Rosmara’s 158 homes lead Liverpool planning approvals
A heated debate failed to sway councillors from the city council’s officer recommendation to progress the developer’s £31.7m plans for Oriel Street. Also successful: a push to transform a grade two-listed pub into a 100-space nursery.
Liverpool City Council held its planning committee meeting on Tuesday morning. Rosmara’s pitch for 158 homes on Oriel Street in the Pumpfields district was the largest item on the agenda.
158 homes on Oriel Street
Designed by Falconer Chester Hall, the mix of flats and townhouses would be 10 storeys at the highest, with a roof terrace for residents to enjoy. Activating the ground level will be a nearly 700 sq ft commercial unit, as well as a residents lounge and gym.
A five-space car park is also proposed in a gated courtyard accessed from Oriel Street and Paul Street.
No affordable housing is included in the proposals. The flats break down to 78 one-bedroom apartments and 72 with two bedrooms. There will be five two-bed townhouses and there with three bedrooms, now that the city council has given it the go-ahead.
“This has been a real team effort, and our thanks go to all who have helped shape such a compelling application,” said a Rosmara spokesperson. “We had a very constructive dialogue with the council over eight months, working together to shape the proposals.”
Rosmara said it had commenced the Gateway 2 process with an aim to start on site before the end of the year. The project has an estimated construction cost of £31.7m according to a viability assessment by Roger Hannah.
The rooftop garden is a highlight for the Rosmara project. Credit: via Merrion Strategy
Martin Haymes, the project architect and an associate director at FCH, described how the scheme will help revitalise the Vauxhall/Pumpfields area.
“Vauxhall’s neighbourhood retailing and high street functions were hollowed out in the seventies and eighties and there’s an opportunity to bring that life back at street level with well-considered ground floor uses,” he said.
“A key feature of the scheme is the introduction of a double height pedestrian arcade along Vauxhall Road, which will improve connectivity and create a more active and engaging street frontage.”
While there were considerable advocates for the project on the city council, Cllr Pat Moloney, a Liberal Democrat, was robust in his criticism. He described the project as “flouting” current space standards, with the flats being too small and public open space provision lacking.
The flats were found to comply with the Nationally Described Space Standard by the city council’s planning team.
Accepting the application, Moloney argued, was the equivalent of saying “Let’s not bother about 21st-century standards. Let’s go back to 19th century standards”.
He continued: “If we’re doing that, what are we going to do for nostalgia? Are we going to have the reintroduction of serious levels of TB? Poor sanitation? Overcrowding and child mortality? Where does it stop?”
His fellow councillors accused Moloney of disagreeing for the sake of saying so on a campaign pamphlet later, which Moloney said was not true. He introduced a motion to reject the application, which was not successful and the city council voted in favour of the scheme.
In addition to FCH and Roger Hannah, the project team for Rosmara’s scheme includes Greyside Planning, Orion Fire Engineering, Prime Transport Planning, Element Sustainability, DPR, Urban Green, and ADC Acoustics.
You can review the application by searching reference 25F/1620 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.
Pub-to-nursery conversion
DLP Planning’s client received the green light Tuesday from city councillors to bring a long-vacant pub back into use.
The former Crying Tree public house dates back to the 1840s and has a grade two listing. The pub has been vacant since it shuttered in 2014.
Now, it looks to become a 15,500 sq ft nursery with capacity for 100 children. The proposals showed that there would need to be very few changes to convert the space for its new role. The car park would receive an update though, with 34 spaces being marked out.
These include five disabled bays, 11 for staff, and three with electric vehicle charging capability. There would also be a bike store and pick-up and drop-off areas for the children’s guardians.
The project team for the scheme included Prime Transport, MPO Trees, and Cass Associates. You can review the application by searching 22L/1208 on the city council’s planning portal.
LCC in danger of setting a dangerous precedent in Pumpfields by giving a low quality scheme of this type the thumbs up.
By Anonymous
This brownfield site has been an eyesore for years and this scheme could be catalyst that kick starts wider regeneration. The planning officer recommended this for approval on planning balance, something lost on councillor Pat Maloney. There are a lot of positives with this scheme but as with most applications the Liberal Democrats and Councillor Maloney in particular seem determined to stop the city growing and moving forward. His comment that this “flouted” current space standards even though the flats meet the nationally described space standards are worrying to say the least. The sooner the decision making process on major applications is taken away from councillors the better.
By Anonymous
Liverpool needs to beware the Lib Dems and Liberals, as development in the city would be in an even worse state than what it is in now. A number of Labour councillors have held the city back in the past but the negativity coming out of the Liberals is scary. We don’t have the strongest local economy nor do we have the best relationship with the big developers but we do see light at the end of the tunnel with Liverpool Waters, King Edward Triangle, and Pumpfields/Vauxhall.
By Anonymous
Good to see another development being approved for the “Pumpfields” area.
What is the matter with certain objectors,criticising applications just for the heck of it?
By Liverpool4Progess
If the Lib Dems want to control the council next year they should act like a serious party serious about growth. Cllr Moloney has a history of objecting to everything the city needs to move forward and start growing.
By Trevor Atkinson
I’m surprised Cllr Moloney didn’t go the whole hog and talk about ‘consumption’ rather than TB. Gotta love a bit of nostalgia. That aside, Carl Cashman needs to get a grip of this chap, or his efforts at wooing the business community will come to naught. As it is, the Lib Dems’ hopes of regaining control of the council look increasingly slim with the likelihood of Reform taking seats in the north end.
By More Anonymous than the Others
Councillor Maloney yet again objecting to another scheme that can give the Vauxhall area much needed improvement. Can’t he see the benefits of delivering a scheme like this to a site that’s been disused for years? So negative and damaging. Numerous objections to sites that are going up now or have already been built, that have generated so much work for local tradesmen and buisnesses. It beggars belief that if he had his way none of this would have happened. We really need to push on in this city and welcome genuine effort to improve our things or we will continue to fall behind other cities around the UK who continuing, at pace, in changing their own landscape for the better.
By Anonymous
Liberal democrats should really be winning big in next years elections but people like this councillor are the reason they are not. Opposing for Opposing sake and pandering to Nimbys is why the city is going nowhere.
By Simon Clancy
Space standards are a real issue for homes in the UK, and there should be legal minimum sizes for all housing types, including storage, balconies and window sizes. We do need bigger sized homes for many reasons. Councillors and planners should include this in their local plan and make developers aware of it from the outset – work with developers instead of being the same predictable roadblock which doesn’t help any valid points raised. I’m sure if the developer wanted to build higher to allow for bigger flats then our mate Pat would be complaining about height, even though this site should really be at least 15 storeys due to being in a dense urban area in what will be the extended city centre.
By GetItBuilt!
Those comments from Cllr Moloney are wild! By all means have a debate about standards and design but comments like that just look childish and ignorant. It’s a massive worry if that’s the standard of debate on the planning committee. Having said that, others clearly had more sense.
By Mike
There’s nothing been made of the fact that this development has only 5 parking spaces for 158 residences.
How is this an attractive proposition in an area with really inadequate public transport?
This could end up making money for the developer but losing money for small investors as they struggle to find people both able and willing to live there.
By Anonymous
The emerging Pumpfields SPD is encouraging more active travel so I think developers are using that as guidance when submitting applications with lower parking provision. It’s mixed messaging from the council as you have committee members raising issues around parking provision but guidance encouraging less cars and more cycling
By Anonymous
@ Anon 7.16pm, re parking, I know of numerous blocks in London where there is little or no parking, and in the nearby streets the Borough Council won’t provide parking permits if there is reasonable public transport. Look at the Lexington building that’s full but there’s very little parking, people make adjustments and use bikes, scooters, taxis, etc.
By Anonymous
Councillor Moloney talking a load of malarkey! What utter nonsense. The scheme complies with nationally described space standards but he somehow thinks that equates to 19th Century living standards and a return of widespread TB. What a numpty!
By Anonymous