Plans for several new projects creating thousands of new jobs will be revealed later this week inlcuding more details on multi-million pound plans for a new railway station. Tony McDonough reports.
Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter is set to be transformed over the next five years with £1bn of new projects – adding to the £1bn of schemes already under way.
On Thursday, Knowledge Quarter chief executive Colin Sinclair will unveil plans that could lead to thousands of new jobs and see a new railway station built in the city centre.
During the MIPIMUK property expo in London Mr Sinclair will offer more details about the station and reveal more about other major projects planned for the area.
£1bn a year zone
The Knowledge Quarter stretches from Upper Parliament Street in the south to Islington in the north and is bound by Grove Street and Low Hill to the east and Renshaw Street to the west and is a designated Mayoral Development Zone.
It already helps generate £1bn a year, supporting more than 14,000 jobs.
Major projects already under way include the new £429m Royal Liverpool University Hospital, consumer giant Unilever’s new research and development centre, and the £15m Sensor City, looking at “the internet of things”.
The main backers of the Knowledge Quarter are Liverpool City Council, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Science Park, the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, and the School of Tropical Medicine.
Making history
Mr Sinclair told YBNews: “This is an important new phase in Liverpool’s history.
“Liverpool is a globally-recognised city for music and sport and we want to make sure Liverpool is also recognised worldwide for science, technology and culture.
“Just to offer couple of examples – the University of Liverpool is among the top 1% of universities in the world and LJMU is number one in the field of sports science in the UK.
“We call this area a quarter but in actual fact it takes up around half of the city centre.”
Key projects
On Thursday, one project Mr Sinclair may talk about is a new centre of excellence for infection disease research to be based in the city and the new Northern headquarters for the The Royal College of Physicians
Other plans for the Knowledge Quarter include a medical and scientific research hub on the site of the former Archbishop Blanch school.
The new railway station would be known as Paddington Village and would be integrated into Merseyrail’s existing Northern line.
It is believed the station would be a necessity to make it easier for the thousands of new workers in the area to be able to get smoothly in and out.