We are campaigning to make Crosby Village a nicer place for all, more like Formby High Street than the underused precinct it as become, and we need your help.
Sainsbury’s is proposing a new bigger store in Crosby Village. We support their ambitions and investment but their current proposals are not good enough for our community and will do further damage to the Village. What Sainsbury’s want to do will also blight the potential for future improvements.
If Sainsbury’s improved their designs they could start the rejuvenation of Crosby like the way, at a bigger scale, Liverpool ONE has improved the city centre. We have a vision for Crosby Village as a vibrant, bustling centre in the day, with thriving restaurants and bars in a safer environment at night, including a big new, easy to access, Sainsbury’s.
The proposals Sainsbury’s have submitted for planning permission are not good enough because they will –
Decrease road safety, due to the large increase in traffic the new store will generate. This is particularly important for our school children coming into the village from Liverpool Road and Manor Road.
Decrease personal security in the pedestrian areas, which are already unsafe at night and stops people using the village in the evening. The existing Sainsbury’s already blocks the views in and out of the village from Manor Road. The new store will completely block the views up Moor Lane making the heart of the village really isolated at night.
Be harder to access for the elderly and families with pushchairs, because the new store is going to be at first floor – with car parking at ground floor – so the only way in will be via stairs, lifts, ramps or escalators.
Negatively affect the value of our homes. By destroy parts of the historic village, building a very large high white box as the new store and a multi storey car park the proposals will make the village even less attractive, and a much harder place to rejuvenate with the potential for quality local shops and restaurants – like Formby. It is proven that a popular and high quality village centre can significantly increase local house prices.
Below we include some sketches to show the scale of the Sainsbury’s proposals.
This ground floor plan shows how huge chunks of the village will be domintated by car parking - the biggest car park being a huge undercroft space. Why? - Because Sainsbury's want such a big store they are putting it ON TOP of the car park - so the only way to get in will be on travelators (moving ramps!) more like Heathrow Airport than Crosby Village.
The sketch below shows the size and height of the new store, cutting right across the top of Moor Lane, The silhouette in front of the store is the size of the existing shops – where Prichards Bookshop is currently. The huge white thing in the background is the new Store - Like a very big industrial unit from Knowsely Industry Park moved to the centre of Crosby.
How you can help
Sign our petition – Sainsbury’s only had a few ‘feedback’ forms returned so this should really make a difference - http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ABetterCrosby
Write to the council and express your opinion. This is easy. Currently the proposals are on the Sefton Council website (Crosby Town Centre Redevelopment) http://www.sefton.gov.uk/ Follow the links and click Make a representation on this application. Or go to this website address
http://www.sefton.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=5297&rep=1,
or write to Mr. Jim Alford, Assistant Director, Planning and Economic Regeneration, Magdalen House, 30 Trinity House, Bootle, L20 3NJ.
Become our friend on Facebook, we are called Abettercrosby Stopping Sainsbury’s As a friend you will be expressing you support for our campaign. You can share your thoughts here and get more involved if you would like.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this.
A Better Crosby
