Please follow & like us

RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
YouTube
Instagram

Author: Ollie Cowan

Marine Lake Events Centre plans to take major step forward this Summer

25 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Active Sefton, Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News

Exciting plans for a state-of-the-art Marine Lake Events Centre in Southport are set to take another big step forward this summer, as the project team prepares for public consultation.

It was announced earlier this year that Sefton Council has appointed an experienced team, including leading architecture firm AFL Architects, to work on plans that will provide Southport with a first class events space and a new visitor attraction that will animate the Marine Lake. 

The project has been named following feedback from local school children during the Town Deal consultation in 2020. The plans will provide a theatre space, conference and exhibition centre able to accommodate a range of events, and cafĂŠ/restaurant on the site of the existing Southport Theatre and Conference Centre.  A water and light show is proposed to be installed on the Marine Lake.

The project will bring thousands of visitors to the town each year and provide a boost to the local economy.

The Marine Lake Events Centre and Marine Lake water and light show forms part of the Southport Town Deal which secured ÂŁ37.5 million funding in 2021. The project has also secured further support from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. 

Work on the Marine Lake Events Centre follows the success of Southport Market, which opened its doors last year and has helped to kickstart regeneration of the Market Quarter. The council has also recently consulted on plans to improve access to the eastern side of Southport and public realm improvements for the town centre.

The Marine Lake Events Centre team will start conversations with stakeholders over the next few weeks with public consultation planned to take place in May. A planning application is expected to be submitted in early summer 2022.

Cllr Ian Maher, Leader of Sefton Council, said: “We are really excited that the project is starting to take shape. During the consultation on the Town Deal in 2020, the need for investment in the current theatre was something lots of people wanted to see and the “big idea” to animate the Marine Lake was widely welcomed. 

“There are a number of aspects of the project that need careful consideration, so we have appointed an expert team to start having conversations and to help design and deliver this important project for Southport.

“We plan to undertake a wider public consultation on the plans in May, providing an opportunity for everyone to see and comment on the plans before a planning application is submitted.”

 

Could your home become a Sefton heritage site?

23 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News, Sefton Council, Sefton Stories, Southport

Sefton Council is asking local history lovers to nominate buildings and landmarks they feel should be given special heritage status.

The Merseyside Local Heritage List project, which covers Sefton, Knowsley and Wirral, seeks to identify buildings and assets that have significant local importance to its surrounding communities.

To coincide with the launch of the project, Sefton Council are giving residents the opportunity to nominate what they believe are important assets that are not yet protected but have significant heritage interest.

Currently there are more than 800 listed buildings and 25 conservation areas in the borough, meaning they have special protection status from development and alterations.

Locations that are being considered for inclusion in the Merseyside Local Heritage List are:

• Historic buildings
• Buildings of distinctive architectural or artistic style
• Buildings can be residential, commercial, industrial, militaria, leisure or with a strong presence in the community
• Built features such as; memorials, old boundary walls or bridges in local materials, water pumps, or historic street furniture

Councillor Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control said: “We’re delighted to have secured funding for the Merseyside Local Heritage List and the opportunity to build on Sefton Council’s existing heritage work in enhancing the historic built environment around the borough.

“The distinctiveness of our towns and villages is so important and maintaining our rich heritage helps keep our communities desirable places to live, visit and work.

“We believe residents are in the best position to identify those heritage buildings that positively contribute to the local identity and character of their area and hope that residents will nominate them for the local list project.”

Running from March 23, 2022 until March 31, 2023, residents can nominate assets via www.local-heritage-list.org.uk/Merseyside.

Here you will also find lots of help and guidance on the project and more information on the types of assets to nominate.

For more information on the Local Heritage List, and to register your interest visit Merseyside Local Heritage List or email: localheritagelist@sefton.gov.uk

Let there be light! Iconic buildings across Sefton to be lit up in dazzling light projection

18 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Featured Friendship News, Front Page, Latest News

Southport and Bootle will play host to a spectacular light show capturing the history of the Sefton next week.

The Nightingale’s Song Reawakened is a triumphant series of video projection artworks taking place across Bootle and Southport, created with Illuminos, Guildhall Live Events, Lightworks, and artist Amelia Kosminsky.

The event will be free and will be hosted at:

Southport Market
Friday 25th 10am – 10pm
Saturday 26th 10am – 10pm
Sunday 27th 10am – 8pm
Wednesday 30th 5:30pm – 9pm
Thursday 31st 5:30pm – 9pm
Friday April 1st 10am – 10pm
Saturday April 2nd 5:30pm – 10pm
Sunday April 3rd 10am – 8pm

Bootle Canalside 
Saturday March 26th 8pm – 10pm

Accessed via Washington Parade/Stanley Road

The Atkinson, Southport 
Sunday March 27th (shows at 8.30pm and 9pm)

Food and drink will be available at Southport Market and Bootle Canalside throughout the shows.

March 2020 saw three iconic buildings lit up in celebratory stories, as part of Sefton Borough of Culture. Two years on the Nightingale’s Song is to be retold in a new and mesmerising collaboration.

The Nightingale’s Song is a tale of magic and wonder, of myths and wondrous creatures, spectacular nature, of ships and sailing, of peoples past and present and captures the history of Sefton.

The projections are anchored through following the journey of the Natterjack Toad – the endangered amphibian who lives in the Sefton dunes. Known as the Birkdale Nightingale because of its extraordinary night time song, it becomes the character we follow, symbolising the growth and transition through ever changing stages of egg, tadpole, and toad.

For this year’s spectacle, projection artists Illuminos have joined forces with Guildhall Live Events, Lightworks, and artist Amelia Kosminsky to create three distinct pieces, all thematically linked through the Song of the Nightingale.

The Echo begins the events at Southport Market.  In this unique video installation echoes of images morph and flow across screens, and visitors through their movements in the space trigger visual moments that interact and cause ripples across the artwork.  A toad hops, a biplane soars, waves roll in and seasons change.  By changing their positions and working together, visitors can uncover the many secrets and echoes of Sefton’s past and present.

The Whisper takes place at Bootle Canalside event space.  Here emerging artist Amelia Kosminsky transforms the surfaces of the buildings into vast dreamlike canvases of video art.  Making extensive use of archive images, newspaper cuttings, landscapes and histories of Bootle, audiences are invited to soak up a visual journey from land through canal and waterway to rolling sea.

The Song completes the events at the Atkinson Building, Southport.  In a vast and dramatic finale, the architecture of the Atkinson is transformed to tell the story of Sefton through egg, tadpole and toad as storms rage, arcades whirr, vikings rise, railways build, and the Birkdale Nightingale sings, in a celebration of Sefton and its coastline.

 

Sefton Citizens 4 Good Scheme returns with nominations now open

17 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Bootle Strand, Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Front Page

Nominations are now being accepted for a major scheme that recognises Sefton residents who make a positive difference to life in their local communities.

Citizens 4 Good is a joint initiative from Sefton Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) and the Mayor of Sefton’s Office and recognises local people for good deeds, kindness and support that they provide to other members of the community.

This is the first round of nominations launched since the Coronavirus pandemic, which meant that the events were put on hold.

Anyone can make a nomination of someone they think deserves to be recognised.

People can nominate any Sefton resident who they think makes a difference the people around them. They may go that extra mile to be a great neighbour, help to organise a local community group, or something else that deserves recognition.

Mike Howlett, Senior Citizenship and Volunteering Officer for Sefton CVS, commented: “Since launching the scheme in 2017, Citizens 4 Good has recognised over 100 people for their kind acts and support for their local communities.

“Over the last two years, during the Coronavirus pandemic, we have heard so many examples of how community members have stepped up to help their neighbours. So I’m sure people won’t be short of local people to nominate.”

Shortlisted nominees will be invited to a celebration event where they will be presented with a certificate by the Mayor of Sefton, Cllr Clare Louise Carragher.

The deadline for nominations is Monday 4th April, with the celebration event taking place later that month at Bootle Town Hall .

To nominate a Citizen 4 Good go to www.sefton4good.org.uk/citizens.

For further information about Citizens 4 Good call 0151 920 0726 or email info@sefton4good.org.uk.

 

New council Tech Rooms will support refugees across Sefton

16 March 2022
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Borough Of Culture, Business and Economy, Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News

Sefton Libraries team are set to install special technology rooms in Southport, Bootle and Crosby, designed to help refugees and isolated residents throughout the borough.

Funded via a grant Arts Council England, the brand new state of the art ‘Tech Rooms’ will be installed at The Atkinson Library, Bootle Library and Crosby Library, with its primary uses being to help refugees and asylum seekers access language courses, while also helping isolated residents connect digitally with distant family members.

Use of the Tech Rooms, which come fully equipped with top of the line audio and visual communication equipment, will also be available to small business owners and students from across the borough.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “We’re delighted that our bid for Arts Council funding for this project was successful and we can now begin creating these highly beneficial Tech Rooms.

“Primarily we envisage the rooms being of the most benefit to those residents who are ‘digitally isolated’ and need a way to reconnect with family and friends who are far away.

“We also will use the rooms to facilitate specialist language learning for refugees and asylum seekers so they can better integrate with their communities and study in a safe, high tech environment.

“There are also huge benefits for local businesses, small enterprises and home workers who will now have access to the highest quality digitally enabled workspaces.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive Officer, Arts Council England, added: “Our artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries are experts in making villages, towns and cities better places to live, work, visit or play.

“This investment means they’ll be able to help more people across England to lead happier, more creative lives.”

Sefton Libraries were successful in securing a Libraries Improvement Fund grant of ÂŁ68,000 for the project from Arts Council England. Work to create the rooms will begin from April.

Search Box