The Unitary Development Plan (UDP) for Liverpool was finally adopted by the City Council last month: eight years after it was first published in draft! Now the Plan is being reviewed - the first public event having been a Planning Workshop in Wavertree on 26th November. The publicity for this was almost non-existent (we only heard about it a few days beforehand) but it was nevertheless attended by about 30 local residents, including some of our Committee members. Anyone interested in attending further workshops - which will be held at Millennium House, Liverpool, between January and March 2003 - is urged to contact Mike Eccles of the Planning Department: phone 0151 233 5653 or e-mail udpreview@liverpool.gov.uk

Meanwhile …

… the plans for the OLIVE MOUNT REDEVELOPMENT (see picture) between Mill Lane and Thingwall Road have been amended. Having studied the new drawings, however, we see no reason to modify our views on this planning application (Newsletter 141). We still feel that too much open space is being lost, and that the proposed new blocks of flats are sited too close to the boundary walls.

… a revised planning application for the OLD POLICE STATION (currently Cuffs Bar) at 63-69 High Street is expected soon. Messrs Wetherspoons have engaged historical and design consultants, with a view to retaining more of the building's character, and we have been invited to assist them.

… work on the BLUE COAT SCHOOL extension in Church Road is now underway, following the granting of planning permission by the City Council in April, and the subsequent confirmation of government funding by the DfES. Our views on the design and materials of the new building were set out in previous Newsletters (138 and 140) and - together with the architects' computer-generated images of the project - they are now featured within a special section of our website.