…Tesco/Everton trim 25% off Kirkby retail offering

Tesco and Everton FC have bowed to intensifying pressure from opponents including Liverpool City Council and Grosvenor by reducing the retail element of their Kirkby town centre proposals.

The joint venture partners have cut the retail space by nearly 25% from 775,000 sq ft to 592,000 sq ft.

Liverpool City Council and Grosvenor, development partner on the 1.6m sq ft retail project Liverpool One, had indicated their preparedness to object. Both said the Destination Kirkby scheme represented an unnecessary amount of growth for a town in the same region as Liverpool, saying it would take out £129m of turnover from the city.

Tesco/Everton submitted a planning application to Knowsley council in January, centring on a new 50,000-seat stadium. The revised retail quota will be made to the existing application.

Neighbouring Sefton council is expected to make its position known later today.