Everton's Kirkby stadium called in by Government
EVERTON FC'S proposed move to Kirkby has been "called in" for an inquiry by the government, in a move that the club has previously said could "kill off" the entire project.
The public inquiry into the scheme, which was predicted by the Daily Post in April, is likely to take up to a year to complete, and the financial ramifications of that could derail the £400m project which includes a Tesco supermarket.
The Department for Communities and Local Government, which oversaw the decision, said ministers had "thought long and hard about the case and decided the only appropriate decision was to call it in".
A spokesman for the department said: "We recognise that there have been strong views expressed about this complex proposal.
"Ministers thought long and hard about the case and decided the only appropriate decision was to call it in."
"There is long established process in place where less than 0.01% of all planning cases are called in.
"A case is considered to have more than local significance if it triggers one or more of the call-in criteria such as conflict with national policy, or if it causes national or regional controversy.
"The decision to call-in does not consider the merits or otherwise of an application - which is a matter for the Inspector to consider at inquiry."
An Everton spokesman said: "We are disappointed by the decision. Having spent more than two years working diligently on a project which would not only provide Everton Football Club with a new home but also regenerate Kirkby, we had hoped to avoid a Government call-in. Indeed, it was only in June that Knowsley Borough Council's Planning Committee voted by a majority of 20-1 to grant planning permission.
"We shall now engage in detailed discussions with our development partners, KBC and Tesco, to assess what options are open to us.
"It is important to stress that this decision does not spell the end of the Destination Kirkby project - but it will, self-evidently, precipitate a period of reflection, assessment and re-evaluation."
The Leader of Knowsley Council, Councillor Ron Round, said: "We are extremely disappointed as a Public Inquiry will delay the development - indeed this delay, in the current economic climate, places the entire project in jeopardy. From all of the consultation we have carried out, we believe that the majority of local residents are in favour of transforming Kirkby. The local elections in May this year gave the Council a clear mandate to continue with the scheme."
"We have searched long and hard for years to attract the right investor to Kirkby and this scheme cannot be equalled. At this point in time, there is no plan B for Kirkby and no plan B for Everton Football Club. We will do all we can to keep the scheme alive and make sure the future of Kirkby is not put at risk."
The Public Inquiry is expected to be held within the next 12 months.
Tesco originally submitted its planning application in January this year and the application has resulted in the borough's largest-ever consultation exercise. At each stage, the views of residents and neighbouring authorities were taken into account.
He added: "It was disappointing that some neighbouring authorities continued to object despite the improvements they requested having been made to the scheme. Their continued objections, therefore, could only have been for political reasons.
"It is particularly regrettable that some community leaders in Merseyside seemed unable to do the right thing for the Merseyside sub-region, which was to put aside their personal views in relation to Everton Football Club."
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this is better than a new signing! :-)
in your face the liverpool echo!
Thank God! Hopefully now we can put this Kirkby nonesense behind us and gradually phase in redevelopment of Goodison as it has always been possible to do. And indeed, In Your Face Liverpool Echo - your coverage has been a disgrace. Call yourselves journalists? Where were the questions which always needed asking in your pages? Cowards.
Happy days!
Thank good this ill conceived scheme has been called in. I'm not against Everton moving but the design of the new stadium and the transport plan are just not up to scratch.
Come on Everton, drop this scheme, get round the table with LCC and concentrate on re-developing Goodison.
COYB
As a lifelong Evertonian and lifelong resident of the City of Liverpool , I am extremely angry about but hardly surprised by this decision. The fact that Sefton and Liverpool councils object to a bit of competition on the shopping front should be irrelevant. The latter have , of course, demonstrated the usual indifference and incompetence throughout the whole process and then played hardball right at the end (Bellefield development decision being a disgrace). As for the well-financed (who's their best paymaster?)Luddites of the KEOIC campaign , with their absurd objection to the club moving outside an arbitrarily drawn local authority boundary, their ridiculous prating should be ignored. These neanderthals must not be allowed to destroy our great club.
David Henry,
Would you have preferred Bill & Keith to have destroyed our great club instead. What did you expect from Kirkby?
Also, you should realise that the Government called it in, not KEIOC.
By the way, like yourself, I am a lifelong Evertonian also. Most of us are.
What i cannot understand is how can LCC stop the people of kirkby from developing all for selfish reasons meaning that the people of kirkby have to put up with its 1960s outdated shopping centre and pound and charity shops,whilst liverpool gets it all. Goodison will look rather silly with its new lick of paint, standing even nearer to a huge 80.000 state of the art Anfield,but then again EFC will be in league one by then.
How would that be Michael - considering that at Goodison, we've finished 4th, 6th & 5th in 3 of the last 4 seasons. How will not going to the cowshed in Kirkby turn us into a League One team, considering (Big Keef's words) that it'll only bring Everton an extra £10 Million per year in revenue and sponsorship. Chelsea & Utd must've been quaking in their boots, eh?