Row over lack of progress on regeneration scheme

A ROW has broken out over a multi-million-pound regeneration scheme after questions were asked about the lack of progress and the use of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

- BY ELLIOTT JESSETT

Described as a 'once-in-a-generation' opportunity, the Marine Lake Events Centre (MLEC) in Southport is one of the most ambitious projects in the region, but there is mounting concern about its delivery.

MLEC was approved after a successful bid for £37.5m of Town Deal funding and has also benefited from an additional £17.7m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The site clearance is already well under way and it was expected that construction works would start at the end of this year.

The LDRS confirmed in a previous report that this is no longer the case.

At the time of writing, there is still no confirmed schedule on when the project will be completed. However, the council confirmed a significant update would be announced shortly.

Nonetheless, questions around the progress of MLEC were raised at a tense council meeting at Southport Town Hall with Dukes ward representative and Tory leader Cllr Mike Prendergast submitting a motion on the topic.

Presenting his motion to the council chamber, Cllr Prendergast said: “Over four and a half years since that funding [£73m] was first announced, we are still yet to appoint a contractor to build this new facility, we have a yawning chasm on our frontage and no sign of anything happening anytime soon.