St Modwen sets out Kirkby plans in consultation

The developer is holding a two-day exhibition to demonstrate its plans for Kirkby town centre, Knowsley, having paid Tesco £35.8m in November 2015 for the town’s 400,000 sq ft retail core.

New retail space, a new cinema and restaurants on the site of the former Kirkby Library and a new supermarket are among the plans put forward by the regeneration specialist.

The plans also include landscaping, green spaces and the provision of a temporary car park south of Cherryfield Drive to service shops while development work is completed.

The consultation is being held at 17 St Chad’s Parade and closes at 1pm on Saturday 22 October.

St Modwen, which signed a development agreement earlier this year, said that the outline scheme has already garnered “significant interest” from national retailers and that once legal contracts are exchanged it will be in a position to announce the supermarket operator. There are around 80 retail and leisure tenants in the town currently.

Steven Knowles, regional director for St Modwen, said: “Our plans provide us with an opportunity to develop a town centre that the people of Kirkby deserve and have been waiting a long time for.”

Since its acquisition, St Modwen has appointed a town centre manager and set about a series of improvements such as planters and hanging baskets, free Wi-Fi, new litter and recycling facilities, a summer activities programme and free parking for three hours.

Cllr Mike Murphy, cabinet member for regeneration and economic development at Knowsley Council, said: “The huge number of developments in recent years have all had a positive impact on the town. Like all Kirkby residents I now look forward to seeing the delivery of our new supermarket, shops, cinema and restaurants to confirm that Kirkby is a place on the up.”