Introduction

7.1

The provision of a good range of town centre uses is important to the Council’s wider regeneration objectives, helping to make the Borough a more attractive place to live, visit and work in.  Uses which can typically appropriately be located in a town centre include shopping, financial and professional services, food and drink uses, business, hotels, residential uses, community (including health), cultural and religious uses, assembly and leisure (such as cinemas, concert, bingo and dance halls) and miscellaneous suitable uses such as laundrettes, beauty salons, photographic studios, and pharmacies.  These uses are described in greater detail in Appendix 7 of the Plan.

7.2

The town, district and local centres are the most suitable locations to accommodate town centre uses, depending upon their size and the nature of the proposed use.  For example, shops are suitable in all types of centre, but a larger shop such as a supermarket may only be suitable in a district or town centre.  Similarly, a cinema is only likely to be suitable in a town centre due to the amount of traffic and disturbance such a use is likely to generate.  An element of residential use is acceptable within town, district and local centres; however it should only form a minor element of the centre and should not undermine the vitality or viability of a centre.

Town centres and shopping within Knowsley

 7.3

The Borough of Knowsley includes three town centres, at Huyton, Prescot and Kirkby. These centres provide a range of shopping facilities, together with other employment, leisure and community uses which complement the shopping role of each centre.

 7.4

Knowsley also contains three district centres, which are smaller than the town centres, providing a more limited range of shops and services. There is also a network of smaller “local centres” and shopping parades, which provide primarily convenience (food) shops and small-scaleservices (such as post offices and pharmacies) for small local catchment areas.

 7.5

With the exception of Prescot, the centres were mostly constructed in the post war period up until the 1970s to serve what was then a growing population. Prescot is a much older centre, having originally had a market charter in medieval times. The centres present a range of regeneration challenges which are addressed in this chapter.

7.6

There is only one retail park in Knowsley (known as Cables Retail Park) and it is located on the edge of Prescot town centre. This contains a food superstore and a range of non-food retail warehousing units.

Figure 7.1

Current Issues

7.7

The range of shopping and leisure facilities within Knowsley is relatively limited when compared to that available in larger city and town centres in neighbouring areas (such as Liverpool, St. Helens and Southport). This is particularly the case with comparison goods (such as clothes, shoes, electrical items etc.) and bulky goods (such as DIY, furniture etc.), but is also true (to a more limited degree) for food retailing (convenience shopping). Many Knowsley residents therefore travel outside the Borough to visit shops and leisure facilities (such as cinemas and, bowling alleys).

7.8

To a significant degree, the relative shortage of shopping and leisure facilities within Knowsley is to be expected given the limited size of Knowsley’s centres and their role in the wider Merseyside economy. However, the Plan aims to ensure that each centre performs to its optimum in a way that is appropriate to its scale, role and function.  

The health of Knowsley’s town centres

7.9

In 2002,Knowsley MBC commissioned a study of its town centres, which assessed the health of each centre and the need for future shopping and leisure provision up to 2016 - see footnote ⁷. The study concluded that Huyton is generally a strong centre which will be enhanced further by a new Asda store (opened in October 2004). Kirkby has some strengths but currently suffers from a shortage of food shopping in the centre itself. Prescot has significant potential based on its attractive and historic Conservation Area townscape and redevelopment opportunities but is currently experiencing some problems such as low rental levels, and high vacancy rates. One important reason is that the size of many of the retail units in the town centre does not meet the needs of modern retailers. A common issue affecting all the town centres is the relatively limited range of non-retail uses such as cafes, bars, offices, restaurants and residential uses.

Tackling the Issues

7.10

•  “A Vision for Prescot” - strategy for the regeneration of Prescot 1997;

• “Kirkby town centre - Asda Environs Site - Development Brief” 1997; and

•  “Development Brief - existing Asda store, Huyton Village Centre” 2000.

7.11

The Council intends to monitor development on these sites andupdate and expand these strategies and briefs as necessary, to provide a clear vision for the future development of each centre.

⁷ “Knowsley MBC Town Centre & Shopping Survey”, Chestertons plc, 2002

Next