ABSTRACT
Under the provisions of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, the government established 'enterprise zones' to stimulate private investment; and 'urban development corporations' to reclaim large tracts of derelict urban land. With a strong emphasis on property-led regeneration, a system was put in place that increasingly by-passed local democratic control and transferred investment and development responsibilities to central government agencies and the private sector. The Merseyside Task Force included civil servants from the Department of the Environment, Department of Industry, the Manpower Services Commission, and the Department of Transport. Its role was to co-ordinate government policies and spending programmes in the area and to generate new initiatives. In 1983 the local Labour party gained overall control of the City Council for the first time in over ten years and the scene was set for a major political confrontation. The Merseyside Development Corporation was established in 1980 with a remit to redevelop parts of Merseyside including the South Docks.
