The barriers to Liverpool FC being able to stay at Anfield
Liverpool FC's stadium saga is a story fans are well accustomed to.
Under the previous ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett it was one of delays and broken promises.
Now under the guidance of John Henry the club is keen not to over promise but is now facing considerable problems. But it is clear that Henry would prefer to stay at Anfield because of its heritage, and because it is cheaper than moving to an all singing all dancing new ground in Stanley Park.
But the club has come up against the city council that wants it to keep to its previous commitment to move to a new ground in Stanley Park.
Not least because the regeneration plans for the area were built around the club's plans to move ground.
For years the community in the area has waited while LFC failed to get its act together. Visiting Anfield it is impossible not to notice the dereliction in nearby streets.
Understandably the council wants the club to make its mind up one way or the other. So it has given the club a short three month extension on an option for a 999-year lease on the Stanley Park site.
The club says it is cheaper to stay at Anfield but that "land/property acquisition, environmental and statutory issues" are creating barriers to the club's ambition.
LFC clearly want the council to change its mind and chief executive Ian Ayre says it will not be pressured into making a decision. Let's break down what the club means.
For land and property acquisition read that the club needs to buy up nearby houses. Without help from the council to issue Compulsory Purchase Orders this could take years or mean the club paying hugely inflated prices for houses.
The environmental and statutory issue refers to a number of issues.
If the club wants to redevelop Anfield it will need to go for yet another planning approval, that too will take time.
It is my understanding that the height the club would like to add to stands could present real problems in achieving planning permission.
There is also the fact £8.2m has already been spent renovating Stanley Park ahead of the planned stadium development.
The money came from a European grant and will be re-payable if the stadium does not go ahead. Liverpool council have an agreement in place which means LFC pick up the tab.
Clearly moving to Stanley Park is the quickest and easiest option, but as ever money is an issue.
The credit crunch and the recession that followed mean that banks are no longer willing to throw money at football clubs in the way they once were.
Hicks and Gillett could not afford to build a new stadium without borrowing, and LFC are currently in talks with various financiers about how it could raise money for a new stadium.
Stadium naming rights would form part of the package, but would not pay for a new ground which would cost somewhere around £400m.
Mr Ayre speaks of the club being a business that can only proceed when it is clear on all the elements and will not be rushed.
But as Mr Ayre knows only too well the longer this drags on the bigger the gap will be between the likes of Manchester United that has been reaping huge rewards from having a 75,000 seater stadium for years.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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Ian Ayre yesterday claimed that there are obstacles in the way of the redevelopment of the current stadium, but he says it is mostly about getting people to concede to sell their properties. What he doesn’t say is that Liverpool Football Club have been attempting to get people to sell their HOMES by offering them a price (via their purchasing agents GVA Grimleys) which is just not acceptable to the property owners often with the added phrase of “take it or leave it because you won’t get a penny more”.
He stated that Liverpool Football Club already own a lot of properties within the Rockfield Area however at the Housing and Physical Regeneration Strategy Meetings, Liverpool Football Club constantly refuse to say how many properties they do own or what properties if any they have recently purchased.
Some people may well say to themselves “look at the state of the streets in the area, they have lots of boarded up derelict houses in them so why should the club be paying these people decent money for homes in an area like that”? Maybe if people understood that it has been the policy of the club to buy up homes and leave them empty for the past decade, they will understand the anger of the property owners left in these streets when they are offered such a small sum of money for their homes. After all many of these people own their homes outright and given the values placed upon the properties by LFC they would be unable to live a mortgage free life if they sold their homes to the club.
It was announced by Arena Housing Ltd that they would be starting the renovation of their properties in Alroy Road, with work commencing in May 2011. No work has yet commenced is this maybe because Arena are in negotiations with LFC over the ownership of these properties?
The homeowners and residents in the Rockfield area are most certainly not to blame for the empty and derelict homes which blight their lives, but Liverpool Football Club most certainly shoulder some of the responsibility as they have admitted that they own many of these derelict and empty properties that blight the area.
Can you imagine the outcry if a supermarket chain was to buy up homes in an area of the city and then decide to leave them derelict and boarded up for a decade just on the off chance that they may decide to build a store there one day? But this is exactly what Liverpool Football Club has been doing to the residents of the Rockfield Area. Do we get an apology for this reprehensible behaviour? No we are being described as obstacles instead.
Where is our MP Steve Rotheram voicing his outrage at the treatment of the residents? He is nowhere to be seen or heard. Does he reply to any emails or questions that the residents association send him? No he does not, however he was certainly very vocal when he wanted the previous owners of LFC to sell up.
Regards
Rockfield Residents Association Committee
I live on Priory Road, near to Stanley Park and am a lifelong Liverpool supporter. I have every sympathy with the residents of Rockfield Road and surroundings. Such beautiful houses should be cherished. This city has so much heritage but we all just watch it crumble and then moan afterwards. Thanks to the residents who have stayed, the houses there are still standing. Shame on the club and shame on the council. One week's salary for one of the players would be enough to fully renovate a Victorian house. The thing that makes me saddest is to see the thousands of tourists and supporters of other clubs walking down these streets. It is so embarrassing. It obviously justifies them singing "In your Liverpool slums" at us.
I live on Priory Road, near to Stanley Park and am a lifelong Liverpool supporter. I have every sympathy with the residents of Rockfield Road and surroundings. Such beautiful houses should be cherished. This city has so much heritage but we all just watch it crumble and then moan afterwards. Thanks to the residents who have stayed, the houses there are still standing. Shame on the club and shame on the council. One week's salary for one of the players would be enough to fully renovate a Victorian house. The thing that makes me saddest is to see the thousands of tourists and supporters of other clubs walking down these streets. It is so embarrassing. It obviously justifies them singing "In your Liverpool slums" at us.