Baltic Triangle venue permitted at appeal
With Boxpark due to open later this year, Cains Brewery Village could soon be home to two shipping container concepts after the Planning Inspectorate overturned Liverpool City Council’s decision to refuse proposals for a similar venue.
Baltic Entertainment’s plans for Baltic Square, a 600-capacity venture that takes inspiration from the popular Boxpark concept, were refused last year amid concerns about the impact the scheme would have on local roads.
A month later, Boxpark announced it had picked Liverpool as the location for its first site outside the capital. The company is planning to open later this year, investing £3.5m to convert the historic Canning Hall, part of the Cains Brewery Village estate.
Boxpark was granted planning approval for its 16,000 sq ft venue in early 2023 a few months after Baltic Entertainment’s plans were rejected.
However, Boxpark will now have to share its corner of the Baltic Triangle after the Planning Inspectorate found in favour of Baltic Entertainment at appeal.
Richard Morgan, the planning inspector presiding over the case, said if Liverpool City Council thought the highways impact of the Boxpark scheme were acceptable, then the same should be concluded in the case of Baltic Entertainment.
“I have identified no clear reason to take a different view here,” he said. “I am unconvinced that the proposal would result in unacceptable highway safety conditions.”
The venue, which will host music, art, cultural and community events, is to be built on part of a car park off Grafton Street and Stanhope Street in Cains Brewery Village, yards away from where Boxpark plans to open.
David Morse, director at Baltic Planning and Development, which represented the appellant, said: ‘We’re very pleased to close out what has been a frustrating process at times.
“It’s reassuring to see that the inspector took the same view as us and we’re confident that the diverse range of leisure, entertainment and cultural events that the venue proposes to host will have a hugely positive impact in the Baltic Triangle area and the wider city.”
Once again Liverpool Planning being shown to be wrong,holding up a sound business proposal.
The Planning Head told PNW last year she was “open for business”
but clearly not, and decisions like this, plus height restrictions etc show the lack of vision.
Does this department have any plans except refusing things.
By Anonymous
Good to see more variety in the Baltic and healthy competition.
By Liverpolitis
Unfortunately the “place makers” at LCC refused a brilliant application to convert an empty industrial shed in the “ten streets” into a mixed use development which would have included music studios and offices. Hope they have the resorources to appeal this ridiculous decision and have Liverpool plannings anti-regeneration agenda overturned.
By Anonymous
The Baltic Triangle(north of Parliament St) doesn’t appear to have been getting any new build applications for some time now, and just like the Ten Streets looks to be treading water. Numerous applications in the Ten Streets have either been refused or stalled, and since it was championed by Joe Anderson some years ago has achieved little, maybe because no one seems to know what the brief is, and they appear obsessed with keeping it a light industrial area even though they claim they will listen to cultural , leisure, and residential proposals.
By Anonymous
Liverpool is light years behind Manchester Leeds Sheffield Bolton Salford
By Anonymous
@anonymous, what about Mars too or any other distant place. Liverpool has a lot going for it which other places would dream of having.
By Just saying
I will admit that Manchester has the edge over Liverpool in certain ways but there’s no way in hell that Leeds could ever think it’s better.
By Sorry not sorry