Caro exchanges contracts on stalled Liverpool site

Work stopped on the 74-apartment Vauxhall Wharf scheme around five years ago.

Caro Developments has purchased the site off Vauxhall Road from the executors of its late owner.

The developer has already struck a conditional deal with a local housing association to take on the scheme once it is finished.

Permission for the original scheme, designed by Povall Worthington, was granted by the city council in 2015. The proposals featured a four-storey block of 36 flats, another four-storey block comprising 22 flats, and a three-storey block of 16 flats, together with car parking.

Speaking after the exchange of contracts, Caro managing director Neil Carlyle said: “I’m pleased that we’ll be able to do justice to the development and remove a blight from the local streetscape.

“There are a few issues to tidy up with the city council with regards to the previous owner’s permission, but we’re working proactively with them to resolve these promptly.

“This is a good scheme that will provide much-needed affordable rental properties for local people, just a short stroll from the city centre. It has an attractive canal frontage and we’ve invested in tidying up the site and making it secure.”

Caro has submitted an application to Liverpool City Council with a view to continuing the scheme.

A supporting statement produced by Zerum states that legal advice has been taken with regard to establishing that lawful commencement of the development of the site has taken place since the original permission was granted.

To view the plans, search for application reference number 23LE/3342 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.

Cllr Assen Christov, who represents Vauxhall ward on the city council, added: “This is good news and I would hope that any remaining issues can be resolved quickly.

“The site is very prominent and my constituents want to see it brought back to use. Housing for local workers is an ideal solution.”

Two years ago the stalled development drew attention when, as reported by the Liverpool Echo, a complaint was made against the city council’s then cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Abdul Qadir, due to his links to the Vega Group, whose subsidiary company MV Canal was behind the original scheme.

However the authority’s standards and ethics committee subsequently cleared Qadir, who has since stood down from the council, finding that he had declared his interest on the council’s register of interests.

The original plans can be found by searching for reference number 14F/2445 on the city council’s planning portal.