After many years of discussion and dispute, Liverpool City Council's Planning Department has at last felt able to approve non-traditional replacement windows within the Wavertree Garden Suburb Conservation Area. The window design - which is by a firm called 'Residence 9' - was mentioned briefly in our Newsletter 197 (January 2014) and, since that time, planning permission has been granted for installations at two addresses: 29 Wavertree Nook Road and 133 Thingwall Road. Although the windows are made of UPVC, they incorporate three features not normally found in such windows: flush sashes, traditional hinges and a raised 'drip' strip running horizontally across the transom between the upper (top hung) and the lower (side hung) casements.

The appearance is very similar to the original timber windows, which were factory-made in Letchworth Garden City pre-1914 and are a very important part of the Conservation Area's character. The suppliers of the new windows - Manchester Window Factory - are proud of the fact that they have been able to manufacture a product in accordance with the conservation officers' precise specification, which was based on measured drawings of existing windows within the area. The widths of the mullions and transoms and the profile of the glazing bars are all identical to the originals.

As we mentioned in Newsletter 197, the Council is pursuing enforcement action against a number of householders who have had UPVC windows installed without applying for planning permission. Please remember that, if you live within the Conservation Area boundary and are considering window replacement, paving work, etc., or any form of tree pruning, it is ESSENTIAL that you contact the Planning Department first - phone 0151 233 3021 and they will call you back - to ask whether planning permission or tree works consent is needed.