A new workshop is to be built on the site of a Liverpool prison to aid the rehabilitation of inmates.
An application has been lodged with Liverpool Council ’s planning committee on behalf of the Ministry of Justice for a new building to be constructed on the site of HMP Liverpool - known locally as Walton Prison. The development will be used for “vocational and educational work streams to help promote prisoner rehabilitation.”
The proposal would be for a 30m x 54m building to be put on the Hornby Road site to comprise four small workshop rooms with separate plant rooms and storage. Each internal workshop would have main access with external security gates and service doors will be located to the rear for vehicle access and goods delivery.
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No objections have been lodged in relation to the application, which will go before the local authority committee next Tuesday. According to a document submitted to Liverpool Council ahead of the meeting, the proposed workshop would be at least 30m from dwellings on Lynwood Gardens and 70m away from properties on Broomfield Gardens to the north of the site.
It is said the new building will not exceed the height of the existing 12ft high wall surrounding the prison and “therefore is unlikely to cause overshadowing or create an overbearing relationship with the nearby dwellings.” The workshop is intended to be used during daytime hours with levels of noise not expected to be significantly higher than the daily operation of the prison complex.
The report to go before the planning committee added that the new building would not be visible from the street owing to the existing prison wall and would not unduly impact residents or the surrounding highways. It has been recommended to be approved by committee members on the condition that the Ministry of Justice enters into a Section 106 agreement to fund street trees, monitoring of compliance and the public art strategy.
The application will be heard on Tuesday at Liverpool Town Hall.
