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PRIVATE sector lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business has called on Liverpool City Council to urgently re-think its plan to tax empty properties.
In a letter to Warren Bradley, DLIB chairman Frank McKenna has urged the council leader to meet with developers to discuss a more constructive solution.
In the letter, sent to the Town Hall yesterday, Mr McKenna describes the plan to place immediate charges on empty properties as “flawed” and unlikely to have an impact on speculators.
He said: “There are, in our opinion, a number of flaws in simply adopting this approach, without taking a strategic look at the problem that all those with the best interests of the city at heart want to tackle – that of landbanking.
“The proposal to scrap the six month leeway rule currently operating will, I predict, have little impact on such speculators.
“Ironically, the consequence of such a change could be that smaller, genuine city investors move their properties on to landbankers.”
To that end, DLIB wants council officials to consider a five point action plan to tackle landbanking in a focused, strategic way without punishing genuine investors.
“DLIB welcomes the council’s renewed commitment to tackle this problem, which has blighted the city for far too long,” Mr McKenna said today.
“But a change to the tax regime will not solve that problem, and may make things worse.
“DLIB therefore wants to meet with the council, together with a representative group of property developers, to discuss a five point Action Plan.”
The DLIB plan consists of:
Establishing more public-private joint ventures to bring Liverpool City Council’s vast derelict asset base back into use;
Making greater use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers in appropriate cases;
Adopting a more consistent and corporate approach to planning issues;
Streamlining the planning process; and
Promoting and engaging in more open dialogue between the council and developers.
“Look at the old ABC cinema,” Mr McKenna added. “There have been calls this week for greater private sector involvement.
“Yet I know of a developer who proposed a viable scheme for that site more than 18 months ago, and was rebuked.
“The Wellington Rooms is another example where private sector developers have been trying to deliver a regeneration solution, but negotiations there have been ongoing for almost two years.
“The inconsistencies not just across different agencies, but across council departments, drive investors to distraction.
“We hope that our action plan can help solve some of those problems, while also offering a more positive solution to the issue of landbanking which we all want to see addressed ahead of 2008.”
Note to editors
For more information, or to arrange an interview with Frank McKenna, please call Chris Marritt at Mason Media on 0151 707 4514 or 07908 214950.
