Council ponders ‘gateway’ plan to link Liverpool city centre with £2bn Knowledge Quarter

Proposed plan may lead to compulsory purchase orders on properties in the area around Lime Street, Mount Pleasant, Brownlow Hill and Copperas Hill. Tony McDonough reports.

Computer-generated image of the Northern Centre of Excellence in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter that will house the Royal College of Physicians

A major gateway linking the main city centre with Liverpool’s £2bn Knowledge Quarter (KQ Liverpool) is being put forward by city council bosses.

And the plan may lead to compulsory purchase orders on properties in the area around Lime Street, Mount Pleasant, Brownlow Hill and Copperas Hill.

The council said today the project would be designed to reconnect areas fragmented by singular ownerships, by providing greater connectivity and mobility around Lime Street.

This, it says, would “complement” he upgrade and improvement of the existing public realm and highways, plans for which are already underway.

The council is seeking to redevelop Mount Pleasant Car Park as part of the gateway proposal, which aims to create a distinct new identity for the area building on the £40m mixed use development currently on site at Lime Street and the £13m regeneration of the former ABC Cinema as a major new music and live entertainment venue for the city.

It is estimated the overall £2bn regeneration of KQ Liverpool, which sits within the Central Liverpool Mayoral Development Zone and is already set to become the new northern headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians, will create 20,000 new jobs in the city.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “KQ Liverpool is going to redefine this city’s future – the potential is that great.

“The building blocks are now going in and this gateway is a critical step in ensuring the city centre is fully connected to the Knowledge Quarter.

“With the regeneration of Lime Street underway, we can now focus on developing this masterplan, setting out how this key scheme should look.”

The city council will seek to make purchases through private negotiations but if a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) is required, that is likely to be funded by the developer of any proposed scheme following the design of a masterplan.

The endorsement of any CPO would also be the subject of a future report to Cabinet.

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of Knowledge Quarter Liverpool. Picture by Gareth Jones

The Cabinet report follows the first successful planning application for Paddington Village, which lies at the heart of KQ Liverpool, to build a 13 storey live-learn base for Liverpool International College.

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, added: “These proposals are a vital next step in the regeneration of our thriving city centre, linking Lime Street Station to the city’s main concentration of science, health, education and the cultural assets, including our two cathedrals, on and around Hope Street.”

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