Approval for Liverpool apartment plans

Plans to transform the site of a former residential scheme in Liverpool into a 95-apartment complex have been backed, despite the application being subject to a host of objections.Earmarked for Upper Parliament Street – which once accommodated housing before it was demolished in 1970 – are two blocks of three, four and five storeys. These will comprise 55 two-bed and 40 one-bed units.A larger proposal for the same site – for 109 apartments across five and six storeys – was refused against officer recommendation in 2017 on the grounds that by virtue of its size, scale and massing the development would “appear out of character in the street scene”.It was also deemed that it would “result in a loss of green space and associated trees, which cannot be accommodated without material harm to its visual amenity value”.The new proposals came up against a number of objections. These include from councillors Anna Rothery, Tim Moore and Lawrence Brown who – among other reasons – have expressed concern over the size of the building, the ground of refusal for the previous scheme remaining and the scheme leading to “an increase in air pollution”.Also received were eight individual letters of objection, as well as three of support, and a 142-signature petition.However, Liverpool City Council’s planning committee has waved through the application.