At a meeting of Knowsley Council’s Cabinet, members agreed to proceed with its next investment into Kirkby town centre which will see a new leisure led development created.
The Council has invested more than £43.8 million into Kirkby since November 2019 when it purchased the town centre from the private sector. This latest commitment from the Council will help secure an overall investment of up to £5 million into the town centre, enabling the creation of a new purpose-built leisure facility that will be anchored by a modern indoor padel tennis facility enhancing opportunities for leisure, health and wellbeing.
The new 32,000 sq ft facility will be capable of accommodating up to 6 padel tennis courts alongside changing facilities, a café and social space with areas especially designed for community use. The design of the building will be adaptable so that use and configuration can change in the future if required.
Cllr Tony Brennan, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Economic Development said: “I am really pleased that colleagues have backed these latest investment proposals for Kirkby. From reviewing the business case presented to us, it was clear that there is a really strong interest from Padel operators and given the growing popularity of the sport, it is clearly something that people love doing these days.
“The idea to bring something like this to the heart of Kirkby is fantastic. Based on the feedback we have received from a number of public consultations which includes people want a leisure offer, family spaces and facilities for young people, we have looked to boost the leisure offering in the town centre for many years so to be able to combine that desire with delivering something that can potentially also boost health and wellbeing is just great. And future proofing the design to ensure it could be used for alternative uses in the future is also really positive.”
This commitment to investment from the Councill now paves the way for further detailed design work, preparation of a planning application, legal processes to prepare and grant a lease for a successful operator and procure contractors to undertake building work.
The Council’s investment is further strengthened by £2.5 million of Government backed Pride in Place funding, secured through the Kirkby Neighbourhood Board to support the ongoing regeneration of Kirkby Town Centre.
Investing in Kirkby Town Centre has, and remains, a key priority for the Council having already made considerable improvements since purchasing the town centre in November 2019. These includes:
- The creation of 94,000 sq ft of new retail space which is now fully occupied and home to a Morrisons Supermarket and petrol filling station, Home Bargains, Pure Gym, The Coffee House, BodyFuel Supplement, Willowbrook Home and Fashion, Hot Curl Pilates and MyDentist. The site also includes KFC and Taco Bell drive-thru and provides free parking for shoppers for up to 3 hours for over 260 cars.
- Attracting new businesses providing a wider range of choice, including MADE to be MUM, Bloom Childcare and Lindsay’s Art Shed.
- Enabling adult training to be offered in the town centre provided through a FACE adult learning centre in the heart of St Chad’s Parade.
- Monkey Town is currently completing an internal fit-out to provide an expansive indoor play facility for children and families , as well as food, refreshments and opportunities to socialise. Opening October 2026.
- The award-winning Casa Roni’s Mediterranean restaurant will soon open on Newtown Gardens.
- A further phase of 30,000 sq. ft of new retail space has been approved on Telegraph Way and will stand to generate additional employment opportunities and retail.
- Lidl have confirmed they will take the first unit created here and will open a new supermarket – creating over 40 new jobs for the community and providing an additional supermarket offer for the town that many residents have been asking for.
- Securing £2.2m of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority funding and transforming the multi-storey car park into a sustainable travel hub with 372 long and short stay spaces over 8 floors. The multi-storey car park also provide ample electric charging points, dedicated disabled parking spaces, sensor controlled lighting and CCTV.
- Free parking maintained across the town centre.
- Transformed the ground floor of the Kirkby Centre into a post16 education facility for Alt Bridge School.
- Secured investment for more than 800 new homes on land South of Cherryfield Drive that are now under construction.
- Secured £19.5m of Pride in Place funding and approval from government for a Regeneration and Investment Plan that will deliver key priorities for the local community. You can find out more about this here.
Cllr Tony Brennan, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “It’s great to see the transformation of my hometown over the last few years. It is quite remarkable that despite financial pressures, a cost-of-living crisis, conflict across the world and of course a global pandemic to deal with so much has been delivered in Kirkby. Of course we know there is more we want to do and more our residents would love to see but I’m really proud of how far we have come and look forward to seeing our development plans progress further over the coming months and years.”