Plans to demolish “one of Waterloo’s finest buildings” and replace it with 106 apartments have been approved.
An application to demolish 19th century villa Park House in Waterloo were submitted earlier this year after previous attempts in 2020 and 2021 had proved unsuccessful.
Developer Anwyl Partnerships has stated it had sought to “address the concerns” raised during and was trying to meet an “acute” need for housing for older people in the borough.
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In documents submitted to Sefton Council's planning department, Park House, which is listed as a non-designated heritage asset, is described as having been “compromised” by “low quality” extensions and alterations over hte years.
Among six objections received to the development, were complaints about the design of the new apartments, described variously as of “brutal appearance, looks like a car park, unattractive and box like appearance, looks like city centre block of student flats.”
Other concerns addressed the issue of the heritage of Park House, highways and lighting concerns.
Recommending approval, officer said the development met a local need while addressing concerns raised in previous applications.
At Bootle Town Hall tonight, councillors expressed concern over plans to retain a pond at the site, with Cllr Paula Spencer saying she was worrying young children could end up falling into it, if conditions weren’t included to ensure safety.
This prompted conservative councillor Joe Riley to say there should “an element of personal responsibility” and that “you can’t put a fence around every body of water.”
Cllr Spencer said: “i’m not suggesting barbed wire” and questioned whether the argument of personal responsibility would feel correct should a child end up in the water.
Officers said a condition could be added to have some safety measures in place, including signs or other provision.
Councillors then voted unanimously to approve the project, meaning it could soon spell the end for the Victorian era Park House.
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