EVERTON FC’s plan to move to Kirkby took a step nearer last night as it emerged
Liverpool council is no longer likely to formally object to the scheme.
The city’s planning committee, which meets on Wednesday, has been recommended to raise a number of concerns about the £400m scheme that also involves building a Tesco superstore.
But councillors are not being asked to oppose the scheme now the retail element is effectively cut by 30%, after the authority previously said it would object.
The council wants a further reduction in floorspace and “robust conditions and/or legal agreements” dictating how much expansion can take place in future.
Last night, Ian Ross,
Everton’s director of communications, said: “If Liverpool City Council is not formally objecting, that can only be good news for the project.”
In April, the supermarket was forced, in the face of mounting opposition, to downgrade the amount of retail in the scheme which includes 50 shops from around 72,000 sq m, to 50,000 sq m.
Sefton council’s planning committee, which was also previously minded to object before the reduction, will also meet on Wednesday.
Officials in Sefton have not yet advised councillors whether to formally object, but have raised a number of concerns with the scheme.
If neither council objects, it would reduce the likelihood of the Government calling an inquiry into the scheme which could delay it by a year, or derail it.
Both local authorities are worried about future expansion of the retail element.
Tesco achieved the reduction by removing mezzanine floors, but these could be reintroduced without needed additional planning permission if smaller than 200 sq m.
Both councils are concerned at the prospect of an incremental re-introduction of the floorspace.
A report to Sefton councillors quotes a letter from Tesco which states the stripping out of mezzanine floors “has implications for the viability of the scheme”.
It goes on: “While some retailers may well require additional floorspace in the form of a mezzanine soon after opening if trading potentially justifies such a move, most will only require the additional floorspace once the outlet has traded for over a year, some two years.”
Officials in Sefton remain concerned that, even on the reduced scale, the retail element is “inappropriate”. Liverpool council officials said they “strongly support” Knowsley council’s ambition to regenerate Kirkby town centre.
However, they state that despite the reduction, the shopping space is still “extremely large”.
They remain unconvinced about the “need” for the scale of development being proposed, and have “unanswered questions”.
They recommend that “a more thorough assessment is required and a further reduction in retail floorspace should be negotiated”.
“Should members of Knowsley council be minded to approve this application then officers advise that the level of future floorspace should be controlled by robust conditions and legal agreements.”
A spokesman for Knowsley council said: “All comments submitted as part of the three consultation exercises will be taken into account when the planning committee meets.”
