Backed by £20m of Government funding Sefton Council is completely transforming Bootle Strand and has now released a spectacular flythrough video showing its vision. Tony McDonough reports
Sefton Council has released a spectacular flythrough video showing its vision for the reimagined Bootle Strand.
Backed by £20m of Government funding with additional support from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (CA), the council has embarked on a project to reshape and transform Bootle Strand shopping centre and the area around it.
In 2017 the council took out a loan to acquire the 400,000 sq ft 1960s Bootle Strand shopping mall for £32.5m from London-based retail investor Ellandi and Avenue Capital.
Since then it has kick-started the regeneration effort with the Bootle Canalside project. This initially led to the opening of the Salt and Tar events venue. In November LBN revealed the CA was to inject a further £585,000 into the venue.
However, it is the Strand itself which will form the centrepiece of the town centre transformation. Including a partial demolition of the mall, the scheme will see new leisure, education and health services, more green spaces and a new town square.
Now the council has released the video to allow people to see for themselves how the project will look when it is completed. Click here to view the video.
In the two-and-a-half minute, CGI fly-through, viewers are taken through and around the Strand’s remodelled and new indoor and outdoor spaces.
They will see the improved connection between the shopping centre, Salt and Tar site and the canalside and the new, lighter atmosphere indoors and out thanks to the glass roof covering part of the area.
And they can see how the site will be fully accessible by wheelchairs and pushchairs, and easy to use by people with impaired mobility.
This video will also be available on the Strand website and also on the screen in the window of 159 Parkside (the former Love Coffee) which is going to be the new information hub for the Transformation Project.
Sefton Council submitted a planning application for the next stage of work at the end of October. They were shaped by responses to the council’s recent consultation from people who live in, work in, and visit Bootle.
They also include ways to reduce carbon use as much as possible and detail sustainability targets in line with Sefton Council’s net zero ambitions.
Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, said: “When we consulted local people on our visionary plans, an overwhelming majority of respondents supported them.
Now, thanks to this new video they can see it for themselves. We are excited about our ambitious plans for Bootle and this new CGI fly-through gives people a real sense of how it will look and feel to visit our exciting vision for Bootle Town Centre.”