Plans for a mixed-use redevelopment near Liverpool’s Lime Street station, which will include a student accommodation tower and a hotel, have been upheld by the High Court.
Patterson J rejected a challenge brought by SAVE Britain’s Heritage to the planning permission issued to Regeneration Liverpool and Neptune in Partnership last September.
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.
She found that NPPG requests governments to inform the WHC of proposals that may affect the outstanding universal value of a listed site before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, and that to enable a government to take that action it is said to be “very helpful if planning authorities could consult Historic England… and DCMS at an early stage”.
However, she said that is policy guidance only, unsupported by any statutory framework.
There is a clear distinction, she said, with the next paragraph of the NPPG that requires consultation with the Department for Communities and Local Government where Historic England maintains an objection.
She added: “That situation does not apply here. Historic England were consulted on the application and at no time did it object.”
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 Planning Court (Patterson J) 15 January 2016
