For the last ten years, looking down from the Southport Train to Liverpool, I have wondered about the Carolina Wharf site on the Canal in the heart of Bootle. What was it used for and who was lucky enough to live in the flats alongside it? The space always seemed so untouched and forgotten, as if no-one knew it was there.

Now, as we have been developing the Art for Places project in Sefton, I know all about the Canal and the Carolina Wharf site and I have met some of the residents that live in those flats. I bet there are plenty of other communities who would love to have a Canal running through their neighbourhood but what’s being done to make the most of this Canal in Bootle?

Art for Places aims to bring the work of contemporary artists together with the Housing Market renewal programme in Sefton. With support from New HeartLands and the Arts Council, Liverpool Biennial is bringing cutting edge artists into the regeneration process to see what impact they may have on how we think about ‘development’. Alongside a piece of public art that will be created for Sefton we have several artists living and working in Sefton and North Liverpool and a varied programme of events, talks and activities for you to get involved with.

The reason we chose the Canal as the focus of our projects is that it runs right through the Housing Market Renewal area in Sefton and many of the vacant industrial sites are to be developed for housing. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal has also just opened its new multi-million pound extension into the Albert Dock…Lots of tourist boats are expected to pass through and they will all be going through Bootle on the way.

The Canal is a great asset for the area, the key asset in my view. Yes, it needs some tender loving care and a good scrub down but just think what a great leisure and community resource it could become? Once it is made safe and secure it could be a place to play or relax, commute to work or spend your weekends dreaming and watching the ducks. Other neighbourhoods would give they’re right arm for such a space.

It was clear we had found our site and we needed a project to animate the Canal to the local people. Creating a public artwork for Sefton has become a challenge to deliver a moveable centre for housing our watersports activities, education classes about things like local wildlife and a café along the Canal. We have held an open competition which attracted entries from around the world and we have now shortlisted five proposals which will be developed further.

We aim to make a final decision in September and hold an exhibition of the proposals in Bootle over the summer.

We want this summer to be a debate about the Canal. What could it be used for? How can we clean it up and what can you do to help? It’s your area and your Canal, lets work together to create a great new future for it in our community.

Paul Kelly, HMR Public Realm Project Manager