Today (Tuesday 25 April) sees the release of a new report undertaken by the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy and Practice – Albert Dock: What Part in Liverpool’s Continuing Renaissance?
The report aims to reflect on the impact that Liverpool’s Albert Dock has played in the reinvention of Liverpool as a modern, thriving city, but pulls no punches as it sets out recommendations for the long term future success of this much-loved destination attraction.
Responding to the report at a special event held at the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Building, Albert Dock, Gower Street Estates and Aberdeen Asset Management, who co-commissioned the project, welcomed the report’s findings saying it underpinned their shared vision for the future of Albert Dock.
Sue Grindrod, chief executive of Gower Street Estates, said:
“When we commissioned the report as part of the 175 strategy for Albert Dock, we were keen to underline our successes and appreciate where we have come from – as the catalyst for change in Liverpool’s regeneration story. However, it is far more important that we drive forward with a future strategic plan that will see Albert Dock and the wider Liverpool waterfront respond to the needs of our city regional visitor economy for years to come.
“We accept that the report is hard hitting in parts, but we have taken that on the chin and understand that it highlights how we cannot allow the Dock to slide backwards ever again. We launched the Albert Dock 175 strategy in May 2016, and many of this reports findings already form part of the wider Planit-IE masterplan for Albert Dock that was commissioned in 2014, that includes a number of major public realm projects, which will go into planning very soon. More than ever we are committed to a long term strategy of investment in both the infrastructure of the Dock, Aberdeen Asset Management’s evolving retail and leisure offer, and our major events programme which we will continue to invest in to drive growth in visitor numbers each year.”
Richard Wilson of Aberdeen Asset Management, added:
“As part of our long term investment strategy, we recently announced our vision for Albert Dock’s retail and leisure offer. Albert Dock deserves a quality offer that it can be proud of and benefits the whole city. This report is welcomed. It is hard hitting and it is clear that we are in a time of great change, however our combined strengths are in the shared strategy of Gower Street Estates and Aberdeen Asset Management, working together to deliver the improved Albert Dock, and we can only hope that the wider Liverpool waterfront also take action based on the findings in this report.”
Professor Michael Parkinson CBE, associate pro vice-chancellor, executive director of the Heseltine Institute, University of Liverpool, commented:
“Gower Street Estates and Aberdeen Asset Management have done the city a real service in commissioning this work. It has turned our face to the mirror and shown how much has been achieved at Albert Dock. But it also shows the scale of the opportunity and with the right level of ambition, investment, and leadership and governance for Liverpool Waterfront how much more could be achieved in future for the whole city region. The report has made a call for action. Key city leaders and the asset owners on the waterfront now need to seize the opportunity and respond.”
One major public realm project, part of the Planit-IE masterplan, is the Northern Gateway area, which will aim to see fundamental development in the outside spaces around Albert Dock’s entrance.
Extracts from the report:
“Albert Dock is an iconic Liverpool landmark – physically, economically and politically. For almost two centuries its fortunes have reflected those of the city itself. The completion of the Dock in 1846 physically demonstrated Liverpool’s position as the second city of the greatest empire the world had ever known. By contrast, the Dock’s economic and physical decline during the 1960s and 70s symbolised the end of the era of the city’s maritime dominance. The renaissance of Albert Dock in the 1980s then marked the beginning of Liverpool’s own renaissance. In 2017 it stands at the centre of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the UK’s largest Grade 1 listed structure in one of the world’s most architecturally significant cities. Liverpool itself is embarked on a wider economic and physical regeneration. The Dock’s future matters to the future of the city – almost as much as its past did.”
“Everybody agrees that Albert Dock was the catalyst for the renaissance of Liverpool city centre. It did the city a real service during a very difficult period. In 2017 Albert Dock is clearly a successful visitor attraction that has grown steadily during the past decade and now has over 6 million visitors. Albert Dock began the process of improving relationships, attitudes and performance. Its scale and visibility meant its contribution could not be ignored. It paved the way for future market confidence, investment and development beyond the waterfront in the city centre more widely. It was a beacon of light during some dark days.”
“The report has shown that quality of the retail and leisure offer is no longer right for Liverpool given its recent renaissance. Albert Dock has fallen behind its neighbours. The quality needs to be improved and made more consistent.”
“The waterfront needs a more powerful organisation which can align and integrate the ambitions, programmes and actions of all the different players who now operate on the waterfront. This would include Peel in the north docks, through to the Pier Head, across into Albert Dock and beyond into the Convention and Conference Centre and across the Strand into the Liverpool One area.”
“Albert Dock is not a merely local amenity but a fantastic international asset. Plans for its future development should reflect its international status and globally significant past. Jesse Hartley did not make little plans in 1846. The current custodians of his achievement must be equally ambitious. And they have a real opportunity to be so.”