The Merseyside Development Corporation was a central government-appointed Development Corporation set up in 1981 by Margaret Thatcher's government to regenerate the Mersey docks of Liverpool, Bootle, Wallasey and Birkenhead. It was one of two Development Corporations to be set up in 1981, the other being the London Docklands Development Corporation, which also focused on disused docklands.
The first Chief Executive was Basil Bean, who had previously been general manager of the Northampton Development Corporation. Actitivies undertaken by the Corporation include the Liverpool International Garden Festival in 1984, and the redevelopment of the Albert Dock complex, which included the opening of Tate Liverpool.
During its lifetime 7.6m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 486 housing units were built. Around 22,155 new jobs were created and some £698m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 944 acres (3.82 km2) of derelict land was reclaimed and 60 miles (97 km) of new road and footpaths put in place.
The Corporation was wound up in 1998.
Famous quotes containing the words development and/or corporation:
“Dissonance between family and school, therefore, is not only inevitable in a changing society; it also helps to make children more malleable and responsive to a changing world. By the same token, one could say that absolute homogeneity between family and school would reflect a static, authoritarian society and discourage creative, adaptive development in children.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“The nearest the modern general or admiral comes to a small-arms encounter of any sort is at a duck hunt in the company of corporation executives at the retreat of Continental Motors, Inc.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)