270:
Stevenson was jailed for three years in June 1978 for taking bribes for contracts; Leatherbarrow was jailed for four years for bribing
Stevenson to win £10 million worth of contracts. Tempest was also found guilty and jailed. Leatherbarrow died in a road accident in Spain in November 1989, aged 69.
218:
would also uncover that the slope was built on land the council did not own and over a mains water pipe. Knowsley
Council later had to buy the land off Liverpool council. Planning permission for the project was not granted until November 1973 despite an order for the artificial surface being placed
234:
In addition, the paper discovered that
Stevenson and Tempest had received trips and gifts, both in connection with the work given to George Leatherbarrow. Tempest and Stevenson had received extensions to their houses built by Letherbarrow's firm with materials that had come from a council estate
121:
report pointed out that there was ample land in the other direction that could have been used instead if the slope was oriented in the opposite direction. After its completion, the slope needed additional funding to sort out bumps that had appeared on the surface and to provide railings to stop
110:
Work started on the 45 metres (148 ft) slope in
November 1973 with the cost estimated to be around £90,000. Local schoolchildren were asked to volunteer to help lay the artificial surface, but when there were not enough volunteers, the council ended up paying them 25p an hour to work at
158:
was reporting that an insurance company was refusing to insure properties close to the slope as they thought the slope posed a danger. The insurers were demanding that the height of the slope be reduced and daily checks be performed on it in the advent of bad weather.
258:
Tempest, who also served as a magistrate, was arrested in the summer of 1977. After police investigations, a trial for former council leader David
Tempest, former council architect Eric Spencer Stevenson and builder George Leatherbarrow took place at
94:
Under council leader Dave
Tempest, Kirkby Urban District Council wanted to spend any left over money they had on a project before the new council was formed and the idea of a dry ski slope was proposed by council architect, Eric Spencer Stevenson.
130:
The slope had been intended to open in 1974, but in autumn 1975 the project was abandoned due to concerns it was unsafe. No one had been allowed to ski on the slope as the council's insurers would not permit it, deeming it too dangerous. The
137:
reported in August 1975 on the slope, stating that bubbles had appeared in the artificial surface caused by thousands of tons of earth subsiding within the slope. Weeds were also beginning to protrude from the surface. The
195:
received an anonymous letter, claiming to be from a
Knowsley Council employee, who claimed that builder George Leatherbarrow had charged the council £25,000 for the earth for the slope but had not paid for it himself.
895:
211:". Bore hole samples gathered by Knowsley Council would later show that the earth contained wood, bricks, colliery waste, sand and ashes - all of which would contribute to the subsidence already seen.
840:
79:
Kirkby saw rapid growth from a small settlement of 3,000 people in 1951 to town of 50,000 people in just ten years. From 1958, the town had been administered by
167:
The artificial surface of the ski slope was removed and sold in 1976, though the remaining mound was left visible for several years before being fully removed.
21:
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spent considerable time looking into the circumstances of the ski slope. Printed between 1971 and 1977, it was run by young journalists who worked for the
905:
305:"'News you're not supposed to know': Uncovering the birth of Liverpool Free Press 1971-77 - Department of History - University of Liverpool"
250:
had both covered the story, leading to
Stevenson being suspended. Stevenson resigned from his position at Knowsley Council in April 1976.
781:
593:
330:
66:, England, in the 1970s. The ski slope never opened and was source of considerable controversy around how it was built and funded.
267:, all three men pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring together to commit corruption between January, 1967, and April, 1974.
287:. This project failed to get off the ground and was cancelled in 2009. As of 2018, the site is the location of a housing estate.
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claimed that the council had spent around £150,000 on the project by that point, in sharp contrast to the £12,000 nearby
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and were unsatisfied with the lack of serious investigative reporting at the paper. The investigation was started when
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Some concern was raised by locals that the slope not only faced into the sun, but that it ran towards a major road. A
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Leatherbarrow had completed most of the work on the slope before a contract with the council was signed
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were also able to prove that
Leatherbarrow had also gifted Stevenson an Alfa Romeo car.
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had established that the earth had been sourced via an advert placed in the
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in
December 1973, shortly after construction started. The advert offered: "
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Tenders for work had been granted without the usual process being followed
560:"What happened to five journalists behind a radical Liverpool newspaper?"
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467:
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439:"Here's how Kirkby's ambitious plan for 150ft ski slope hit the skids"
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In 2006, the site was proposed as the location for a new stadium for
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a new administrative area was due to be formed in 1974, known as the
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607:
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782:"From struggling estates to regeneration in 'left behind' town"
504:"Merseyside's 'back to front' ski slope that nobody got to use"
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874:- "Infamous Kirkby ski slope is condemned", 16 October 1975.
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Tempest lost his seat on the council and within a month the
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in July of that year. As the investigations progressed, the
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The land chosen for the ski slope was situated between the
331:"Kirkby - remembering the birth of a community (GALLERY)"
896:
Unbuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom
755:"Corruption plot by builder and councillors alleged"
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had spent in the construction of their ski slope at
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motorway and the (since demolished) Kirkby Stadium.
634:"Ski slope: A pile of cash - and a heap of rubbish"
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588:. Oxford ; Boston: Focal Press. p. 206.
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728:
737:"Downhill all of the way. - Free Online Library"
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586:Investigative reporting: a study in technique
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235:being built in Kirkby by Leatherbarrow. The
209:Free tip in Kirkby for all suitable material
410:"Welcome to the ski resort of... Huyton!"
817:. Liverpool. 7 November 1989. p. 11
296:
543:"£30,000 ski slope shock for Kirkby".
528:"Second shock for ski slope council".
16:Artificial ski slope that never opened
841:"Everton FC stadium hit by new delay"
263:in 1978. Presided over by Mr Justice
7:
780:McKeon, Christopher (19 June 2021).
437:Heeds, Chantelle (4 November 2018).
329:Echo, Liverpool (16 November 2011).
921:Unfinished buildings and structures
691:"Council architect tells his story"
408:Echo, Liverpool (17 January 2006).
654:"Ski slope is a pile of rubbish".
502:Molyneux, Jess (27 January 2020).
14:
179:of the investigative newspaper,
89:Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley
475:"Liverpool Free Press archive"
1:
906:Political scandals in England
81:Kirkby Urban District Council
735:Mansey, Kate (3 June 2006).
175:Journalists Steve Scott and
937:
388:"Kirkby Ski Slope Scandal"
827:British Newspaper Archive
154:. By December 1975, the
85:Local Government Act 1972
808:"Ski scandal man killed"
479:www.freepressarchive.com
613:"George, Eric & Co"
891:Artificial ski resorts
741:www.thefreelibrary.com
363:Knowsley Local History
214:Investigations by the
199:By November 1974, the
148:The Oval Sports Centre
584:Spark, David (1999).
397:: 10. September 1974.
261:Liverpool Crown Court
814:Liverpool Daily Post
719:Liverpool Free Press
698:Liverpool Free Press
677:Liverpool Free Press
656:Liverpool Free Press
641:Liverpool Free Press
620:Liverpool Free Press
395:Liverpool Free Press
182:Liverpool Free Press
122:skiers falling off.
56:artificial ski slope
901:Sport in Merseyside
721:(May–June 1975): 7.
700:: 8. February 1976.
679:: 8. February 1976.
643:: 5. November 1974.
622:(May–June 1975): 7.
309:www.liverpool.ac.uk
33: /
547:. 9 December 1975.
359:"History - Kirkby"
285:The Kirkby Project
58:that was built in
37:53.4751°N 2.9010°W
743:. Liverpool Echo.
712:"What went where"
658:. September 1975.
564:www.livpost.co.uk
558:Simpson, Mollie.
532:. 12 August 1975.
365:. 20 January 2018
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885:Categories
872:Nationwide
291:References
281:Everton FC
275:Site today
265:Mars Jones
237:Free Press
221:Free Press
216:Free Press
201:Free Press
193:Free Press
119:Nationwide
111:weekends.
25:53°28′30″N
759:The Times
254:Aftermath
244:Free Post
152:Bebington
64:Liverpool
28:2°54′04″W
126:Problems
484:11 June
70:History
62:, near
54:was an
850:8 June
821:9 June
791:3 June
765:3 June
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448:8 June
419:3 June
369:6 June
340:3 June
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75:Kirkby
60:Kirkby
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870:BBC
852:2024
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590:ISBN
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246:and
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140:Echo
248:BBC
150:in
116:BBC
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