Southport Councillor welcomes conservation campaign boost in time for the Open

Southport Councillor welcomes conservation campaign boost in time for the Open

A campaigning councillor has welcomed a major funding boost from Sefton Council to refurbish a mass of civic assets across the Lord Street and Promenade Conservation Areas in Southport in a bid to impress potential investors attending The Open golf tournament at Royal Birkdale this summer.

Cllr David Barton who first raised the issue during his audit of the town centre in 2015 had urged Sefton Council to consider dipping into its emergency reserves to fund a wide range of work, including maintaining street furniture and signature heritage lamp posts which would give the town the best chance of making a good impression. He has continued to liaise with senior Council figures including Sarah Kemp, Executive Director at the Council and the relevant Departments responsible for their support on this matter.

Cllr David Barton has now learnt that he has finally acquired the approval for the use of Council reserves to the value of £650k to be targeted at agreed key activities including: Destination Presentation, Marketing, Investment, Cultural Activity and Employment and Skills.

The Open heads to Southport between July 16 and 23, where Royal Birkdale Golf Club will host the event for the 10th time.

Cllr David Barton, who represents Dukes Ward, said Sefton Council should take the lead in what could be a “one-off chance’ to impress corporate visitors and potential investors and show them that Southport is a great place to invest.

He said: “At a time of great international celebration it is my pleasure to announce that Sefton Council has listened to the wishes of the local community and is now investing some of its emergency reserves into the overall presentation of the town. In committing to this long-term return on investment I am confident that this will bring much needed enterprise support to the length and breadth of our classic resort town. This is a great opportunity to showcase Southport as a whole to the international business community.”

“It is deeply encouraging to see the council playing its role in supporting the community by including prominent highly visible civic assets in key locations as part of this latest mass-scale refurbishment initiative.”

“This has so far included jet washing and repainting of the 133 benches situated on Lord Street and repainting of the 110 ornamental lamp posts that adorn the Promenade from Park Road West in the North down to the Esplanade in the South which I’m certain will also further incentivise property owners across both Conservation areas to also embark upon and continue to maintain their pieces of the Southport Victoriana crown.

“Whilst there are various examples of work that still need to be done, including the former Manhattans Bar on the Promenade, the fascia frontage of Southport Town Hall, Cambridge Arcade and the Lord Street balustrade ornamental lamp posts which have become corroded, particularly along Central and Southern Lord Street I am now more of the belief that these shall follow suit in due course.

At this time I should also like to extend my greatest appreciations to all the many various departments at Sefton Council with whom I have continued to liaise closely with to achieve the vast progress that has been made so far.”

Cllr Barton said that the 2015 Open Championship in St Andrews delivered £140 million of economic benefit to Scotland, with spending by visitors bringing in £88million.

He added: “The eyes of the sporting world will be on Southport this summer and many of the corporate guests and golf fans who come to town will represent businesses and potential investors who could have a major, positive impact in the town if we create the right impression.

“I am also requesting that wherever possible funding shall continue to be made available to restore and maintain these assets with the view to seeking further investment via third party leasehold regeneration of some of the long-empty properties which in turn would attract the confidence of more investors.