PLANNING | Liverpool approves Lidl, rejects Falkner apartment block

Also greenlit during Tuesday’s planning meeting: Sourced’s proposal for 392 apartments off Blackstock Street and Equity Group and the Elliot Group’s 274-bed hotel.

180 Falkner Street

The refusal of plans for 105 apartments and 63 student homes on the site of the old Liverpool Community Probation Centre was met with cheers and applause at the planning meeting.

Elliot Lawless’s Falkner Street Developments had originally been set to develop the project. While named as the applicant for the proposal, a representative from Falkner Street Developments said the site had been sold to Legacie Developments subject to this scheme receiving planning consent.

The Falkner Street project was designed by Falconer Chester Hall Architects and had been approved by the committee in December 2019 subject to the signing of a section 106 agreement.

Changes to the local plan during the time in between led to subsequent adjustments to the project, which necessitated the review of the scheme by the committee.

The new proposals added electric vehicle charging points and ensured compliance with national space standards. The number of two-bedroom apartments also increased.

Councillors, however, voiced displeasure in a heated discussion over whether student accommodation was needed in the area and the impacts the project would have on traffic. Protesters were also at the committee, allegedly with signs that denounced Lawless.

Ultimately the scheme was refused on the grounds of a lack of car parking and residential amenity regarding the co-location of student and non-student housing.

Zerum is the planning consultant for the project. Hydrock is the highways and noise assessment consultant. Clancy Consulting is the structural engineer. DEP Landscape Architecture is providing landscape architecture, as well as arboricultural survey and assessment services. Wardell Armstrong is the preliminary ecological assessor, air quality assessor and archaeology consultant.

Looking to learn more about the project? The application’s reference number with Liverpool is 19F/2515.

Liverpool City Council received 114 letters expressing support for Lidl’s plans. Credit: via planning documents

Former Coronation Public House and Childwall Brook Nursing Home

Supermarket retailer Lidl’s proposals for a 21,500 sq ft store on the site of the old pub in Belle Vale were met with success at the planning committee meeting – despite opposition from rival grocery chain Morrisons, which has a store nearby.

Located off Childwall Valley Road, the store will sit on two acres of brownfield. It will offer customers and staff 118 parking spaces, including nine parent and child spaces, two electric vehicle charging points and eight mobility-impaired spaces.

When built, the store would be open from 7am to 10pm Monday through Saturday, and for six hours on Sundays.

The new Lidl will be clad in composite rainscreen panels, which will help the company save on heating and cooling expenses while also being recyclable and re-usable.

In order to reduce carbon emissions from refrigeration, the new store will use propane as a natural refrigerant.

Plan A is the planning consultant for the project.

Looking to learn more about the proposed Lidl? The application’s reference number with Liverpool is 20F/2214.

The scheme is located in the Pumpfields area of Liverpool. Credit: via planning documents

Land at Blackstock Street and Paul Street

Sourced Development’s rework of Caro Development’s Kingsway Square scheme was approved at the planning committee meeting.

The scheme, which was originally designed by Falconer Chester Hall, secured approval in March 2020 for 452 apartments. That decision was pending a section 106 agreement.

Sourced went on to acquire the site and refreshed the plans, shrinking the number of units from 452 to 392 and finally down to 310. JDA was brought in to design the larger apartments on the project, with Broadgrove acting as planning advisor.

The new plans include 156 two-bedroom flats and 154 one-bedroom apartments. The structure itself has not changed in height and will still range from seven to 10 storeys tall.

The plans also include space for 80 cars to park.

There is no affordable housing in the project.

Looking to learn more about the Kingsway Square scheme? The application’s reference number with Liverpool City council is 19F/2446.

The Aura Hotel, designed by Falconer Chester Hall, was initially approved in 2019. Credit: Falconer Chester Hall

Land bounded by Prescot Street and Low Hill

Equity Group and The Elliot Group International won approval for their 274-bed hotel on a site near the grade two-listed Bridewell Studio.

Initially approved in November 2019, the scheme had to be reconsidered due to the time that elapsed between approval and a section 106 agreement.

Falconer Chester Hall designed the hotel, which is set to have 254 standard rooms and 20 wheelchair-accessible rooms. It will also have a hotel bar, lounge, and restaurant. The application includes 1,345 sq ft of class E commercial space as well.

The hotel will range from three to nine storeys tall, with it shrinking as it works its way down Prescot Street to the studio.

Zerum is the planning consultant for the hotel. The project team also includes Historic Building Consultancy, Landscape Projects, Development Transport Planning Consultancy, Clancy Consulting and Wardell Armstrong.

Looking to learn more about project? The application’s reference number with Liverpool City council is 19F/2163.