Local business owners have failed in their High Court bid to stop a £35m redevelopment of the Lime Street station site in
Michael and Anis McCabe and two others were challenging the communities secretary’s confirmation of English Partnerships’ (EP) order that their shops should be compulsorily purchased to make way for a 27-storey tower by Liverpool-based developer Iliad.
High Court judge Mr Justice Goldring said that while he had “some sympathy” for them “the Secretary of State was entitled to confirm the order”.
The confirmation was issued in October 2006 on the recommendation of an inspector appointed to conduct a public inquiry into English Partnership’s CPO.
This was the second challenge to EP’s use of its statutory powers to achieve urban development.
The first challenge ended in victory, in November 2006, for Liverpool grandmother Elizabeth Pascoe who succeeded in preventing the demolition of her home and 500 others to make way for a £60m development in
The exisiting 13-storey tower on the Lime Street station site will be replaced by a 27-storey tower with 16,000 sq ft of offices, 11,000 sq ft of retail and 152 flats.
The scheme also involves the redevelopment of the area in front of the station as a new public space.
