When planning permission (ref.02F/0792) was granted, in February 2003, for the building of 249 dwellings on the site of Childwall Comprehensive School (Olive Mount Wing) and Olive Mount Heights, it was subject to a number of conditions. Among these is Condition 13:
'All trees on the site shall be adequately protected by the erection of … fencing [which] shall at no times be breached or removed without the prior written consent of the local planning authority'. Construction has been underway now for several months, but we have yet to see any evidence of this protective fencing. Several mature trees behind the Childwall Road/Thingwall Road boundary wall appear to be threatened by site excavations and the storage of building materials, and we have drawn our concerns to the attention of the Planning Department.

Condition 11 states: 'All parts of the sandstone boundary wall shall be retained hereafter and no parts shall be demolished at any time … without the prior written consent of the local planning authority'. We have been assured that all the sandstone blocks which have been removed are being carefully stored, and will be incorporated in the realigned sections of the wall when it is rebuilt.

Bethel Chapel
A planning application (ref.04F/2125) has been submitted by TRB Estates (Liverpool) Ltd to demolish the existing Welsh chapel at the bottom of Heathfield Road, and to construct 37 apartments - plus a small, modern chapel - on the site. The apartment block is to be a four-storey building with a curved, glazed frontage facing towards Penny Lane. We have objected to the scale of the proposal, and suggested that, at the very least, the existing chapel's façade should be incorporated within any new development

Chequers Pub
A planning application (ref.04F/1453) was submitted in April to convert the old Bank of Liverpool and Post Office building at 16-20 High Street into 12 flats. While we did not object to the principle of conversion, we asked that the alterations to the former Post Office shopfront should be in keeping with the rest of the building. We have recently heard that the application has been refused.

Wavertree Car Centre
A planning application (ref.04F/1747) was submitted in May to retain the steel cladding on the gable walls either side of Wavertree Car Centre, 17-21 High Street. When the sales office was revamped several years ago, we objected - without success - to the proposed cladding and style of lettering on that building, which we felt was inappropriate to its location within a Conservation Area. We were therefore pleased to hear that the latest application has been refused.