Plans for a 66-bed hotel above remains of a listed building at a Liverpool golf course were compared to Milton Keynes train station as it was rejected by councillors.
An application had been made by the operating company of Allerton Manor Golf Club to construct a four-storey extension above its Grade II listed Manor House structure to accommodate a new hotel and basement spa. However, Liverpool Council has said no to the proposals over size, scale and impact on the green space.
Plans had originally been put forward for a 31-bed development which representatives from Allerton Golf Trading Ltd said were no longer viable financially and had hoped the new scheme would be able to be constructed in its stead. Work has already begun on wider improvements at the golf club including a pavilion golf shop, adventure golf course, relocated putting green, driving range and reconfiguration of the golf course to form a single 18 hole golf course, access and associated external works and reconfiguration and expansion of car parking across the site.
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The meeting was told how development of a hotel was always at the heart of the golf club’s master plan and in the view of the applicants, the new design was “as good if not better”. Representatives said the scheme would create 30 new jobs and sustain the existing remains of the former house for future years.
Felicity Collins, Liverpool Council planning officer, said the golf club grounds were a “highly sensitive location” and the designs were “not appropriate”. In addition, Ms Collins said officers were not comfortable from "a conservation point of view".
Cllr Tom Cardwell wasn’t sold on the application and said while he acknowledged it was “architecturally subjective,” it represented a “big glass box” stuck on to the Grade II facade, adding “it looks like Milton Keynes train station to me.” Committee chair, Cllr Tony Concepcion, said while Liverpool welcomes investments and developments across the city, “this one doesn’t meet the requirements” and moved it be rejected.
However, additional plans to build a marquee within the compound behind the listed façade to be used for drinking, dining and special events for a temporary period of three years pending the proposed deliverance of a hotel via the conversion and extension of the listed manor were accepted by the committee.
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