The start of a brighter future for New Ferry is emerging.
It is not far off five years since Pascal Blasio deliberately blew up his furniture store.
The explosion it created on March 25, 2017, at Homes in Style on Bebington Road in the Wirral town injured 81 people and caused devastation to nearby homes and businesses.
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But through plans being developed by Wirral Council and New Ferry Community Land Trust (CLT), there are hopes that the town can be revived.
Mark Craig, secretary of New Ferry CLT, said his group had been involved in refurbishing 78/80 New Chester Road over the last two years.
The project, funded as part of a £500,000 sum from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Town Centre Fund, will see the building support two commercial units and four flats.
Mr Craig said: “The building will become a community asset, with future rental income reinvested into community projects in New Ferry, such as pop-up markets, a summer festival and the Christmas lights."
One of the businesses moving into the New Chester Road building will be Becky’s Sewing Boutique, which will move from a site further up the road.
This move will help to keep the sewing shop open and the town’s Post Office, as that is moving into the premises currently occupied by Becky’s Sewing Boutique.
In this way, the CLT’s work is helping to keep two shops open.
Mr Craig also discussed Wirral Council’s plans for the town.
Although much of the detail has yet to be finalised, the council is set to bring some retail space to the town rather than purely building more homes.
Mr Craig said: “Ground floor retail [with residential units above] can be made to work, there are businesses who don’t want to be reliant on the internet.
“They need a physical presence, but there are a lot of places that are squeezed out of the market because of soaring rent prices at the moment.
“But moving forward, if we get this right we could attract new businesses and entrepreneurs."
The ECHO visited New Ferry to see what people in the town thought should be done to revive its fortunes.
Brain Connolly, 52, said The Wirral pub needed to reopen and a supermarket was needed.
He added: “The town needs something to freshen it up.”
Lizzy Dodds, 64, had other ideas. She thought the town needed a fruit and veg shop and somewhere to buy fresh fish, but agreed that more pubs were needed.
There was a general frustration at the number of boarded up shops in New Ferry among those the ECHO spoke to and a feeling of waste, with spaces being left unused.
Peter Hunnybun, 63, said there used to be a suit shop in the town, but that had now gone.
He added: “We want shops for men’s and women’s clothes. We could do with a shoe shop and a market also.”
Mr Hunnybun suggested one of the closed down shops could be turned into an indoor market.
Wirral Council has said that progress is being made on a “wide-ranging programme” for New Ferry.
One sign of this will be the demolition of the final block of damaged properties on the pedestrianised part of Bebington Road.
Having finally acquired all of these properties, Wirral Council now has contractors on site starting the work to bring down 48-54 Bebington Road and clear the site for redevelopment.
This block adjoins an already cleared site on Bebington Road and is opposite the cleared site of the 2017 explosion itself.
Put together, these sites make up nearly two-thirds of those earmarked for regeneration.
The council has also moved one step closer to spending £700,000 on buying the former Co-op building at the junction of Bebington Road and New Chester Road, with the final decision on the purchase to be made at its most important committee, policy and resources.
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A preferred developer has also been appointed, allowing detailed plans for what will be done to boost the town to be drawn up.
Cllr Tony Jones, chair of Wirral Council’s economy and development committee, said: “We cannot underestimate the importance of this progress.
“The regeneration of New Ferry is – and has been since the gas explosion in March 2017 – a top priority for the council.
“However, it has been and remains, a complex and long-term process due to the fact that the majority of the land and buildings earmarked with the masterplan were in private ownership."
The Labour councillor added: “It has taken investment and a lot of hard work to get us to the point where a large proportion of these sites are now owned by the council and we have been able to recommend the appointment of a preferred developer with a great deal of confidence that together we will deliver the New Ferry masterplan.”
