Stonebridge plan attracts heavyweight opposition
A SUPERMARKET-led mixed use scheme for the Stonebridge area of Liverpool is being opposed by agent Savills, Land Securities and the forecourt operator Eurogarages.
Neptune Developments and Regeneration Liverpool – a joint venture between regeneration specialist Sigma Inpartnership and Liverpool City Council – have applied to build a 71,000 sq ft supermarket and petrol station, a 19,000 sq ft “local centre” and an 18,000 sq ft food, drink and hotel development on the north side of the East Lancashire Road at the former English Electric site.
This scheme, along with housing, was originally proposed for a 98-acre area on the south side of the road known as Stonebridge Cross.
But the city council’s determination to now use the site for a one million sq ft warehouse, said to be for Amazon, has pushed the retail element to the north and the housing to a former school site in Fazakerley. No plans have yet been submitted for the warehouse, but a document prepared ahead of a planning committee meeting on June 11 says one is “anticipated in the near future”.
The report, which recommends the scheme is approved, shows Savills has objected on behalf of its client National Amusements, which runs a nearby Showcase cinema, and Land Securities through its subsidiary Ravenside Investments.
They say the site is isolated from the established commercial and leisure uses within the Stonebridge/Croxteth area and is “not an appropriate location for a new local centre”.
“The proposed site is separated from the principal residential population by the East Lancashire Road dual carriageway which would be a significant barrier for safe and direct pedestrian/cycle trips. Such trips are an essential part of creating sustainable forms of development and successful local facilities and would be a necessary part of overall travel patterns in this area given low levels of car ownership.”
Eurogarages, which operates a nearby garage, says the scheme is in conflict “with the provisions of the development plan”.
