Government Review Liverpool Cruise Trade Bid

by liamssoft | June 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

153 views | 10 Recommendations | 0 comments

28th June 2011

A second bid by Liverpool to grab a slice of Southampton’s lucrative cruise trade will be put out to consultation, the shipping minister has signaled.

The Mersey city has submitted a plan to pay back part of a £21m public handout so it can start and end cruises at its Pier Head terminal.

The terminal was built with public cash, including £9m in European Union grants, on the condition it would be used for calling cruises.

Now, the shipping minister has suggested a consultation will be launched soon to review the ban after Liverpool City Council proposed paying back only part of the funding it received from the UK Government.

Attempts to change the use of Liverpool Cruise Terminal have remained controversial due to its construction with money from the European regional development fund (ERDF).

Labour MP for Southampton, Itchen | John Denham and others have argued that running a cruise industry based on public money would give Liverpool an unfair advantage over cruise terminals in places such as Southampton.