The unbelievable true story behind one of Merseyside's most infamous planning disasters is now being brought to life. The Kirkby ski slope, an ill-fated project that became one of the region's most notorious planning disasters after it was built the wrong way round and never opened to the public, has passed into local folklore.
In the early 1970s, a 150ft artificial ski slope was supposed to take Kirkby in a different sporting direction, but instead it was never used and was abandoned on the side of the M57. Now the extraordinary story is being brought to life in a new comedy at Liverpool's Royal Court.
Writer Kieran Lynn, 40, from Orrell Park, said he was immediately captivated when he discovered the scandal behind the infamous development and believes the story still feels relevant half a century later. He told the ECHO: "When I saw those three words, 'Kirkby ski slope', it was just an eye-opening moment and one of those things where you immediately wonder what on earth that could be."
Kieran first discovered the story while researching the Liverpool Free Press investigation that helped expose corruption surrounding the project. What followed was months of research into the ski slope, the political scandal that engulfed it, and the journalists who ultimately helped bring the affair to light. For Kieran, it had all the ingredients of a perfect stage production.
He said: "I was looking for interesting stories as I often am, and when I came across the article and the groundbreaking investigation the Liverpool Free Press did, I started looking into the ski slope, its construction, and the politics and corruption behind it. From a writer's point of view, it was just complete joy because it has everything I want in a story, it's funny, it's strange, it's unbelievable. It has an investigation at the heart of it, and it has a really interesting group of characters and it has a happy ending as it's so rare to see politicians get their comeuppance these days."
The production, titled Taking The Piste, combines the absurdity of the ski slope itself with the determination of young journalists investigating what was happening behind the scenes. Although all of the characters have been fictionalised, Kieran said much of what audiences will see actually happened. He said: "As a person who is from the city, it's quite baffling to imagine that there was once a ski slope built in Kirkby. It's bizarre, it actually happened. When people come and see the show, they may not believe it, but I can assure them it's true."
Building work began on the development, located between Kirkby Stadium and the M57, in November 1973. Predicted to open to the public in 1974, the slope encountered numerous issues, including vandalism and surface problems. The project was originally estimated to cost around £90,000, with extra costs said to go towards building an embankment and railings to prevent skiers from falling off.
The three men behind it were Dave Tempest, the leader of Kirkby District Council, the council's chief architect, Eric Stevenson, and a man called George Leatherbarrow, a local building contractor. Together, they concocted plans to regenerate Kirkby, but behind the headline grabbing housing schemes and infrastructure proposals, they were illegally rewarding themselves with multi-million pound contracts, fast cars, first class trips away, and expensive house extensions. All three were later jailed on fraud charges in 1978. Builder Leatherbarrow was sentenced to four years, Stevenson received three years, while ex-Kirkby Council leader Tempest, was sentenced to 12 months.
In 1975, the project was abandoned. The decision to abandon it was made amid fears that it was unsafe, but not before the construction cost had mounted to £114,000. While many people know the basic outline of the story, Kieran believes fewer understand the corruption allegations and investigation that eventually brought the project crashing down. He said: "I think people know about the ski slope. They know it was built the wrong way round and torn down without ever opening. But I don't think many people know about the corruption behind it or the investigation that brought it down. So I hope this show is going to lift the lid on that."
A major part of the play focuses on the journalists who challenged those in power, something Kieran said was crucial to the story. He said: "Without the journalists, the story is too one-sided. They're the people who weren't willing to let that corruption go without being thoroughly investigated and made available to the whole city." Despite being set in the 1970s, Kieran believes the story remains strikingly relevant. Drawing comparisons with major infrastructure projects like the HS2 railway in recent years. He said: "The 70s mirrors today in a number of ways. I think times are difficult, economically widespread, and then people in their day-to-day lives are feeling the pinch. There are several issues that make it feel really relevant. At a time when you would hope governments are being very careful with their spending, you get a project like the Kirkby ski slope. It's hard not to see the parallels. We still haven't really learned our lesson. This story was 50 years ago, and everybody has heard of it, but nobody knows it in detail. I think there are lessons there, and if we don't tell these stories, we will repeat what's happened."
Taking the Piste comes to Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre on Friday.
