Making Bootle a night-time “destination in its own right” and enhancing canal links to Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore are all part of the grand plans for The Strand, according to a senior figure at Sefton Council.
Last month the borough was awarded £20 million by the Government to move ahead with its regeneration plans for the shopping precinct. The project had previously been knocked back on two occasions when searching for cash via the Government’s Levelling Up fund, but a surprise announcement in the Spring budget awarded £279 million to 19 'near-miss' projects that had previously missed out - including Bootle.
Sefton Council, which owns The Strand shopping centre, has long held ambitions to bring the landmark at the heart of the town into the future. Plans, backed by the City Region Combined Authority, are already underway to construct a new canalside attraction called ‘Salt and Tar’ with the fresh Government funding set to go towards the first phase of the larger overhaul of the 60-year-old structure.
