St Modwen’s £150m Project Jennifer gets go-ahead

St Modwen Properties has received outline planning consent for its £150m Project Jennifer retail-led scheme in north Liverpool. The scheme, on Great Homer Street in Everton, includes a 110,000 sq ft supermarket, 481 residential units, 80,000 sq ft of industrial space, community facilities, a petrol station and a new market hall. Tesco has been linked with the supermarket, which will be Liverpool’s largest. The proposals for the site had earlier been criticised by architecture watchdog CABE, which said the scheme’s design fell “well below the standard which might be expected for a significant civic/private proposal of this nature”. But local councillors ignored that verdict and gave permission for the scheme at a committee meeting yesterday. Chris Newsome of St Modwen said: “We have worked closely with the city council to ensure this development is delivered and there’s still a lot of work to be done, but this decision means we can now move forward with pace and purpose.  “We aim to transform the area into a vibrant centre for people to live and work.” The planning consent is subject to review by the Department of Communities and Local Government. Work is expected to start on the scheme in 2008 for completion in 2012.