Another blow for Everton FC’s £400m move

  Plans for new homes on the site of Everton FC’s former Bellefield training ground in West Derby have been rejected.   A council planning hearing has rejected a proposal for 74 homes on the site.   Liverpool council said it had turned down the housing application based “purely on its planning merits”, and had the support of the planning inspector.   Money from the sale of the land for housing – estimated at up to £10m – is to be used to help fund the Premier League Club’s proposed £400m Destination Kirkby scheme.   The Kirkby development, in a joint venture with supermarket Tesco, includes a new 55,000-seat stadium for the club, a 110,000 sq ft Tesco store and 540,000 sq ft of retail.   Plans got the go-ahead from Knowsley councillors last month but faced criticism from Liverpool council, which decided to hold a public inquiry into the plans. This will delay the project by at least a year.   The club has said that the rejected planning application for housing at Bellefield will no affect its plans for the move. A club spokesman said they would find the money from “other sources” and intend to find another use for the land.   helen.roxburgh@rbi.co.uk