New use for Pontins site and Toad Hall's £1.5m demolition bill

Activity is under way at the disused holiday park

Hello and welcome to midweek edition of The Southport Lead.

Today’s edition looks to the Ainsdale beach gateway - a truly stunning place with an approach which is rather less impressive. Between The Sands, Pontins and Toad Hall, lots of work is needed to transform the surrounding area into something which fitting of the natural beauty on offer at the beach.

That is the council’s long term vision for the area but it won’t come easily. Or cheaply. This newsletter looks at short term happenings for two of those sites - a temporary use for Pontins and the hefty demolition bill for Toad Hall.

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Southport briefing

🏗️ Requirements to include affordable housing are to be dropped from the redevelopment of the former BHS building. The upper three floors are currently being transformed to house 30 apartments and the original planning permission required that nine of those be made available for rent with a social housing provider. However, owner and developer Accelerate Property Group has successfully argued that rising costs mean that inclusion is no longer viable and also said that no local housing firm had shown an interest in managing the properties. Part of the increased costs relate to the building being in a “considerable state of disrepair” and as The Southport Lead reported on Sunday, the unsafe state of the building has led to two shops being ordered to close until repairs are carried out. In lieu of the affordable housing, the developer will pay £40,000 to the public which can only be used for public needs.

🚓 A schoolboy has been arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images and voyeurism offences. Merseyside Police said officers seized devices belonging to the 16-year-old and discovered a number of inappropriate images that appeared to have been taken of female victims including children. Following subsequent enquiries, a number of girls photographed have been identified and their families have been informed. The boy was conditionally bailed and has been suspended by his school, where some of the offences are alleged to have occurred. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Parry said: “I know this news will bring shock to the community in Southport and cause concern for parents and guardians in the area. I want to reassure the community that we have conducted, and will continue to progress, extensive and thorough enquiries into this matter. We take all reports of sexual offences extremely seriously, and will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to secure justice for victims and put offenders behind bars. We are working with partners in the local authority with all those affected, and are providing sensitive and specialist support throughout the legal process.”

📣 Southport MP Patrick Hurley has called on the government to rethink its proposals to change settlement rules for foreign workers. Speaking in a Westminster debate on proposals which would effectively double the qualifying period needed for skilled workers to be allowed to remain in the country, Hurley argued it is unfair to change the rules for those already in the UK. He said: “The government can change the system for the future. That is fine, governments do that all the time. But they should not change the rules for people who have already come here under one set of conditions and are now being told, part way through, that the deal has changed. A lot of the people affected are doing the jobs that this country relies on. They are in hospitals. They are in care homes. They are in kitchens and warehouses. They came here legally. They were told that if they worked for five years, paid the taxes and followed the rules, they could apply to settle, so they made decisions on that basis. Now they are being told that it will not be five years after all. It might be 10; it might be 15. That is a whole extra chunk of someone’s life left in limbo.” He added: “New rules for new arrivals are fine, but do not move the goalposts for the people who are already here doing their bit for this country.”

🚑 A cyclist suffered a fractured cheek bone in a collision with a hit and run driver. The cyclist suffered the serious injury when his bike and a vehicle crashed on Town Lane, near the Rivermeade junction, at around 12.30 on Monday, February 2. Police are now asking for help to trace the driver. Roads Policing Inspector Carl McNulty said: “This was a serious incident that has left a man with several injuries to his face. It is important that we speak to the driver and establish the circumstances. If you are involved in a road traffic collision, you are required by law to stop at the scene and a failure to do so can lead to significant penalties. If you live on Town Lane near the junction of Rivermeade and have any CCTV or doorbell footage from Monday 2 February please check your systems from around 12.30pm as it could have captured the collision and provide us with vital information that could help our investigations. We will continue our enquiries until we identify the vehicle and the driver so if it was you or you have any information, please come forward now.” Anyone with footage or information is asked to contact Merseyside Police with reference 26000091325.

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Training exercise brings police dogs to Pontins and Toad Hall’s seven figure demolition bill revealed

Pic: The Southport Lead

By Jamie Lopez

The former Pontins site has been brought back into use - as a training ground for police dogs.

The holiday park was closed by hotel chain Britannia in January 2024 and has long been the subject of speculation over its long-term future.

Plans to use the site as accommodation for asylum seekers were very briefly considered under the then-Conservative government but opposed by Sefton Council and dropped before any actual progress could be made. Since then, suggestions of this kind of use have frequently circulated on social media, usually linked to far-right accounts and with no basis in fact.

Britannia, which has been voted the country’s worst hotel chain by Which? Magazine for the past 12 years, retains the lease on the site for another century and has offered little engagement with the council over what could happen to the site.