Shopkeepers and residents in Kirkby have praised the government for its decision to reject the Everton and Tesco's plans for a new soccer stadium and retail park in the town.
The Kirkby Traders Association (KTA) welcome the "wise and informed decision" and indicated that want to see a more modest re-development of the town centre.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham refused permission for the £400m developmetn after a public inquiry concluded it would breach regional planning guidlines.
KTA Chairman Paul Davies said: "We do not view this as any victory or milestone against Tesco, but with relief and satisfaction that good sense has prevailed.
"Our futures still lie within the clutches of the powers that be at Tesco.
"We anticipate a new and detailed plan forthcoming quite quickly, as an alternative future for Kirkby.
"We will endeavour to open a productive and fruitful line of dialogue with Tesco, moving forward in a positive, productive and profitable direction for the future of our town and communities.
"Kirkby has so much more to offer than the stadium and retail park, it will support wholeheartedly a renewed, and realistically deliverable project.
"We intend to be an integral part of an exciting phase for the town centre. We are the backbone of the town, we are its history, we are going to be an important part of its future.
"The anticipated renewed plan for the existing town centre, we hope will excite and inspire us to upport and endorse Tesco as a trading partner."
Residents on the Southdene and Westvale estates in Kirkby, which would have been those most affected by the scheme, are heaving a huge sigh of relief.
A spokesman for Kirkby Residents Action Group(KRAG) said: “This is the right decision for Kirkby. It leaves an opportunity for this town to become a better place for its residents to live.
"The development would have damaged the town’s residential nature with its traffic, football crowds, increased policing and fear instead of helping Kirkby become a town in which children, adults and the aged can flourish.”
"Members of KRAG will be looking carefully at the report made by the Planning Inspectorate and at the Secretary of State’s decision over the next few days and considering how they can contribute to Kirkby’s future now that this poorly conceived project is consigned to the dustbin.
"KRAG wants to ensure that local wisdom, common sense and vision is brought to the table before any further plans are made. This was sadly lacking in the tri-partate exclusivity agreements of Tesco, Everton FC and Knowsley Borough Council.
"In particular, KRAG calls on Knowsley Borough Council, Officers and Members, to meet with its members and consider how a vision for the future of the town can be reconstructed.
"There can be no doubt that some regeneration of Kirkby Town Centre is urgently needed. It is now clear that this should not include a Premier League football stadium or a shopping facilitate drawing on a population of 250,000.
KRAG also spelled-out its version of the background to the scheme like this.
1. These development proposals were formed under an exclusivity deal to which the Borough Council was a signed up party. The Council made its mind up about the development before they began to consult with residents and other stakeholders. This has had a significant adverse impact on the functioning of normal political checks and balances. KRAG now looks for a restoration of a proper democratic balance and discourse.
2. Residents have consistently argued that this small residential town outside of the Liverpool City boundary (population 42,000) cannot support football crowds of 50,000 people, a supermarket designed to provide for a 250,000 catchment area and an additional retail development. KRAG looks now for dialogue with those who hold political power to help shape a sustainable and appropriate vision for the future of Kirkby.
3. Consultants and Council Officers consistently talked Kirkby down during the Public Inquiry and described it as in decline. Government statistics do not demonstrate that Kirkby is in decline, although the current district surrounding Goodison Park is. The key statistic that demonstrates need in this town is educational attainment. KRAG wants to help develop a vision for Kirkby that will be supportive of those working to benefit our young people in formal and informal education.
4. Kirkby has had good provision of public buildings and sports facilities until they were blighted by this development proposal. The failed Destination Kirkby plans did little to restore these facilities. KRAG sees such provision as fundamental to health, aspiration, ambition, learning and quality of life in the town. It will argue for top class sport and leisure facilities that are accessible to all, not just the multi-millionaires of the Premier League.
The KRAG spokesman sais its views had been vindicated by the Public Inquiry result and spelled-out the list of issues of concern.
* The shear mass of the proposed stadium standing atop a thirty foot high wall alongside the main road into Kirkby.
* Atmospheric pollution during the excavation of an old industrial land-fill waste site between the existing town centre, houses and schools.
* Challenges to public health through increased pollution, noise, light, traffic and stress for residents.
* Treatment of Kirkby Brook and its footpath used as a popular pedestrian route but threatened by this plan.
* Inadequate public transport and road infrastructure to cope with anticipated traffic.
* Provision made for residents whose houses are to be demolished, some of whom have suffered compulsory purchase orders three times already and live now in houses only ten years old.
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