Residents say they are “suffering” as the wait to develop an historic landmark in south Liverpool goes on.
In 2017, planning permission was granted for a development that sought to convert the Greenbank Drive Synagogue into 22 apartments with another 36 apartments on its grounds. However, no major progress has been made at the site with the building falling into a worsening state of disrepair over the years. The developer claims Liverpool City Council is responsible for the hold up.
In June, developers Green Drive Ltd, who’ve brought forward the plans, told the ECHO that they were still committed to the development despite the last of visible progress so far. But at a meeting earlier this week, a local residents association hit out at the developers and raised significant concern over the future of the historic site.
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Residents, who wanted to only be referred to as Greenbank Drive Residents association, hit out at a spokesperson for Green Drive Ltd - present at the meeting - where they outlined the “suffering” the stalled development is causing for the local community. A number of residents said this stemmed from opposition to the plans in general, calling for them to be scrapped and the lease sold by the developer. Others raised concerns about privacy and how this would be impacted by a proposed four storey residential development built on the grounds.
Issues with break-ins to the site and its visual blight on the local area was also mentioned, with one member describing the historic building as a “festering stench in the middle of our community” - due to its worsening state and lack of cosmetic repair. In the last year, a number of urban explorers have made their way into the building, with one falling through its roof in 2019.
The Greenbank Drive Synagogue, also known as the Ark Synagogue, was once the centre of the city's thriving Jewish community and is situated near to Sefton Park. It was built in 1936 and used by its congregation until 2007, with the building deemed “at risk” in 2010 and was a focus of the ECHO's Stop the Rot campaign.
Last year, the building appeared to be placed up for sale, but Green Drive Ltd has said that this was never the case. The developer added that any listing of the building was not done so with permission.
A spokesperson for Greenbank Drive residents association, told the meeting: “After five years we still don’t know what’s going on. We’ve been hearing the same things for five years.
“We don’t trust the developer to be here. Want the council to rescind the planning permission that was granted.”
However one member of the group was more open to development on the land and instead called for the need for it to be “tidied”. But concerns were raised about the speed of development and an ongoing negotiation with the council, which the developer claims is still holding up the process. One member added: “By the time people have finished arguing, the building will have fallen down.”
A spokesperson for Green Drive Ltd told the meeting that the synagogue is a “beautiful building” and they still want to “make the development happen”. They said that a more formal and structured communication with residents over the past five years would have been better for all parties involved, adding that they are now working to “turn around what happened" in the earlier phases of the development.
But the developers hit out at Liverpool City Council claiming a renegotiation of the lease is still holding up the progress. They claim that the original lease stated the development needed to be built within 28 month but issues within the council meant that work was only able to begin with 10 months remaining - something the developer said was not a feasible timescale.
Therefore a new lease had to be agreed, but the developer claims that Liverpool City Council have increased the fee for the lease agreement which makes the development "financially challenging". Green Drive Ltd claim they are trying to negotiate with the council but are meeting a dead end when attempting to reach a new agreement - claiming calls and emails haven’t been answered for over a year.
But the spokesperson for Green Drive Ltd said they have no “no desire to walk away” from the development and that pressing ahead with plans - once an agreement could be reached - was the "right thing to do". It was added that work could start within three months after a new agreement was found.
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: “As the developer has been granted planning consent for the site and has an agreed lease in place the developer is able to progress with their plans.”
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