Some powers are being handed back to Liverpool City Council. Credit: via Liverpool City Council.

Final say for Liverpool’s tweaked local plan

A six-week public consultation on the city’s 15-year spatial strategy launched on Friday, setting out a roadmap for developing 370 acres of land and 35,000 new homes.

Liverpool City Council’s cabinet signed off amendments to the Liverpool Local Plan towards the end of last month and the document is expected to be adopted as soon as this September, following the conclusion of the editing and approval process that began in 2018.

The draft plan identifies 100 policies to manage forecast population growth of 47,000 people over the 15 years to 2033, while protecting the city’s heritage and controlling developments in the city centre.

It will also ratify a new process to control the number of conversions of properties into homes in multiple occupation (HMOs), a particular problem affecting residential market dynamics.

Some of the amendments approved by the cabinet last month are concerned with setting an appropriate planning context for important development areas such as Paddington Village and the wider Knowledge Quarter, Pumpfields, St George’s Quarter and the ports of Liverpool and Garston – the latter of which could see their roles change with the coming of freeport status.

The document also reinforces regeneration masterplans for Baltic Triangle, Ten Streets, the Commercial District, the Cavern Quarter and the Upper Central area of the city centre.

Guidance on areas such as green infrastructure, student housing and protecting environmentally sensitive areas has also been tweaked in the latest draft, and planning policy on tall buildings and a public realm strategy have been included.

The council said it will aim to use the Liverpool Local Plan to support its recently published City Plan, which focusses on post-pandemic economic recovery.

Following a string of earlier consultations since 2018, the public are now being asked one final time for their feedback – this time on the main modifications. The deadline for submitting responses is Monday 23 August and the consultation is here.

Once the consultation has concluded, a further report would go to the council’s cabinet, and the intention would be to rubberstamp this at the council’s scheduled September meeting.

Cllr Sarah Doyle, cabinet member for development and housing at Liverpool City Council, said: “Covid has given everyone time to think about what type of growth Liverpool needs, where and who it will benefit, and this local plan provides the framework to how this will happen.

“Its impact will be huge because it explores all the key issues and acknowledges the importance of measuring social value in what we do and who we work with.

“It also reflects on what type of homes and jobs we need as a city to improve community wellbeing, what type of high street we shop in, to how do we enjoy our parks and green spaces and how do we travel between them.”

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