decline. The town centre’s comparison retail offer is now focussed on the ‘value’ end of the market, with many middle-market retailers moving out of the centre, although there are a large number of independent retailers remaining in the centre.
The centre needs to adapt and develop in order to grow. Liscard is struggling to establish a new role. Experience elsewhere suggests that successful town centre regeneration requires a willingness to treat change as an opportunity rather than a threat. The places whose fortunes have been turned around have recognised that town centres need to compete. Liscard needs to differentiate itself from Liverpool, Birkenhead and other regional shopping- leisure centres by offering an experience that other centres cannot replicate .
Uses within the Centre
Retail Offer
• Retail focus is still on the pedestrianised Liscard Way and Cherry Tree Shopping Centre, which has relatively low vacancies
• Withdrawal of higher end retailers: chains such as Marks and Spencer, Dixons and Littlewoods were all represented at one time in Liscard
• A disproportionate number of lower end ‘value’ retailers and other services
• An increase in discount stores, pawnbrokers and charity shops has resulted in a more limited comparison retail offer (25% of the units surveyed in the 2011 study, rising to 28% in 2013)
• The convenience retail offer is very limited (7% of the units surveyed in the 2011 study, reducing to 6% in 2013) and focused on the Asda supermarket in Seaview Road which is at the northern extremity of the main centre
• Within the core area a recently opened Tesco Metro store sits alongside an Iceland and Heron frozen food stores and a small number of other convenience retailers: the centre has in recent years lost Somerfield and Netto foodstores.
The RTP report revealed that Liscard’s comparison goods market share only reaches a maximum of 25% in the locality despite the large catchment population.
A significant service offer (45% of units surveyed in the 2011 study, reducing slightly to 43% in 2013) especially concentrated on Wallasey Road
The RTP report also indicated that Liscard/north and west Wallasey has the highest level of leakage of comparison spend to Liverpool in the Borough, likely to be due to the very good bus and rail links.
Vacancy
• Vacant units are interspersed throughout the centre resulting in inactive frontages. (18% of units surveyed in the 2011 study reducing to 13% in 2013).
• Entire blocks are unoccupied in certain peripheral areas
Leisure/Night time uses
• The centre has a limited offer beyond its primary retail function.
• The leisure offer is extremely limited and the evening/night time economy is similarly limited to a small number of restaurants and pubs/bars with only a few premises other than hot food takeaways opening outside of core shopping hours.
• There is little activity within the town centre at night with poor lighting and little natural surveillance.
• The New Brighton development has intensified competition in the evening/night time economy.
Transport and accessibility
Road Network
• The centre is well served by public transport and is accessible.
• The one-way gyratory circles Liscard Way and the Cherry Tree shopping centre but can act as a barrier to movement across the town centre, restricting the flow of traffic to the outskirts and isolating the pedestrianised area.
• The good bus service to Liverpool draws shoppers away from Liscard but bus service provision overall also presents two-way opportunities to bring more people in from Wallasey, New Brighton and elsewhere into Liscard for retail or leisure journeys if the centre created this demand.
Transport integration
• The car parking and public transport accessibility is a benefit to Liscard that many other centres are lacking.
• The routes to the centre from the car parks and the bus station area are not well defined and result in poor linkages/connectivity.
• Smaller car parks are poorly lit/screened by buildings and are not attractive to use after dark
Cycling facilities
• The cycle path does not extend through the centre
• Cycle facilities inadequate, are poorly placed and in need of improvement.
Signposting
• Poor sign posting does not direct first time visitors arriving by car, to the car parking or shopping areas
Placemaking
Sense of place/identity
• The configuration of the central shopping area is lacking a sense of place and identity.
Gateways
• The entrance features at either end of the pedestrianised area are set back from the road and are not visible on key approaches.
• The design of the entrance features does not create a strong focal point and Liscard way has become cluttered with signage and street furniture.
Configuration
• The design and layout of the pedestrianised Liscard Way is inward looking and lacks visual presence from the perimeter roads.
• Service areas and car parking areas front key routes to and from the centre providing little animation or interest
• The Cherry Tree shopping centre focuses inwards and would benefit from improved entrances from the car park and Liscard Way.
• The rear servicing area conflicts with the residential amenity and can become untidy
Public Realm
• The overall environmental quality within the pedestrianised area is in need of enhancement and renewal in some areas
• Poor quality shopfronts and the array of incoherent signage do not improve the overall appearance.
• Anti-social behaviour and vandalism have been identified as problems.
Connections
• The pedestrian routes between the central core and its surroundings are poor.
• The high street is pedestrianised and yet the pedestrian routes to and from this area are poorly defined and uninviting.
• As a result the car parking areas and transport services such as the bus station do not function to their full potential as integral components of a successful centre.
Events and Marketing
Spaces in the high street
• The pedestrianised area incorporates several ‘spaces’ that are underutilised.
• The spaces are not used to their full potential and as such the centre offers little in the way of street activity and events. The introduction of a yearly programme of events would add life and vibrancy to the pedestrianised area.
• There is currently no programme of events within the centre.
• The centre does not offer local shopping incentives such as shop local.
Liscard - Next Steps
The centre is in need of significant change. It needs to draw on its many positive features to re-establish itself as a refocused but much improved important town centre. An improved convenience offer attracting and retaining a local community and becoming a destination with a enhanced and diverse offer, reducing loss to other centres.
LISCARD - LOOKING FORWARD
Vision By 2018 Liscard will be a sustainable, safe, thriving town centre, providing a high quality range of services including retail, leisure, employment and community facilities appropriate to its role. An enhanced retail offer, a mix of complementary uses, a programme of events and activities and an uplifted public realm will create a vital and vibrant, well connected centre providing an enjoyable shopping experience .
This section identifies areas within the existing centre boundary that can accommodate alternative uses, reshaping the centre, reducing vacancy rates and adding to its vitality and vibrancy. There are opportunities to give the town centre a new identity and to introduce a unique offer to attract new retailers and users to the town centre by the following:
Diversity and Identity
At present, the Council’s planning policies treat the whole of Liscard in the same way, and do not fully reflect that the centre is in practice made up of number of different areas of a slightly different character and function - the central ‘core’ attracting the larger chain retailers and the outer ‘arms’ of the centre along Seaview, Wallasey and Liscard Roads accommodating a number of independent and specialised retailers and other uses.
Refocused central core - primary and secondary frontage areas
It is proposed that within the overall Liscard boundary a refocused central core and a number of secondary areas should be identified that can be considered for alternative complementary uses. Designating a primary retail area would provide a more focused and concentrated core to the centre. The main retail core would be centred on the pedestrianised high street and shopping centre. This area will be the focus for convenience and comparison retail, with units accommodating anchor stores, larger retailers and other uses that generate significant footfall.
The outer ‘arms’ of the centre along Seaview, Wallasey and Liscard Roads, are generally characterised by smaller, independent retailers with a number of well established and specialised businesses that form the secondary frontage areas. Identifying this area for complementary uses would support the centre, attracting new users, without damaging the retail core. These could include training centres, health provision, pop up shops etc all of which are suitable Town Centre uses.
A sustainable size of centre
In the longer term it may be necessary to identify areas which can be removed from the town centre to enable any natural contraction to guide the town centre towards the core, rather than spreading outwards. This will enable the appropriate re-use of long-term vacant units on the town centre’s fringes for alternative uses, whilst improving retail density within the primary core. The Action Plan therefore identifies scope for a potential small contraction of the boundary.
The table below summarises the analysis undertaken as part of the town centres strategy and further work for the Action Plan. It identifies the goals for the centre, what we could achieve by working together and how we could set about achieving it.
GOALS/AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT…. TOGETHER…..
Making An ever-changing town centre which attracts Marketing strategy Liscard a and retains consumers all year round retail destination A livelier high street, with seasonal events, Designate spaces for events and street entertainers and other activity entertainment providing interest
A retail offer that is strong enough to attract Events which attract people and and retain customers and resist loss to other boost trade at all times of year areas.
A Centre where people choose to shop Designating a primary retail core and secondary retail areas and A high quality environment uses that can complement the primary retail function of the town A diverse mix of uses providing a unique centre. offer and enhanced experience attracting more customers to the centre through out Encourage activity on the high the day, evening and all year round. street, making better use of the pedestrianised street, pavements A vibrant, lively centre with a focused retail and open areas. core and less vacant units. A Pilot of extended opening hours to cater for full time workers who A retail ‘hub’ centred on the pedestrianised cant access centre during core area hours.
Longer term, consider contraction of the town centre’s boundary to guide proposed development by providing a hierarchy within the centre
Providing opportunities for alternative uses in areas outside of the ‘retail core’.
Encourage temporary and seasonal uses for public spaces
Encourage temporary or pop-up uses for empty units within the primary retail core
Promote the toolkit to help Traders Group and individual businesses to be more proactive in identifying and meeting the needs of town centre users.
Improved A livelier high street, with complimentary A marketing strategy and calendar leisure offer leisure uses, seasonal events and of events that attracts and entertainment. promotes new and unique uses to the centre all year round.
Better use of underutilised spaces A safe, Vibrant A lively high street with a diverse offer and Licensing charter for drinking evening uses that attract activity during the evening establishments economy Pilot for extended opening hours to attract custom during the evening and provide and evening offer that is more than a drinking offer
Monitor and manage the location and clustering of ‘’evening A safe economy’ uses within the centre environment through a planning policy during the evening Development of a lighting strategy for the centre, providing safe and direct routes from the car parks and to the bus stops
Gateway A visible, attractive, welcoming and lively Improved visibility of Liscard Way feature /sense high street. from Liscard Road and Seaview of arrival Road.
A livelier high street, with seasonal events, More clearly defined entrances Strong street entertainers and gateway to centre identity for the centre A strong sense of place and local identity Rebrand the centre to create a strong sense of identity, introducing consistency in signage, colour and street furniture
Accessibility and Transport
A legible and connected centre, with clearly defined and signposted routes from transport provisions and the pedestrianised area, enhanced cycle routes and facilities to encourage more visitors to the centre.
GOALS/AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT…. TOGETHER….. Improve A user friendly circulation system with A clear and comprehensive legibility for improved links with the wider movement signage strategy vehicles and network pedestrians Clearly defined entrances to the accessing the town centre from key approaches, centre A well integrated accessible centre with car parks and bus stations improved links to transport provisions. Improved signage directing vehicles to underused car parks
Introduce clearly defined routes through car parks and into the centre
Improve connections with adjacent area
Improved An attractive, connected centre with linkages Defined routes between the linkages between all areas. different areas of the centre, car between areas parking areas, bus station and taxi of the centre rank
Improved A ‘cycle friendly’ environment and reduced Improve links with existing cycling cycle routes traffic levels. infrastructure and provisions Extend cycle paths into the town centre and draw attention to cycle parking through partnership marketing and improved signage.
Placemaking
An improved gateway feature to create a strong sense of arrival marking the entrance and increasing the visibility of Liscard Way. Environmental improvements including greening on key approaches and an improved appearance/ screening to the rear elevations of the building fronting Liscard Way would enhance the overall appearance within the centre.
Improvements to the pedestrian access to the rear of the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre and Liscard Crescent and improved pedestrian movement through the centre and provide better routes to the car parking areas and bus stops/taxi ranks on Liscard Crescent and Wallasey Road.
Consistent and high quality signage could provide a stronger sense of identity to the centre .
GOALS/AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT…. TOGETHER…..
Improved A centre that is connected to a wider green Links with strategies for the wider connections infrastructure network to soften the area with centre appearance of the town centre and improve and key gateways and entrances surrounding areas Improve Create a good first impression of Liscard An enhanced entrance to the gateway to with a well defined gateway and strong centre centre, sense of arrival An advertisement strategy to An attractive, lively and visible high street identify opportunities for well Increase designed and sensitively placed visual signage to advertise the area presence of Liscard Way Imaginative treatment/signage to the rear elevation of the units on Liscard Way to increase visibility from key approaches.
Screen unattractive service areas and break up car parking hard standings by introducing routes through, landscaping and public art
Improve the A cleaner, greener, more attractive high Use landscaping to soften the environmental street appearance of Liscard Way quality of the town centre A high quality public realm which has a A functional signage review to strong sense of identity, is useable and remove unnecessary clutter, accessible signage or traffic barriers.
A more consistent appearance, with unique Ensure pedestrian routes are features to give Liscard town centre a sense unobstructed, moving or removing of place. obstructions where necessary.
Targeted action on litter and dog An enhanced public realm and interesting litter. streetscene. Better co-ordinate physical improvement work, deep clean work and seasonal decoration to maximise impacts.
Develop a consistent palette of materials for furniture and external works
Design guidance for shopfronts and shutters/ security
Events and Marketing
Utilising Liscard Way as an attractive meeting place or community hub. Identifying spaces for temporary events, such as busking, carol singing or markets could provide opportunities for the high street to become a meeting space that is animated, interesting and unique would enhance the centres offer. This would introduce a new type of consumer, and increase visit lengths for existing shoppers.
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 fee copy of 'Organising Public Events in Wirral'
GOALS/AIMS WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE HOW WE COULD ACHIEVE IT…. TOGETHER….. Maximise A lively, interesting and useable high street Identify space/ area and promote and diversify with improved vitality and a better visitor opportunities for seasonal events. use of high experience. street / Encourage the use of outside pedestrainis space for active and informal uses, ed area such as outdoor eating and street entertainment.
A marketing strategy to promote local events to highlight the Town Centre’s unique offer.
Promote existing quality businesses.
Greater participation in Wirral- Wide events.
Utilise Re-use empty shops to add value to the Reuse empty shops for innovative vacant units town 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 customers as well as attracting new ones. users, such as loyalty cards in the centre Introduction of incentive schemes/ initiatives routes between car parking and centre, bus station and taxi rank - shop local
Explore opportunities for web based marketing, dedicated website for Liscard ‘visit Liscard.com’
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