Plans for a mixed-use redevelopment near Liverpool’s Lime Street station, which will include a student accommodation tower and a hotel, have won the backing of the Court of Appeal.
Earlier this year, the High Court rejected a challenge brought by SAVE Britain’s Heritage to the planning permission issued to Regeneration Liverpool and Neptune in Partnership in September 2015.
SAVE had claimed that Liverpool City Council had unlawfully failed to consult the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the proposal, and through them the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO. The development site, on Lime Street, is within the “buffer zone” of the Liverpool World Heritage Site (WHS).
However, the judge rejected the claim that National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) required such consultation.
Dismissing SAVE’s appeal, Lord Justice Lindblom said that the judge was “right to conclude that the city council did not commit any error of law”.
He added: “Like the judge, I reject the concept that the effect of new development on the setting of a World Heritage Site must necessarily be an adverse impact, or indeed an impact of any kind, on its Outstanding Universal Value. That concept is not to be found in government policy in the NPPF, or in the Planning Practice Guidance.”
He found that the discussion of the Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site at the proceedings of the 40th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Istanbul last month, did nothing to upset that conclusion.
The planning permission approves demolition of 51-77 Lime Street and partial demolition of 79 Lime Street and the erection of mixed-use development, including an 11-storey block of student accommodation.
SAVE fears that the loss of existing buildings and the modern design of the new development will harm Liverpool’s heritage assets and historic environment.
R (on the application of SAVE Britain’s Heritage) v Liverpool City Council Court of Appeal (Lindblom and Sales LJJ) 2 August 2016