Luckily Doddy stuck to the scripture, otherwise the flock of worshippers would have been heading home at dawn.
Talk of introducing a hovercraft link on the Mersey, perhaps to transport people to the airport or to Wirral and Crosby, seems most fanciful. It has already been tried and was never financially viable. It would make far more sense to extend Merseyrail to the front of the airport. People arriving at Liverpool South Parkway are greeted with the welcoming message this is the stop for the airport. How many passengers realise they have to cart their luggage from the cavernous station concourse to the bus station to catch the bus link to the airport? Perhaps a direct airport link by rail should be demanded as a sweetener for Merseyside support for the Manchester-centric HS2 link.
Readers may recall that a few months ago I welcomed plans by the 4-star Hope Street Hotel to convert the old Trade Union Resource Centre and other adjacent buildings on Hardman Street into serviced apartments. However, perhaps encouraged by other nearby recently granted planning permissions, a new application has been submitted to extend the buildings upwards from three to seven storeys. This is excessive development in such a sensitive location, midway between our two cathedrals, and should be resisted.
A few years back, the Blue Coat School trustees decided to sell off a large chunk of the school site for conversion into luxury apartments (is there any other kind these days?). This successful venture no doubt raised a seven figure sum for the trust/school coffers although some observers suggested at the time that this would leave this in-demand school with insufficient space for its staff and pupils. Lo, it has come to pass that a planning application has recently been submitted proposing an extension to the remaining school buildings to provide extra teaching and office space which, as it is now an Academy, will doubtless be funded by we taxpayers. Will this leave enough playground space? Probably not.
I seem to see little other than Delta taxis whenever I travel around the city so I have a great deal of sympathy with those Liverpool licensed taxi drivers campaigning about the excessive activity of firms licensed in neighbouring boroughs but seemingly operating predominantly in Liverpool. Sefton, for example, would appear to have more taxis per head of population than anywhere in the UK. It certainly is a rum do that while taxis are licensed within a particular borough under present regulations, they can then trade pretty much anywhere in the country they like. If that is so, you would think there would be a national licensing system. It seems to me there should be more assiduous regulation within Liverpool as soon as possible, else we may end up with only Delta taxis and their ilk available here.