Go-kart scheme approved for former flagship Debenhams store

Plans for the re-use of the former Liverpool flagship department store of Debenhams, including a go-karting track, were approved this morning (February 8).

Liverpool City Council planning committee voted by seven votes to one to accept the proposals to change the use of the Liverpool One retail centre site, splitting the unit into retail use on the lower and upper ground levels, and leisure on the first and second floors.

Liverpool One owner, Grosvenor, is behind the scheme. The Debenhams store closed last May after the retailer’s collapse the previous December.

Tenancy agreements are yet to be confirmed but negotiations are under way with a retailer and a go-karting operator.

Cllr Pat Maloney raised concerns over noise issues from the karting operation and asked whether the vehicles would be powered by internal combustion or electric means, adding new ventilation could be required.

Grosvenor’s agent, Avison Young, confirmed the karts would be electric vehicles, and there is a noise condition in the application.

Council planning officer, Feargal McEvoy, explained the application was before the committee because the original application forbade any subdivision of the site’s retail units.

But Cllr Billy Lake raised concerns that a single retailer could not be found to occupy such a high profile unit, saying: “Why is there a rush to convert this building into other things when it stands at the opening of our prime retail venue? Are we trying to turn the city centre into an amusement arcade?”

The agent replied that there had been no response from any retailer willing to take the entire unit.

Committee chair, Cllr Tony Concepcion, put the application to the vote, saying: “We don’t want that building to remain empty and vacant. We live in a different world now post-pandemic and the way people shop is changing.”

The application was approved by seven votes to one.

The committee also approved plans to build three industrial, storage and distribution units, with offices, on the site of a former car parts manufacturer, in the South Liverpool area of Speke.

Applicant, Miranda Bell Commercial Development Projects, told the committee that the multimillion-pound scheme would create 520 jobs during construction and between 240 and 620 jobs on completion, depending on use.

The 5.13 ha of land is located within Speke Hall Industrial Estate and is now a brownfield site formerly occupied by Chemie Pelzer, a car component manufacturer, which has been cleared and is largely grassed over with a small pond located in the centre.

Cllr Concepcion said: “This is a really welcome application providing jobs.”

And plans to build eight flats and 80 houses on a former car park behind the Showcase Cinema on Stonedale Crescent in the Croxteth ward were also approved.

However, an application for a residential scheme in the Kirkdale ward which was originally approved last March, was withdrawn from today’s committee.

Caro Developments wants to build a residential block comprising 10-, eight- and seven-storeys which would provide 180 studios, 166 one-bed units and 46 two-bed units, on Blackstock Street and Paul Street.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close