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LOST TREES - AND A LOST FILE
The Victorian houses at 36-40 Sandown Lane have recently been extended and converted to flats. When the planning application (ref.03F/3843) was originally submitted we were broadly in favour of the scheme, but expressed doubts over the adequacy of the parking provision. Now the redevelopment has been completed, we are disappointed to see that - presumably in an attempt to provide as many car spaces as possible - virtually the whole of the former garden area, front and back, has been covered in tarmac. Several local residents have complained about the loss of trees and vegetation, but the Planning Department has apparently lost the file so is finding it difficult to prove what was agreed with the developer. However, the published Council minutes (4th May 2004) make it quite clear that a condition was imposed: 'Prior to work commencing on site … the treatment of all ground services not built upon shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority'. Furthermore the accompanying report states that 'The Planning Manager … proposes to impose conditions requesting … the submission of a landscaping scheme that includes the planting of replacement trees at a ratio of 2 new trees for every 1 tree removed'. We hope that the situation will be resolved without further delay.
BLUE COAT PLAYING FIELDS
As part of its 300th birthday celebrations in 2008, the Liverpool Blue Coat School is planning some major improvements in facilities for its pupils. These include an all-weather hockey pitch on the school playing fields, running the length of the Church Road North frontage and with a new paved, wheelchair accessible path from the existing gate on Woolton Road. A planning application (ref.07F/0183) has been submitted for this work, which includes the planting of 30 trees (oak or lime) to replace the diseased Manchester Poplars which have been felled, and to help mask the 3-metre high green mesh fence which will surround the new synthetic pitch. We have suggested that more trees are needed - and also that they should be planted in advance of the construction work commencing, so as to give the tree screen time to become established.
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