Liverpool Dérive: Passport and Past Port

Park up in one of Liverpool's Car Parks. A place in the Lib Dem's control where one can spend £8 on parking for four hours and one minute at any time of the day or night. Which makes their opposition to parking charges in Manchester seem a bit hypocritical and dim. Though it has to be said those weren't thought through.

Onwards to the Passport Office where the service is excellent, the appointments system a great improvement on the drop in and queues of yore, the IT all working very well, and the staff full of cheer and help. Cheerful and helpful.

Daughter's picture isn't quite ideal. But they'll tell me in an hour if that's a deal breaker. So I'm off to wander the streets. To the Pierhead first. To see whether the 24 hour greasy has made a comeback. No it has not. Not even a coffee dispenser. And the slot machine which mashes pennies into mementos is itself mashed.

The walk down here has been extremely pedestrian unfriendly, the multi-lane roadway along the river clear of traffic, but the ped crossings are inept.

It is bitterly cold and windswept. I find a sarnie kiosk and get, what else?, a sarnie. This is on the corner of the Mann Island site and hard by the Quay where the Walk The Plank theatre ship Fitzcarraldo is moored. I've been a Trustee of this arts charity now for more than ten years.

Onwards to Liverpool Vision to see: what the agencies are telling people, and more important what people are telling the agencies:

1. "Distinct lack of quality modern architecture ... a museum city ... where's the affordable family housing?"

2. "My biggest concern is the Council's approach to tall buildings. Liverpool should reach for the sky ... five or six 40-50 storey towers ... Liverpool Council - Wake Up!!"

3. "Liverpool is suddenly dashing into the future."

4. "Planning officers are unimaginative and the councillors always accept the officers' decisions. A junior officer rejected Boeings plan to set up a European base here."

5. "The Marina is to be run by a Manchester Company. And MDHC has been sold to Peel Holdings, based in Manchester. There are now only four employees here." [Mersey Docks and Harbours Company]

6. "How can English Heritage block excellent proposals for the Chieftain Tower when it allowed dross nearby? ... please don't deter business and investors ... don't blow it!"

7. "Make not little plans for they do not stir the hearts of men"

This last quoted from Daniel Burham by a visiting scouse La now based in LA.

Meanwhile The Telegraph has run a piece on the 'Discreet charms of the Cinderella city' in which Hugh Frost, the Chairman of local company Beethams which has exported its best moves elsewhere, states baldly:
"Liverpool has a reputation that has to be 'overcome' not built on."

The best parts of the exhibition are children's work on the Tiber Project, pump priming regeneration of Liverpool 8 from their Tiber Street. And news on the boards that the English Cities Fund have a strong hand in getting things moving. Also now heavily involved in Central Salford.

Still, there are a few clumps of cranes here and there. And some of the other development has lessons for Manchester. But it must be said that the last couple of five year EU programmes in Liverpool have been frustrating.

At one point Liverpool had the distinction of sending in annual returns which said EU funding had got more people back into jobs than there were in the whole workforce! Twice as many in fact. And the distaste for outsider input shown in quote 5 above - though not seen in much resistance to US involvement at Liverpool FC - has been rife. There is a really parochial culture which is quite unlike Manchester and bad news too for graduate retention and incoming investment.

BOTTOM PIC: WTP Co-Director Liz Pugh eventually stopped the Doddy-hilarious flow as he launched the ship's Liverpool moorage.