Letter from Peter Kilfoyle MP

Everton Football Club have received a copy of a letter from Peter Kilfoyle, Member of Parliament for Walton.

The correspondence was addressed to Baroness Andrews OBE, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The subject of the letter concerned the proposed Everton-Tesco development in Kirkby, and Mr Kilfoyle has given the club his permission to reproduce the letter in full...

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Re: Proposed Everton FC - Tesco Development

Although this proposal is not in my constituency - nor even within my own local authority - I am the Member of Parliament within whose constituency Everton Football Club is currently based. Like many others, I take a view on the proposal.

The bottom line is this. Everton's only option for a new stadium - and they desperately need one, given the age, capacity and condition of the current one - is the Tesco option in Kirkby. Despite a great deal of hot air, there is no viable assistance from Liverpool City Council to assist Everton within their city boundaries.

Indeed, the city-region is already ahead of the country in the race to recession: Local surveys have shown a declining economic situation locally over the last two quarters, with a rapid deceleration particularly noticeable in the construction sector.

• The House Builders Association predict the loss of 100,000 jobs over the next two years.
• The Garden Festival Site project of house building, is being deferred by up to 18 months.
• There have been continued delays in the commencement of Liverpool F.C.'s new stadium. It is now ten years in gestation.

A massive development would be a timely boost to the local economy.  The Tesco scheme offers a massive investment, attractive to many of my constituents (my constituency boundary is no more than 400 yards from the proposed site) both in terms of jobs and amenity.  That is the bottom line for me. After all, there is no alternative on the table.

In the perfect world, Everton would stay roughly where it is, in a modern purpose built

stadium. Frankly, this will not happen; nor has there been any meaningful support to that end for the club from Liverpool City Council. In the last ten years, it could only offer a proverbial pig in a poke - the abortive Kings Dock site which fell apart  - at a great cost to the city - as soon as it came under scrutiny fro the North West Development Agency, and the European Commission. I have absolutely no faith in the City Council's institutional capacity for such a project in support of Everton F.C.

I would also like to nail one of the many myths bandied about concerning Everton and its present location. Councillors have said that there would be a hole left in the local economy if Everton's £51 million turnover was relocated to Kirkby.  This is comic book economics. Everton's turnover has virtually no impact on Walton wherein it is situated.  Most of it goes in salaries and related costs. None if this is spent locally. Neither players nor staff live locally. Indeed, international players repatriate much of their earnings to their county of origin.

The only businesses effected are fast food outlets and licensed premises - and then only marginally. For most of the season, the club might only play at home once a fortnight. There is virtually no impact on those businesses for the bulk of the time. Indeed, other businesses say that they might a well close (some do!) on match days, because of parking restrictions.

Arguments of regeneration are misleading in relation to Everton's place in my constituency. Its presence has arguably been an inhibiting factor in attempts to regenerate the area. At best, its role is neutral. The council obviously agrees. Otherwise, why would it have tried to relocate the club to the Kings Dock - further from my constituency that the proposed Kirkby site?

The club and Knowsley Council, together with Tesco, are well capable of making their own case for the proposal before you. What I wish to do - as an Everton supporter and as the club's present Member of Parliament - is to make you aware that the City Council's political posturing is just that. Their negativity cannot disguise their utter failure to provide any alternatives for Everton F.C. within the city. If their humbug leads to this proposal being called in, it will do a disservice to the people of Walton as well as the people of Kirkby.

Yours sincerely.

Peter Kilfoyle MP