Liverpool City Council is in the process of bouncing back from both the pandemic and high-profile fraud, bribery and corruption allegations. Sarah Doyle, assistant mayor with responsibility for economy and development, explains how an effective relationship with the private sector has never been more vital to the city’s future success.
Liverpool has hit the reset button and is open for business – if you share its goals to put social value and sustainability at the heart of regeneration.
That’s the resounding message from Sarah Doyle, part of a new cohort of young councillors brought together by new mayor Joanne Anderson as she seeks to draw a line under the city’s recent political and administrative woes and drive forward its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We want the property sector to have an effective and productive relationship with us as a local authority,” says Doyle, who is assistant mayor with responsibility for economy and development in the city. “We know there have been issues which have affected the sector coming to Liverpool and investing with us. But we are resetting the relationship.”
From serious governance issues to frustrating planning backlogs, there is plenty of ground to make up. But 26-year-old Doyle has an unflinching determination to turn obstacles, setbacks and scandals into opportunities for the city and its people. “I take everything as a learning curve,” she says.
Baptism of fire
Age? Not a problem. After all, she has experienced more in the three years since she was elected to represent the inner-city Riverside ward than most councillors do in a lifetime – dealing with much of it against the backdrop of the pandemic.
The ongoing police probe into allegations of fraud, bribery, corruption and misconduct in public office linked to building and development contracts in the city began in 2019, the same year Doyle was elected as a Labour councillor with a 70% majority.
The investigation has so far led to the arrest of 12 people, including then mayor Joe Anderson at the height of the pandemic and former director of regeneration Nick Kavanagh. Both men maintain that they are innocent of any wrongdoing and no charges have been brought against any of those arrested.
The police investigation prompted Westminster to send in its own inspector, Max Caller CBE, who found serious failings in both governance and practice within the council. His March 2021 report exposed an “intimidating” regeneration style, with missing or hidden detail on property sales.
The government’s response was to send in a team of four government commissioners in June 2021, led by Mike Cunningham, with a three-year remit to ensure that the council now rebuilds its property, highways and regeneration functions and addresses serious failings in key areas such as audit, scrutiny and governance arrangements.
New broom
When Labour mayor Joanne Anderson was elected in May 2021, Doyle was one of a crop of young councillors she turned to as she formed an entirely new cabinet to work alongside the team of commissioners and restore the council’s reputation.
By this point, Doyle had a couple of years’ experience under her belt on the council’s Housing Select Committee – the key area of interest which had led her to stand for election, after she trained to give people legal advice on housing. She had also gained some development experience in her inner-city ward – encompassing part of the city centre, waterfront and residential areas – and formed a close working relationship with Anderson as then councillor for the adjacent Princes Park ward, particularly during the pandemic.
“Joanne knew I had an interest in community-led regeneration, in housing, and I think that’s what led her to ask me if I wanted to be appointed to this role,” says Doyle, who is the first member of her family to enter local government.
Lack of control
Was she shocked by what emerged about the council’s culture and past practices? “No, it didn’t come as a huge shock, because I think a lot of us felt very frustrated with seeing that residents were losing faith in us as a council,” she says. “A lot of us as local councillors felt that we didn’t have the control that we wanted to have in terms of seeing the change in our communities… we felt that the processes to get change done in our communities had been muddied and had sort of been cut away.”
On the Housing Select Committee she says she often flagged different schemes that caused her concern. “We felt that there could have been better scrutiny, and now we are moving towards that. I welcome scrutiny,” she says.
The situation was further exacerbated, she says, by austerity and the associated loss of council officers. “I do massively understand that the sector, or parts of it, have previously come to Liverpool wanting to invest and have not received the responses they need, or any response,” Doyle says. “I just want to say that it is reset now, and things are more effective.”
It’s the same candidness – and determination to do better – that came through in her apology in 2019 when it emerged that she had made antisemitic comments on social media as a 17-year-old. She described her use of the phrase “typical Jew” as “naive”, “ill-judged and unacceptable”, adding: “I hope to work alongside the Jewish community in Liverpool and Jewish Labour members in the fight to eradicate antisemitism from the Labour Party and wider society.”
I am 26 and I don’t have a background in property, but I do have an understanding of what communities need and the vision of what I want them to look like
Close liaison
Back in the present, Doyle meets regularly with Deborah McLaughlin, the commissioner tasked with overseeing property and regeneration. A well-known name to the North West property industry, McLaughlin served as director of housing at Manchester City Council and as regional director at Homes England.
Doyle acknowledges that going through this process may slow things down even more and be a source of frustration for all parties, but she is clear that it is the right thing to do. “I’ve learnt loads about due diligence. I’ve learnt loads about the best practice of working with the private sector, and I think these are all things that I take forward,” she says.
Birmingham born, Doyle moved to Liverpool to complete a philosophy and sociology degree. Her master’s in law is now on hold so that she can focus on her political responsibilities. “It is difficult, and we still come across decisions that were made previously and we think, ‘If we had been around then, we would have done things differently,’” she says. “But I live in the city, I have my family and friends here, and I really want to make it the best possible place for residents to thrive and to do well in. We also have a whole host of talented officers in the council. I know that when we work with them in the correct way, they will do fantastic things, and it feels exciting to be a part of that going forward.”
Central to that is the leadership of council chief executive Tony Reeves and the arrival of Mark Bousfield as the council’s new director of regeneration and economy, both of whom are highly regarded in the city. Bousfield has previously worked at Google, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and, more recently, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Doyle sees his depth of experience and wealth of contacts across the city as a huge asset in delivering on the mayor’s so-called “triple lock” focus on inclusion, sustainability and equality, as set out in the city plan.
Realising those aspirations should be further bolstered by the adoption of Liverpool’s local plan at a full council meeting at the end of January.
“I think a lot of big developments were put on pause because of the inspection and the report, and we really want to see them kick-started in a way that is in line with our aspirations on social value and environmental impact,” Doyle says.
From pools to spools
A prime example is the long-awaited £70m transformation of the derelict Littlewoods building off Edge Lane into a TV and film-making complex. The council bought the site from Homes England for £1.6m in 2017 before handing a 250-year lease to developer Capital & Centric.
However, progress has been limited and the building was damaged by a fire in 2018. A report put to the council’s cabinet late last year acknowledged that the project has a “greater than usual risk profile”, but said it could create 4,000 jobs, provide a huge boost to the skills base in the city region and bring £200m a year in economic value to the city.
Twickenham Studios (now called Time+Space) and Liverpool John Moores University have agreed in principle to be the anchor tenants for the 260,000 sq ft scheme, paying a total of £3.5m in annual rent. The first phase focuses on site remediation, while phase two will deliver the main build of the complex. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has approved £8m for phase one from a total funding allocation of £17m. Phase two is contingent on securing £25m in debt funding. Doyle is optimistic about the scheme’s prospects and the potential impact on the poorer communities surrounding it. She is also looking at the type of housing available in the area to support the studios’ potential workforce.
Liverpool has become an increasingly popular film location in recent years, with its rich heritage providing a backdrop for productions including the BBC’s Peaky Blinders and Doctor Who, Netflix’s Stay Close and Munich: The Edge of War and Warner Bros’ blockbuster The Batman.
“We want the post-production to be in Liverpool too,” Doyle explains. “We want young people in the areas where we’re councillors to go on and get those production jobs. And there’s no reason for me that young people who are training at college in hair and beauty couldn’t then go on and work in hair and beauty on film sets. But we haven’t established that pathway. And that’s something we’re trying to do.”
Development should be ingrained in the surrounding communities; they shouldn’t be separate from each other
Community vision
She makes a virtue of her youth on this subject. “I’ve attended meetings before where I’ve turned up and I can tell they’re waiting for the cabinet member to arrive and I’m like, ‘That’s me, and I am 26 and I don’t have a background in property, but I do have an understanding of what communities need and the vision of what I want them to look like,’” she says.
She hopes to bring that to bear on longer-term plans to leverage wider benefits from the development of the new Everton football stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which is now transforming what Doyle describes as a “post-industrial ghost town” on the city’s north shore. The council doesn’t have a direct stake in the 15-acre development – part of Peel L&P’s 150-acre Liverpool Waters regeneration scheme – but it does own sites “a stone’s throw” away.
“I’m having conversations with our planning department and with our development team to look at a masterplanning document for the overspill of the development,” she says. “The property sector should be keeping an eye on Bramley-Moore Dock because it is a catalytic regeneration project.”
She wants to protect the community of local creative businesses in the area, but there are vacant warehouses and derelict sites too. “There will be a lot of opportunity there in terms of commercial space and tourism,” she says. “We’re looking at what we can do so that in five or 10 years’ time this is a destination place that people want to go to and people who live here can benefit from. I think it’s going to be one of the biggest developments in Liverpool.”
Developments on the city’s waterfront – including Bramley-Moore Dock – were cited when Unesco sparked an outcry from the city by withdrawing its world heritage site status last year. Doyle, who sat on the planning committee which approved the Everton scheme, says she was hugely disappointed but remains convinced that the scheme is right for Liverpool.
“The actual site was behind closed gates; you couldn’t get to it. Heritage is at its very best when it’s open and you can learn from it, and you can walk around it and you can experience it. It’s no good to anyone if it is behind closed gates deteriorating in a ward that has one of the highest levels of poverty in the country. That’s not the type of heritage we want. It’s not collaborative, it’s not exciting and it’s not innovative – and this planning application was.”
Knowledge is power
Back in the city centre, she’s enthusiastic about the further expansion of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, with its focus on delivering high-value jobs. “To improve the overall economic position of people in Liverpool, we need more jobs on much higher wages,” she says.
Plans for the next landmark building at Paddington Village, in the heart of the council-backed Knowledge Quarter, were revealed last year. The proposed £35m Hemisphere building, designed by AHR Architects, would be Liverpool’s first operational net-zero carbon building.
The 116,000 sq ft grade-A office building for health, education, science and tech occupiers will be delivered by Sciontec, the KQ Liverpool spin-out development company, on a 150-year lease from the council. It will neighbour the Spine, home to the Royal College of Physicians, also designed by AHR and recognised as one of the healthiest buildings in the world.
A planning application is expected to be submitted by the middle of this year, which should put the project on track to complete in late 2024. With its green credentials and the potential to create up to 800 new jobs in the knowledge sector and support up to 100 apprenticeships during its construction phase, it makes a sound fit with Doyle’s aspirations for the city. Her priority is to make sure that this growing health and life sciences hub benefits the health and lives of people in, say, Toxteth, an area troubled by high unemployment which lies just one ward away.
“My answer is that we’re going to establish clear pathways for skills and employment into these buildings,” she says. “We’re also going to ensure that the work that goes on in these buildings, and the projects that they pilot, relate back to the local community and their needs. Development should be ingrained in the surrounding communities; they shouldn’t be separate from each other.”
We need to have a really healthy and dynamic relationship with the private sector in order to do things well. We would be in denial if we said otherwise
Public-private partnership
The pressure is on now to deliver on these promises, and to prove that the council really can work with the private sector in a more efficient and effective way than in the past. Doyle knows that developers and investors have been frustrated by a council unable to make timely responses. The previous mayor, Joe Anderson, was known for his abrasive personality, and Doyle believes that his “behaviours and attitudes” put off parts of the sector “who want to be world-class and want to have developments that are inspiring and exemplary”.
“We want to say to the sector: invest in Liverpool and you’re investing in our aspirations to have some of the greenest buildings here, to have buildings with space and design standards that actually help people’s wellbeing,” she says.
As the council struggles to find £34m of savings in its budget this year, an effective relationship with the private sector has never been more vital to Liverpool’s success in the future.
“We need to have a really healthy and dynamic relationship with the private sector in order to do things well,” says Doyle. “We would be in denial if we said otherwise.”
The architect’s view: Paul Monaghan
“Coming out of Covid, Liverpool has got so much potential. There are more cranes in the city than I’ve seen for the last 10 years,” says Liverpool-born Paul Monaghan, co-founder and head of design studio at Stirling Prize winner Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.
Those active sites include Everton’s new stadium, and Monaghan is hugely supportive, seeing it as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to transform an area of waterfront that lay empty when he grew up here in the 1960s. Unesco’s withdrawal of Liverpool’s world heritage site status is a “travesty” based on poor research, he says.
Monaghan left Liverpool at the age of 18 but is a regular visitor and was appointed the first design champion for the city region by metro mayor Steve Rotheram in 2018. He has noticed a much more collaborative approach from the city council since the arrival of new city mayor Joanne Anderson.
The focus is very much on granular development. “They’re looking more at neighbourhoods and realising that we won’t regenerate Liverpool in one big go,” Monaghan says. “What you need to do is loads of smaller projects that are good and are joined together.”
To help deliver this, more high-quality, home-grown developers are needed, he says. “A lot of people want to get planning permission for the cheapest, biggest buildings possible. The same is true of a lot of regional cities… Some good developers are coming from outside Liverpool, which is great, but I think what is needed are more home-grown, entrepreneurial developers who care about their legacy as well as making money,” Monaghan says.
He is optimistic that improved viability will lead to more commercial development in the city. There are still undeveloped sites in the centre, as well as on the docks. And the city’s stock of old buildings should play well to the rise of retrofit. “There are real opportunities,” he says.
To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGJuliaC or @EGPropertyNews
