Proposals for two housing schemes totalling 107 homes have been rejected in an unusual decision by Liverpool councillors.
The local authority's planning committee convened on Tuesday (September 9) to consider five planning applications. Three applications received approval, whilst two faced rejection.
The refused schemes included a 51-home development on land north of Parkview Road in Croxteth and a 56-apartment project on land between Lancaster Street and Great Mersey Street in Kirkdale.
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The Parkview Road proposal, submitted in 2023, outlined 51 dwellings comprising 14 three-bedroom houses and two three-storey blocks containing 37 flats, plus associated access, parking and enabling works, reports .
Nevertheless, a council planning committee report recommended refusal.
The document contended that the development would cause the loss of open space. It stated the land "holds both a recreational function and visual amenity value and is not considered surplus to requirements".
The report continued: "The lost open space would not be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality."
Officials also determined the scheme would cause unacceptable destruction of protected trees and woodland. The report stated: "The layout of the proposed development fails to provide a clear and consistent building line to the new street frontage; results in the visual prominence of hardstanding for car parking and overall presents a design which is inconsistent with the character of the surrounding area."
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During Tuesday's committee meeting, planners rejected the application.
The second proposal to face refusal had also been lodged in 2023 and requested consent for three buildings - measuring three, three and five storeys respectively, accommodating 56 flats with related parking and landscaping - in Kirkdale.
The site earmarked for the scheme sits between Lancaster Street and Great Mersey Street. A planning report similarly recommended rejection, citing the absence of on-site affordable housing provision, which it argued "would fail to contribute towards Liverpool's affordable housing needs".
The document continued: "The proposal by reason of the lack of open space, tree and biodiversity net gain planning obligation contributions does not meet the needs for additional or improvements to existing local and strategic infrastructure, services and facilities that would mitigate and/or compensate for the impacts generated by the new development contrary."
Committee members turned down the proposal at Tuesday's session.
Applications receiving planning consent included closing a pedestrian entrance as part of a housing scheme on Bingle Way in West Derby and an extension at The Watering Can café at Greenbank Park.
An application to construct an 18-unit, three-storey apartment building and two detached houses on Beaconsfield Road in Woolton, following the demolition of an existing residential building, has also been approved.