In what will be seen as a major test of Liverpool’s commitment to growth and new development Ascot Luxury Living will this week seek approval for a £50m scheme rejected by councillors in June. Tony McDonough reports
Developer Ascot Luxury Living will return to Liverpool City Council’s planning committee this week in a second attempt to secure approval for a £50m residential scheme.
Ascot was shocked in early June when councillors rejected its proposals for a new apartments complex in the city’s Baltic Triangle district comprising 194 homes, rising to nine and 10 storeys.
It had worked with the city’s council’s planning department for more than two years to ensure its plans would meet planning requirements.
Located close to the soon to open Baltic Triangle Station, the Falconer Chester Hall-designed scheme comprises 96 one-bed and 98 two-bedroom apartments. Residents will have exclusive access to a 4,520 sq ft terrace on the first floor, facing New Bird Street.
Planning officers had recommended approval for the project but at the early June planning committee meeting, councillors did not allow it to pass. Instead they deferred the application and asked both planners and developers to take a fresh look at the plans.
A viability assessment, independently reviewed, showing that the scheme would not be viable if the council forced the developer to include ‘affordable’ homes. An affordable home is where the rent or sale price is no more than 80% of local market rate.
Ascot has now come back to the committee with new data claiming a provision for affordable housing would add £5m to the cost of the development in “abnormal costs”. A council assessment put this figure closer to £2m.
This Tuesday (July 8) the committee will consider the application for a second time. Following the original decision there was dismay, not just from Ascot but from the wider business community.
Over the past couple of years the city council has been hanging out its ‘open for business’ sign and this decision caused some to question whether the city’s commitment to new developments is solid enough.
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Speaking after the decision, Terry Riley, chief executive of Ascot Group, said it was “very disappointing news”. He added: “We have worked closely and extensively with Liverpool City Council’s Planning Team over the past 30 months.
“We are extremely surprised that all the hard work and effort of the council’s planning officers, including their own recommendation to approve, seemed to carry no weight with today’s committee.
“Naturally, we’ll maintain an open and constructive approach, but this will add further time and costs to Ascot Group, and this decision sends negative signals to other developers and investors, at a time when Liverpool City Council are trying to attract inward investment into the city.”