Apart-hotel plans recommended for approval, despite neighbours’ concerns

Liverpool planning officers have recommended approval for a new apart-hotel in the city centre, despite objections from neighbours.

A proposal has been submitted by Simon Kinsella to convert a former night club into a 25-room development.

The site, 62 Duke Street, is a three-storey town house and the former Le Bateau nightspot, which includes the ‘Down the Hatch’ basement bar/restaurant.

The building dates from the last quarter of the 18th century and has been extended over time, with the rear of the site, which faces onto Henry Street, developed in the early 19th century as workshops and the former central lightwell roofed over in the latter half of the 20th century.

The buildings are currently in use as serviced apartments, having been converted from the former nightclub.

However, the site, in the Ropewalks area of town, is also home to neighbouring residential units, and seven objections have been submitted against the proposed conversion.

They include claims that the development will have a detrimental impact on residents in Henry Street, particularly the Arts Village apartments that the property backs onto, with the fear that short stay apartments are often used for parties by people “who don’t really care about how it affects the people who live here – people drinking outside, screaming shouting and being generally disruptive noisy and causing loss of sleep to nearby residents”.

Another objection said residents have logged numerous complaints with the city council and owners about rental properties in the area which, by their nature, attract short stay groups and mostly young people: “We have had to endure loud noise, screaming and shouting and music well into the early hours, open drug taking and nitrous oxide canisters left in the street, littering and overflowing bins and fast food containers dumped on the streets and people urinating against people’s properties.”

Other concerns focused on the impact on parking in the area, and a lack of privacy for existing residents if the conversion created more windows in the property.

And one objection said: “Considering the significant amount of existing apart-hotels within the area, we struggle to see the benefit of another, especially if the external changes affect the neighbouring community.”

But planning officers, in their notes to the planning committee which will consider the application on August 31, said: “The proposed serviced apartments hotel presents the opportunity for the efficient re-use of two attractive buildings within Duke Street Conservation Area to provide for a complimentary and sustainable use, and in doing so will create economic benefits and employment opportunities. The development will contribute positively to vitality, viability and vibrancy of this locality and the city centre.

“The servicing and access arrangements, and associated design and mitigation measures, will satisfactorily protect highway safety and local amenity, facilitate sustainable patterns of travel and ensure inclusive access for all building users. Its highly accessible location will encourage greater permeability through the area and improve natural surveillance, thereby creating a safer and more pedestrian-friendly environment.”

Officers recommend that the application be granted.