Concerns about the fate of local high streets dominate conversations in Knowsley
04:00, 17 Apr 2026
John Dudley of Bexleys Craft Butchers would like to see measures to increase footfall in Huyton(Image: Emma Morgan)
Declining footfall on local high streets, paired with concerns over the cost of living and anti-social behaviour, are sitting at the forefront of the minds of people across Knowsley as they prepare to go to the polls next month.
Knowsley is made up of 15 wards, with three councillors representing each. One third of councillors will be up for election on May 7, one in each ward. The council is currently dominated by Labour, which has 30 seats, the remaining seats being shared between the Greens with eight, the Liberal Democrats with three and four Independent councillors.
In the Huyton branch of Bexleys Craft Butchers, senior manager John Dudley, 49, tells the LDRS that he thinks an increasingly quiet high street is the main issue for local businesses and the wider community, especially after larger retailers like Holland & Barrett, New Look and Boots moved over to out-of-town developments.
“That dilutes the footfall,” he says, adding that he feels that difficulties finding a place to park also dissuade people from coming into the centre. “If you park on the road, you’re liable to get a ticket.”
Mr Dudley praises the sense of community in Huyton, but adds that parts of the village do “have an issue with anti-social behaviour, like many town centres,” and although it is “shopkeepers that are dealing with the issue, I’m sure people who are coming into the village don’t want to see that. It’s intimidating”.
Knowsley Council says it is doing all it can to help town centres thrive through events and support for businesses, as well as by working to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Ahmed Karatay said he was happy with the support offered by the council(Image: Emma Morgan)
But anti-social behaviour has also been an issue for Ahmed Karatay, 41, who runs the La Vita restaurant and neighbouring café Bella La Vita. He found recently that the premises of another restaurant he is set to open in Prescot, Terra Toscana, had been vandalised.
“We are happy with the support the council has given us, they always check in on us”, he tells the LDRS, but adds that as a resident as well as a business owner, he would like to see more regular bin collections.
There have been some new shop openings in Huyton, which is welcome, Carrie Lennon-Vaughan, jeweller at Golden Craft Jewellers, tells the ECHO, but it would be helpful for footfall if there were more pop-up markets and similar events.
She said “there’s been a bit of anti-social behaviour” in an empty building on the street “but that’s been dealt with really well”. She said: “The police or the council have boarded it up and that’s stopped it.”
She added: “But I will say things like parking are a massive problem. I’m here one day a week and I can’t find a single place to park.”
She said that the spaces she once used have now been taken over by a private parking company. She added “To find somewhere to park is horrendous, and all that does is send people elsewhere.
“They really need to look at that, because the majority of the spaces taken up are by council workers. I get customers constantly saying ‘I would have come here to get a battery, but I’m not paying to come in to get one’.”
Ms Lennon-Vaughan also speaks about business rates, which have been overhauled by central government this year, bringing an end to a previous 40% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure. Lower multipliers have been introduced for some businesses, but many firms have also seen their rateable value increase, potentially meaning higher bills.
Ms Lennon-Vaughan added: “If you want to keep a village busy and you want to keep different shops open, you need to look at the reason why we can’t afford to open up. That needs to be looked at before the high street doesn’t exist anymore. Then what do we do? Sit at home, get fatter and shop online?”
Although business rate bills depend primarily on the multipliers set by central government, councils can sometimes offer discretionary reliefs if a firm significantly benefits the local community, for example.
Carrie Lennon-Vaughan was happy with council measures to tackle anti-social behaviour(Image: Emma Morgan)
Ms Lennon-Vaughan says she would also like to see more council-owned units in Huyton centre, adding: “The people who own these units don’t live here, so if we have a problem we get no help at all.”
Deborah Martin, 50, the owner of Perfect Image Hair Salon, also calls for the council to offer local businesses more support with their business rates.
She said: “I’ve been here nearly 20 years, I’ve been here since this salon was built, and the footfall has gone. It’s gone. We’ve lost all these big brands from the high street, and nothing has really replaced them. I think we’ve got one women’s clothes shop left. This town used to be chocka.
“Now, one of my clients said it reminds her of the 1930s Great Depression.
“The local car park has been shut down, we’ve had a lot of anti-social behaviour, but I think the big one for me this year is the increase in business rates. As a small business, how are people meant to cope?
“You’ve got to put your prices up to cope, and everyone is feeling the pinch with the cost of living and fuel prices going up.”
Huyton Village businesspeople spoke to the ECHO about local issues(Image: Emma Morgan)
Responding to some of the concerns raised, a spokesperson for Knowsley Council said: “Councils do not set business rates, which are determined nationally by government, but they do have limited local powers to support businesses.
“These include administering statutory reliefs, offering discretionary or hardship relief in specific circumstances and providing flexible payment arrangements to help with cashflow, all within tight legal and budget constraints.
“Beyond business rates, where the council is the landlord of the property, it has more direct influence to support our town centres through measures such as rent reviews, rent-free incentives to attract new businesses and support them while they get established, flexible lease terms or the use of vacant units – all of which help sustain businesses and support vibrant town centres even where national policy pressures and challenges of changing shopping habits remain.”
As a Knowsley resident, Ms Martin says that she would like to see more youth clubs and schemes to give young people purpose, so that they are not tempted into anti-social behaviour.
She is bothered by “all the roadworks going on”. She said: “They’ve been on Tarbock Island for I don’t know how long, so that’s putting increased time on people’s journeys. The potholes are bad and there are rats everywhere.”
One of her customers, Angie, chimes in to say that the “rats have a party” around the bins behind high street businesses.
She says that the council has “spent millions” on moving over to a new system of food waste collections with new caddies, but she thinks they are “just attracting more rats”.
She also says that not enough is done about weeds along residential road and pavements, adding that she goes out to weed her street herself.
Jake Smith’s stall in Kirkby Market(Image: Emma Morgan)
Over in Kirkby, Jake Smith, 61, who runs a clothing stall in the market, echoes Huyton business owners in calling for more high-street retailers in the area, saying that he would like to see the town centre expanded and regenerated, and more events like artisan markets, coupled with effective advertising campaigns on social media.
He adds that he is waiting to see what comes of the Kirkby town centre regeneration, whose initial plans include new retail units, a cinema and 700 new homes.
He said: “Town centres are dying across the country and there are too many empty shops.” He added that he feels that larger retail parks get more support.
He said: “They promise more and more, but don’t seem to deliver.”
Kirkby is always last”, a group of friends chatting in the local Costa Coffee say. “It always plays second fiddle to Huyton.”
Bobby, 61, who works at the Banana Bunch grocer’s, which has been running for more than 30 years in Kirkby, says that he thinks with business rates and rent to contend with, costs grow to be “not viable for trading”.
He said: “Big businesses have gone, a couple that have been here for 30 years have gone.” He added that the street “looks derelict really, like most high streets”.
He said: “Everything’s expensive with this unusual, unstable world we’re living in. The costs will have to go onto the customer, which you don’t want to do.
“Prices have always fluctuated, but not any more, they’ve just gone up and up. It’s very hard to make a living.”
Ged Lunt said he does not like to see young people in hoodies riding bikes along the high street at night(Image: Emma Morgan)
Down the road in Prescot, Ged Lunt, 72, who runs Just Carpets, says that his main issue is the “youngsters on bikes in black hoodies going up and down the street”.
He added: “If you go out with your family for a meal, it’s not that nice. I know young people have got to do something but they’re not enhancing the environment.”
A Knowsley Council spokesperson added: “The council is aware that shopping habits have changed, particularly during and after the pandemic, but it is doing all that it can to attract more businesses into the town centres as well as providing a programme of events throughout the year which includes Marvellous Markets touring the borough providing a food offer as well as hand-crafted gifts.
“To support town centre businesses, Knowsley Council continues to offer free parking across all council-owned car parks – that’s providing hundreds of free parking spaces across Huyton, Kirkby and Prescot.
“The council continues to work with partners to tackle issues impacting on local communities, including anti-social behaviour. This includes educating young people around the consequences of behaving anti-socially, directing them to diversionary activities through our ‘Be The Change’ approach to universal and targeted interventions, taking appropriate action under the powers available to the Community Safety team such as Acceptable Behaviour Agreements and monitoring the borough’s extensive CCTV coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The council provides regular advice to help residents and businesses keep their homes and businesses pest free. In addition to what they can do – which includes storing and disposing of food properly and ensuring gardens aren’t overgrown – the council also carries out regular activities including litter picking, street cleansing, clearing fly-tipping, and a programme of sewer baiting with United Utilities, with over 200 sewers baited in the last year.
The centre of Prescot was quiet as the ECHO spoke with local residents and businesspeople(Image: Emma Morgan)
“The food waste recycling service only started this week, so there’s no evidence that this is attracting rats. Food waste collections are being brought in across the whole country in line with new government legislation, and the caddies that have been supplied to Knowsley households all have ‘lockable lids’ which are designed to prevent rodents accessing them. In addition, food waste will now be collected more frequently – every week – compared to every fortnight when it was added to the general waste bin.
“Regarding Tarbock Island, this is a major improvement scheme for the Liverpool City Region that is taking place at Junction 6 of the M62. This work is part of a significant investment programme to improve the flow of traffic and journey times at this busy junction that forms a key part of the Liverpool City region’s road infrastructure network.
“All possible steps are being taken to minimise disruption and work is progressing to schedule. All works are due to be completed early next year.”