Another conversation with Joe Dwyer
by
Mickey Blue Eyes.
Monday,
10th December 2001, and a telephone conversation with chairman Joe Dwyer
of Liverpool Vision.
Joe
was as good as his word and continued the dialogue in the manner he
promised. It provided a little more information and helped dissipate
some of the gossiping nonsense manufactured during current project negotiations.
Recent
experience underlines how much uncertainty can be caused by uninformed
and speculative fish wife talk, some of it quite venomous and therefore
potentially damaging to the project. In the meantime, it proceeds along
a maddeningly slow critical path. And the next four or five months are
indeed as critical as any which preceded. The only thing certain about
investment on Merseyside is the uncertainty of it all. There is a perception
to overcome and Kings Dock isn't the only project faced with this kind
of problem. However, it will be defeated by a combination of realism,
determination and commercial experience.
I deduced
the following from our conversation:
1.
Appointment of Bovis.
Bovis are appointed as construction management consultants to Houston
Securities. They are not developers or the appointed construction firm.
The project will go to competitive tender in a form dependent on its
final content and financing. This means Everton Football Club will be
provided with the professional project management they need.
So, yet another own goal by the Echo. Tsk tsk.
2. Project Programme.
A detailed planning application will be made in April/May. As soon as
it is granted the project can proceed to tender and construction. Design
amendments have been made to accommodate various comments by other parties.
Hopefully, this will avoid it being called in to a planning inquiry.
Even if it does get called in the proposed construction programme has
made due allowance. The first match can still take place in 2005.
The stadium/arena will be the first building constructed on the site.
Everything else will follow, presumably in development packages or phases.
Joe specifically made the point that the programme has always been fluid
due to the nature of the project and the proposed elements in it.
3. Finance.
Joe was unwilling to provide me with any details due to our old friend,
"commercial confidentiality." The situation is as opaque as
ever. It will of course depend upon the final content of the site.
All that said, he is "more confident each passing week." The
situation will be "much clearer in the new year."
So we are no further along on this issue. Until it is finally made public
we can assume there will be an awful lot of fish wife gossip and guesses,
to say nothing of inaccurate local media nonsense.
4. Design Amendments and Confidentiality.
A deliberate decision has been made not to immediately publicise design
amendments because the concept has changed as other parties (for example,
English Heritage) have had their say. Up to now there has been little
point having a public presentation when the design might be changed
again within a few weeks. That is the nature of the process in England,
a process which is presently under parliamentary scrutiny with a view
to streamlined change.
The above method has been adopted by both Liverpool Vision and Everton
Football Club. Which explains why Paul Gregg and Bill Kenwright said
nothing substantial about the scheme at the Annual General Meeting.
5. Alleged Leaks.
Joe would make no comment on who leaked the latest design amendment
to the Echo.
However, in my opinion it wouldn't take much detective work to identify
the culprits. All it requires is common sense and a process of elimination.
I have my own idea as to who it is.
The recent Echo article will only hold good if the design stays the
way it is presently shown. Which just goes to show how misleading uninformed
and irresponsible journalism can be.
6. Alleged Development by North Liverpool Partnership.
There is a recent allegation that the North Liverpool Partnership quango
is developing a scheme which includes "a stadium" and which
could threaten the Kings Dock project.
If the allegation is true, Joe has no knowledge of the proposals, nor
is it likely to threaten KD.
All of which means we must redouble our "Local Politician Watch"
to ensure we can identify any such proposal and who is involved. "Open
government" should mean just that. Any politician who flies a kite
in this should expect short shrift at the ballot box from all Evertonians.
So we have a few more tiny pieces in the jigsaw. It is better than nothing,
but not by much.
Nevertheless,
we can thank Joe Dwyer for being more open with us than anybody else.
And the dialogue is still open when he could close it at any time. It
is certainly a good deal better than innuendo, gossip and bad journalism.
(10/12/01)
