Opening a new Merseyrail station at the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool would be a ‘game-changer’ for the area, Baltic Creative’s new CEO Lynn Haime tells the Baltic Triangle Podcast. Tony McDonough reports
Opening a new Merseyrail station in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle is “critical” for the future of the district, according to Lynn Haime, the new chief executive of Baltic Creative CIC.
Speaking to the monthly Baltic Triangle Podcast, Lynn said the area just south of the city centre was too dependent on cars. A new station, she added, could help take the district onto a whole new level.
Baltic Creative announced the appointment of Lynn as chief executive in early November. She has filled the gap left by Mark Lawler who departed as managing director earlier this year.
She offers 28 years as a commercial property professional. Among her previous roles she was partner and head of the Liverpool office at Matthews & Goodman. She was also asset manager at Peel’s Media City in Salford.
On what is now the Merseyrail line between Hunts Cross and Southport there used to be a station called St James. It opened in 1874 but was closed in 1917 as a cost-cutting measure and was never re-opened.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has pledged to build a station on the site which would serve both the Baltic Triangle and the city’s fast-growing knowledge quarter. It would sit between Liverpool Central and Brunswick Station.
Following a public vote, the proposed station would be called Liverpool Baltic. Land has already been purchased and current plans aim for the station to be open in 2025, subject to funding being secured for the construction stage.
In the early years of the 21st century, the Baltic Triangle, located just south of the city centre, was a deserted wasteland of old docklands warehouses. Today it is a thriving district of creative and digital businesses as well as bars, restaurants and homes.
Along with Elevator Studios, Baltic Creative CIC kick-started the regeneration of the district which now teems with life. Baltic Creative offers 118,000 sq ft of commercial space and is home to 170 businesses employing around 600 people.
Its growth is continuing with an increasing number of people coming to live in the area. Lynn told the Baltic Podcast: “A new station would be critical for the Baltic area. It would be game-changing for this location.
“Bizarrely we are far too car-dependent. It seems at odds with the people and the workforces. It will be transformational in terms of how people get to work (young people in the creative and digital sector). A new station here would be a complete transformation.”
As part of a wider exercise to collect information about the Baltic, Lynn added that its questionnaire had now added a question about commuting.
She added: “We are trying to find out what peoples’ current means of transport are and what direct impact the train station would have. We can use some of those statistics to feed back.”
Lynn also spoke about how the Baltic Triangle now had an impressive reputation, not just in Liverpool city region but internationally as well.
“The brand of Baltic Creative punches massively above its weight. I hadn’t appreciated it quite so much until I joined,” she explained. “We had a delegation over from Finland in my first week here.
“They wanted to see what they could learn from the Baltic Creative model. They have a place called the Cable Factory in Helsinki – it is about 600,000 sq ft. I was quite astounded. They are so much bigger yet they are coming to learn from us.”
This month’s podcast also spoke to Paul Webley, He is founder of digital agency Blaze Media which relocated from Crosby to the Baltic Triangle. Now it is enjoying rapid growth and is looking at international expansion.