Footfall along Huyton's Derby Road is low when the ECHO arrives on a Thursday afternoon.
Local people have recently spoken to the ECHO about their concerns for the town and the struggles facing shops along its once-busy shopping street. Amid a decline in trade, one local trader described Huyton as a 'ghost town', while another even spoke of a tendency not to come into the town after 5pm due to anti-social behaviour.
Facing similar challenges seen on high streets across the country, Huyton has had to adapt and has recently made moves towards a more hospitality-centric local economy. A number of restaurants, cafes and bars have popped up in recent years, as the town's traders respond to a struggling retail sector.
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After hearing from residents about the decline of Huyton's shopping options and the town's move towards the leisure economy, the ECHO spoke to local people and traders about the town's new restaurant culture and how it will shape Huyton, as well as asking Knowsley Council about its ambitious development plans.
The challenges
Knowsley is one of the country’s most deprived boroughs and faces many challenges. It has borne the brunt of significant government cuts over the past decade - council funding has been slashed by 57% and 1,500 local government jobs have been lost during that time.
The borough is also lacking in educational opportunities. Due to limited institutions offering the chance to study A-levels in Knowsley, many students have to travel to Liverpool or St Helens if they wish to continue their education beyond the age of 16.
Speaking at a council meeting in March, chief executive Mike Harden said: "We’ve got to come up with a solution for that in the borough, it’s an obvious gap in the offer. What do we offer 15 or 16 year olds? An opportunity to get on a bus. We need to do better than that.”
Huyton has also suffered from a rise in anti-social behaviour in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Merseyside Police patrolled bus routes and bus stops between Liverpool city centre and Huyton after a reported £100,000 worth of damage was done to buses.
Additionally, Arriva North West announced it was suspending the 10B - the bus between Liverpool and Huyton - from travelling into the town in evenings. The bus did not continue from East Prescot Road into Huyton from 8pm, but a full service has now resumed.
Added to this, many people in the town spoke to the ECHO of their concern that the shopping centre - known as the village - has declined irreparably. As is the case with many towns and cities, footfall on the high street has declined, with internet shopping and the coronavirus pandemic contributing to the falling number of people coming through the doors.
Huyton's reinvention
When the ECHO spoke to people in Huyton earlier this month, many did not hold much optimism for the town’s future. Local residents spoke about the decline to the high street and Huyton village shopping centre, once a bustling retail hub.
One trader who has been there for 20 years told the ECHO : "It's taken a rather steep nose dive, there's just no-one here. It used to be a thriving high street but now it's changing from retail to leisure and it's become a ghost town. It's only going one way. It needs a miracle to save it. The shops shutting down affects all of us here because less people are wanting to come to the village which impacts us all.”
This was reflected in the views of some local people the ECHO spoke to for this piece. One man, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said that the coronavirus pandemic and the challenges of multiple lockdowns merely accelerated a decline that Huyton had been seeing for some time.
Though footfall for the shops was low when the ECHO arrived, activity in the town picked up after 5pm, as people finished work and headed to Huyton's restaurants. With multiple venues now on offer, people had a choice on where they could spend the evening.
At the apex of the town’s move towards a leisure economy is Torgut Olgun, who owns three restaurants on Derby Street. Torgut opened his first venue - Turkish restaurant Eton Place - three years ago. He followed it with El Pueblo, a tapas bar, in 2020 and steak house Solasta, which opened last month.
Eton Place was the village’s first restaurant and began the development of an evening economy in Huyton village. Now, alongside Torgut's portfolio of venues on Derby Road stands Italian restaurant La Vita and Dani's - an American-style bar and grill. Torgut, and others in the town, sees the advent of a restaurant culture as proof the town can reinvent itself.
Torgut told the ECHO : "When we first opened Eton Place it was doing very well. I then opened El Pueblo one month before the first lockdown, but when it first opened it was doing very well.
“Since Omicron happened, it’s been a bit down. We did a couple of good weekends, but generally it’s been a bit quieter over the last two months, but that’s the case everywhere.”
Despite quieter trade in recent weeks, Torgut remains optimistic about the future and sees the town making further strides forward, despite struggles in the retail sector. He said: " Huyton, in my opinion, is on the up, it’s going well. There are businesses which aren’t restaurants, their business may have fallen down, though.
"But every weekend, I see many new faces. There are people coming now for just drinks, not just food. I think it [Huyton] is on the up, but it will take time. The energy needs to be positive, as a whole community we want a better future."
Torgut's thoughts are reflected by Lisa Owen, the manager of The Coffee House found further along Derby Street. The cafe has been open for two years and has generated a community feeling among its regulars.
Lisa told the ECHO: "The customers we’ve got are fantastic and there’s a real community feeling in this coffee shop. They’ve supported us and our business has gone from strength to strength."
She continued: "People come out and they want to chill with nice people and a nice coffee in a nice environment and they get that. Then they’ve got the new restaurants that are opening and they’re busy.
"The people that run them are lovely and the people that visit them are thrilled - it’s so nice that we’ve got this in Huyton. It’s about time that the people of Huyton got something nice back for them. "
Like Torgut, Lisa sees the leisure industry as key to Huyton's future and a way to overcome its challenges. She acknowledges that issues with crime and the struggling retail sector can paint a negative picture of the town, but hopes that investment in the town and the success of hospitality venues can help the town along the right path.
She added: "I think that it would be nice to see some more shops opening but the new restaurants that have opened are fantastic.
"But this is money, we’re talking about people putting money into businesses. People need a bit of help on that side of things. I’m really proud that I work in Huyton village because I love the people and I love this shop and what we do. The people in here and in the restaurants are the true reflection of Huyton, not a minority who are bringing the side down."
The future
Knowsley Council has ambitious plans for Huyton Village Centre. A 10-year regeneration masterplan has been in the pipeline for some time and includes the development of a commercial district, including a hotel, office, residential and co-working centre.
The council's masterplan also proposed the demolition of the multi-storey car park on Derby Road for a "leisure-led mixed-use development" to provide spaces for community events and "for people and families to socialise and play"; and a station gateway to create an "improved sense of arrival into Huyton ".
Last year, the council bid for £20m funding from the Government's Levelling Up Fund - a £4.8bn pot to support town centre and high street regeneration. But the bid was rejected despite Knowsley being a Priority 1 area. However, Knowsley Council still plans to proceed with development plans and is both seeking alternative funding sources and working on a new bid for Government funding.
A Knowsley Council spokesperson told the ECHO : “Work is continuing at pace to deliver Huyton ’s development plans. Already, 14 properties have benefitted from contemporary shop front makeovers with more properties planned over the coming months and eight new food and drink outlets have recently opened which has created a night-time economy with local residents and people from outside of the borough enjoying the new offer. In addition, two empty buildings will soon be thriving maker spaces and a further two empty shop units are being converted to become a new larger store for B&M which will open on 7 May. Plus, an engaging events programme continues to be delivered in the village centre, including the increasingly popular family-friendly Huyton Live event.
“Whilst we are disappointed that we didn’t get awarded Levelling Up funding from Government in the round one allocations, despite having being (sic) identified as a tier one priority, we are now working on a funding bid for the round 2 allocations, as well as seeking alternative funding sources.
“Our plans for the wider village centre include the development of a commercial district, including a hotel, office, residential and co-working centre, as well as the creation of a new leisure led mixed use development and improvements to the public realm. Work on this has already commenced with the creation of three major development sites primed and ready for development. To help us to further accelerate our plans, we will be appointing a Development Management Partner over the coming weeks.”
