Complete and utter blight

On 16 January 2008 the Liverpool Daily Post reported on the city’s failed Merseytram light rail project, which had seen the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority wasting £70,000,000 of taxpayers’ money without a single piece of track being laid.

In June 2012, years after the government refused to pay £170 million towards it, Merseytram line one was still blighting Liverpool, according to Daily Post contributor Tony McDonough.

As part of the plan for line one of Merseytram, Mersytravel issued compulsory purchase orders in 2005 for more than 1.6 million square feet [148,000 m²] of property between the city centre and Kirkby.

And despite the failure to win funding, the authority served the notices again in 2010.

The CPOs don’t expire until February next year but it seems Mersytravel wants to continue to keeps its options open rather than lifting the orders straight away.

One property developer, Jon Elster, claims the CPOs hanging over properties that he owns in London Road in the city centre are hindering their development.

He says the threat of the CPOs has meant deals for a budget hotel and a restaurant have collapsed.

Former Liverpool Council leader Lord Storey says the CPOs mean the properties affected are “blighted”. He is calling on Merseytravel to finally admit defeat on Merseytram.

“It is time to end this now,” he said.