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Lime Street regeneration
approved by Court of Appeal
THE £39 million regeneration of Lime
Street, in Liverpool, is set to go ahead after the Court of Appeal
comprehensively rejected a bid by the group SAVE Britain's Heritage, to overturn
planning permission.
The scheme involves the redevelopment of the Eastern side of Lime Street for
mixed use including commercial, retail and leisure uses with hotel and student
accommodation. The scheme, to be delivered by Neptune Developments, is fully
funded and secured planning approval in September 2015.
In a judgement handed down, on 2 August 2016, Lord Justice Sales and Lord
Justice Lindblom dismissed an appeal for a Judicial Review made by SAVE
Britain's Heritage. They had claimed that the City council had breached planning
guidance by failing to notify the DCMS (Department for Culture Media and Sport)
and UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.
In their conclusions, the Lord Justices agreed with the original ruling in
January 2016 by The Honourable Mrs Justice Patterson DBE that the City council
had acted entirely appropriately.
The Honourable Mrs Justice Patterson DBE had described the evidence provided by
the City council at the hearing in December as:- "impressive and clear",
concluding that the local authority had properly considered whether the scheme
would have an impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage
Site.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "Our commitment to
heritage has seen the number of buildings on the at risk register at a 24 year
low and some, including the Royal Insurance Building and Stanley Dock, brought
back into viable use due to our intervention. This is a City that has
demonstrated clearly that it is committed to preserving old buildings where it
is viable to do so. Unfortunately that has not been the case as far as Lime
Street is concerned. It is now almost a year since we granted this scheme
planning permission, and due to the legal action this scheme has been in limbo,
meaning Lime Street, one of the city's key gateway routes, has not had the
investment that it so desperately needed. We have now had 2 thorough and
comprehensive independent examinations of this decision and in both cases we
have been found to have acted entirely appropriately and properly. We must now
crack on as soon as possible with enabling the developers to deliver on their
vision for the area, bringing it up to a much higher standard than it has been
for decades, and one that is fitting for a major entry point into the City
centre."
It has not proved possible to save the facade of the former Futurist cinema
within the new scheme because of its poor structural condition following
deterioration over a number of years, and this decision has been accepted by the
Save the Futurist campaign group. Mayor Anderson added:- "We have recently
spent hundreds of thousands of pounds having to make the façade of The Futurist
safe, causing massive disruption in the area. All of this could have been
avoided had SAVE accepted the original judgement from the High Court in January.
I am appealing to SAVE Britain's Heritage to stop delaying much needed projects
that will create many jobs for the people of our city. They need to stop wasting
the public's time and money on vexatious and spurious legal challenges that only
serve to put schemes at risk without coming up with viable, fully costed and
deliverable alternatives."
Steve Parry, Managing Director of Neptune Developments, who has now written
directly to SAVE calling on the group to face reality, added:- "This
series of legal challenges have cost more than £2 million and have been a
monumental waste of money and time for all those involved. More importantly it
has been a wasted opportunity to get on with a much needed piece of regeneration
creating jobs and opportunities for the people of Liverpool and removing the
dereliction that blights this gateway to Liverpool. In essence SAVE have been
campaigning to retain buildings that are beyond economic repair without ever
seriously considering whether this could be achieved and have tried to link Lime
Street to the concerns about our World Heritage status even though this scheme
actually has a beneficial impact on the World Heritage Site. The new high
quality facades of Lime Street will have a depiction of the Futurist and Lime
Street in its heyday and we are pressing on with the planning of the ABC to lift
both sides of the street and create a fitting entrance to our city. It really is
time now to move on and get on with remaking 1 of our most important streets."
Matt Brook, director of Broadway Malyan, architects for the scheme, said:-
"It is fantastic news that we can now progress this important regeneration
project that will reinstate Lime Street as a key destination. Liverpool has
enjoyed a significant renaissance in recent years with substantial investment
especially along the waterfront. Our proposals for Lime Street are a key part of
Liverpool's ongoing regeneration, it will provide the much needed improvement to
one of the City's main gateways as was well as improving an important connection
to the Knowledge Quarter, providing a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the
Lime Street area."
More information about the Lime Street scheme can be found on the scheme's
website
and to read the full judgement please click
here. |
