Mixed-use scheme to go ahead

A £39m regen scheme in Liverpool has been given the go-ahead after the Court of Appeal rejected a bid to overturn planning permission.

The project involves the mixed-use redevelopment of the Eastern side of Lime Street with commercial, leisure and retail space as well as hotel and student accommodation.

In a judgement handed down this week, Lord Justice Sales and Lord Justice Lindblom dismissed an appeal for a judicial review made by conservation group Save Britain’s Heritage.

The group had claimed Liverpool city council had breached planning guidance by failing to notify the culture department and UNESCO’s World Heritage committee.

But the judges concluded that the council had acted appropriately and agreed with the original ruling in January 2016.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “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.

Anderson said the scheme had been in “limbo” due to the legal action and said Lime Street “has not had the investment that it so desperately needed.”

He added: “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.”