English Heritage hits out on Liverpool Waters planning changes

LIVERPOOL City Council has failed to appease English Heritage’s concerns over Peel Group’s £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme.

The proposal was approved in March subject to the strengthening of certain planning conditions to allay English Heritage’s fears that the scheme – the regeneration of 60 hectares of docklands – would damage Liverpool’s waterfront heritage.

In June UNESCO put the city on its list of world heritage sites in danger.

But council documents show English Heritage has criticised the council’s changes as “muddled, badly drafted and insufficiently precise”.

The proposal is back before the city’s planning committee next week for a final sign off before being referred to the government.

But English Heritage has told the council that if it makes a decision without further changes, that will “add weight” to its objection to the application.

Such a move could increase the liklihood of the case being called in for a public enquiry. Peel has threatened to walk away if that happens.

Nonetheless, the council officers have advised councillors to approve the scheme on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately despite best efforts it has not been possible to reach a consensus on the terms of the conditions,” states the report.

“The central difference concerns the timing of when detailed information should be provided in relation to the implementation of the scheme.”

It adds: “The Head of Planning considers sufficient supporting information has been provided to enable a rigorous assessment of the application and that the development parameters set out in the conditions establish sufficient limits to prevent damage to the historic environment.”