Inspector rejects Flanagan brothers’ Liverpool appeal

A company headed up by John, Julian, and Paul Flanagan has had its appeal over Liverpool City Council’s rejection of plans for 54 flats between Great Mersey Street and Lancaster Street dismissed.

Great Mersey Street Developments saw its resi plans rejected last year due to a lack of on-site affordable housing or financial contributions towards affordable housing elsewhere in the city.

The appeal focused on determining whether the scheme – two three-storey blocks and a third five-storey block with a housing mix of 12 one- and 44 two-bedroom homes – would still stack up if a higher contribution towards off-site affordable housing was made.

GMSD said that it could not comply with Liverpool City Council’s 20% on-site affordable policy on viability grounds and that the £69,000 it had agreed to pay by way of a commuted sum was already stretching the appraisal.

In determining the appeal, the inspector agreed with the city council’s assertion that the gross development value of £8.3m GMSD had assigned to the scheme was too low and that it was more like £9.9m. Subsequently, the inspector concluded that a higher contribution towards affordable housing could be made.

“In this context, I have to be very confident that no additional financial contributions could be possible,” the inspector said.

“Even in the context of challenging national and global economic circumstances, for the reasons outlined above I do not have such confidence and have found that a not inconsequential additional level of financial contribution is most likely viable.”

The inspector concluded that the scheme would “conflict with the development plan as a whole” and dismissed the appeal

Baldwin Design Consultancy is behind the designs on this proposal, while Broadgrove Planning and Development applied to Liverpool City Council.

The application can be viewed with the reference number 23F/0694 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.