Vienna Calling

A group of senior officials from Munich and Vienna visited Sefton as part of a regeneration fact finding mission.

The delegation, comprising of senior representatives from marketing, regeneration, city centre management plus senior politicians spent the day touring the borough.

Starting at Bootle Town Hall, the group headed north taking in Another Place on Crosby beach before heading up the Sefton coast to Southport.

Here they met officers from Sefton Council and the Southport BID team and looked at recent regeneration schemes including Chapel Street, Lord Street, Southport Market, The Atkinson and also had a tour of the Southport seafront and King's Gardens.

Previously the group had toured Liverpool, Chester and Nottingham and the visit was organised by Ojay McDonald of the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) and Merseyside consultant, Ged Gibbons.

The group was welcomed at Bootle Town Hall, by Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council's Cabinet Member Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.

Cllr Lappin said: "We always welcome visits like this to Sefton as we have so much to showcase right across the borough.

"The group were particularly interested in all the regeneration that has taken place throughout Sefton - especially in Southport and the link up with the BID team.

"They were also keen on understanding more on how Sefton links with the wider Liverpool City Region and I personally think after their visit they left with a great impression of the borough."

Andrew Sloman, Southport BID manager, added: "It was a pleasure to welcome these distinguished guests from Austria and Germany, keen to explore our ongoing work to engage with and involve the private sector in town centre regeneration and tourism marketing.

"They were very complimentary about Southport as a town and resort; we were delighted to have the opportunity to forge these international links and celebrate our progress."