Residents say the area has improved but still has ‘untapped potential’
Daniel Davies on Victoria Road in New Brighton, by a mural of the local rock band The Mysterines(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
A decade ago, New Brighton was like many other seaside towns across the UK, with tourism drying up and empty shops dominating the streets. But taking a walk down Victoria Road now shows things are very different for the town.
It’s full of new shops, bars, restaurants and street art. That’s in large part down to Daniel Davies, who grew up in the town before leaving to work in London. Speaking to the ECHO, Daniel explained that he had a change of heart after he kept returning from London where he worked and was met with a street full of boarded up shops.
Seven years ago, he began buying up a series of empty units and converted them into new venues, such as Rockpoint Records and The James Atherton pub, now renamed as The George Orwell in protest at the government’s plan for digital ID.
But Daniel feels the street’s success is down to people like him and others in the community, rather than councillors and governments of all political persuasions.
This week’s national headlines have been dominated by Westminster however. The headline announcements in the budget Wednesday by Chancellor Rachel Reeves included the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, a 4.1% increase in the minimum wage, the freezing of tax bands at higher rates, a mansion tax on homes worth over £2m, and cuts in green levies to bring down energy bills.
Daniel’s overwhelming feeling to these announcements is apathy. He said: “With the minimum wage, we want to pay staff as much as we can. The reality is with increases in employers NI (National Insurance), with increases in VAT at the moment, the vast number of people are on a fixed salary who work.
Victoria Road in New Brighton has been transformed with new venues and striking street art(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“If you have a fixed salary and inflation’s going up, if there’s all these other things that are costing you, from energy and your basic food, the disposable income you have goes down and down, and that’s what we’re hit with.
“And the horrible thing is, for the last seven and a half years, we’ve been trying to regenerate the place, with some success and we’ve been told, it’s a Conservative government (in charge), we need a Labour government.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in government, it’s who’s actually doing stuff on the ground. The vast majority of things that have gone around here in the public realm effort are done by the community.”
Sean Martin, from the New Brighton Coastal Community which represents local businesses, shares many of Daniel’s concerns. Sean, 65, is originally from Dublin and previously lived in Dingle before moving to New Brighton 12 years ago.
Sean said: “I just worry about the cost of living the effects on families. The price of everything has gone up. The help from the government? Nothing. There’s extra taxes, extra national insurance costs, being borne by people on low incomes.”
Sean Martin, from the New Brighton Coastal Community(Image: Copyright Unknown)
Ms Reeves and the government generally have said they faced a tough inheritance from the Tories but Sean says this line of argument is nothing new.
He said: “I have absolutely no sympathy (for Labour) because when the Tories were in power for 14 years, they always blamed something like covid or the Ukraine war.
“Labour are blaming the Tories now. In a year’s time, they’ll be blaming something else. There’s always an excuse.
“We see money being pumped into things in Birkenhead. In New Brighton, I believe it’s a quick win for the council. Any money that goes in will quickly provide a return on investment. I think, because Birkenhead has stalled, New Brighton has suffered.”
Nevertheless, Sean believes that the community spirit he saw when he moved here in 2013 remains alive and well.
Sean said: “You go to any other town, down to the high street and there’s empty shops. There’s no empty shops in New Brighton – it’s unique in that way. It’s full of independent business, full of people who try their best to make something work.”
A more optimistic reading of the situation came from Rory Wilmer, 46. Rory, from New Brighton Creative Futures CIC, said he had not paid too much attention to the Budget but feels things are looking up for the town anyway.
Rory and the CIC is raising funds to preserve and restore the existing street murals as well as create new ones and get them protected by Wirral Council to avoid future vandalism or neglect. The project has been dubbed as New Brighton’s OpenAIR Gallery.
Rory said: “New Brighton is full of creative industries and the place to be. We’re seeing it growing with the OpenAIR Gallery I’ve got good support from Wirral Council, who are very open minded.”
Jayne Casey, 68, owns deli-art bar District House on Victoria Road. She had success in helping revive the Baltic Triangle before coming here. Jayne was supportive of the rise in the minimum wage but again sounded the alarm about the hospitality industry.
Jayne Casey and Eric Gooden in District House, New Brighton(Image: La Vida Liverpool)
She said: “The minimum wage for 18 year-olds needs to go up. It’s not worth having a business unless you can have a proper wage. I’ve noticed on the hospitality side, if a kid comes out and they are 17, 18, every bar wants them because they can get them cheap.
“The (hospitality) industry is really struggling. Everyone’s operating on a two or three day week.”
There are certainly strong opinions about the town. New Brighton was ranked among the worst in the bottom 20 of UK seaside towns by Which? in June, along with Bognor Regis, Southend-on-Sea and Blackpool. A month later, The Sunday Times declared it was one of the best costal towns in the country to live in.
But Jayne is enjoying the challenges that New Brighton has to offer. She said: “It has got untapped potential. The great thing about New Brighton is the community that lives here.
“I came out here purely for Dan and to support his development. I’m always interested in culture regeneration. Having done the Baltic, I knew how hard it was. I like New Brighton. It’s a really kooky little seaside town.”
Connor Hilton, 33, who is from New Brighton, opened the Hella Dough Pizza out of the back of Rockpoint Records last year. He cited the new 20% VAT on taxi journeys from ride-sharing apps as an example of what business is up against.
Connor said: “I don’t really want to go down the politics route, but at the same time, budgets affects us. I’ve got taxi taxes coming in now that will affect businesses and people. It’s just a knock on effect of everything.
Connor Hilton from New Brighton’s Hella Dough Pizza(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
“I’m in hospitality. All of my friends are in hospitality. It’s just getting knocked down and kicked while you’re on the floor, but at the same time, we’ve just got to work and fight together. The community service spirit here is massive.
“I’ve seen the very declining New Brighton. Now it’s really starting to come back. There’s still a long way to go but at the same time, you don’t get anywhere unless you start somewhere.”
The local authority has promised regeneration of deprived areas of the borough. However, there has been controversy in recent years and a major town centre scheme in Birkenhead has been under investigation.
With no model for delivery, a complex regeneration programme, and multiple masterplans with no funding to back them up, a review said “this led to considerable failures across a number of fronts”.
Top councillors told the ECHO earlier this month that things can be turned around and progress can be made.
Wirral Council’s plans for New Brighton include plans for the 495 new homes. While the plans said the resort “is not reaching its past glories”, the local authority is hoping to replicate similar success stories in places like Margate.
The council has said it had chosen to focus on other areas of Wirral for regeneration due to the decisions from the way the Conservatives government’s levelling up scheme was set up.
A spokesperson for the council told the BBC last year: “The government’s levelling up funding programmes are competitive processes, and the council expends scarce resources on submitting bids with the best opportunity of success.
“One of the main criteria that the government employs in assessing levelling up bids is the relative level of deprivation being experienced by the communities that the funding will be directed at.
“New Brighton, although experiencing challenges, does not have the higher levels of deprivation experienced in New Ferry, Birkenhead and Liscard, hence the successful bids were focused on these areas.”