The demolition of a historic pub to make way for a Home Bargains is expected to go ahead after a lengthy delay.
Planning permission had initially been given for the Bridge Inn in Belle Vale to be knocked down in September 2020 in place of a branch of the budget store.
However, work is yet to begin on the site on Childwall Valley Road and Liverpool Council’s planning committee is expected to sign off on an application to relocate a substation on the site to meet operational requirements and because of high costs associated with running the substation in its current position.
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A Section 106 legal agreement was agreed between the applicant TJ Morris, Home Bargains’ parent company, and the city council in February last year, which had been expected to be the final hurdle for the project.
This will also now need to be amended.
The Bridge Inn, said to have been built in 1938, has been closed for some time and is boarded up while it occupies a prominent position on a busy junction and is a “locally recognised landmark” according to planning documents.
At the rear of the pub is an enclosed garden containing a former bowling green, now overgrown, and an ornamental garden with pond. To the side and rear are areas of forecourt and car parking, mostly surfaced in tarmac.
The demolition will make way for a Home Bargains store facing on to Childwall Valley Road towards the eastern corner with Kings Road.
A total of 91 parking spaces will be provided, down two as a result of the relocation of the substation.
According to the planning application, the movement of the sub-station has little impact on the development proposals and there are no additional highway implications to consider.
The loss of two parking spaces would have little impact on the overall provision, it is claimed, but a planning condition has been added to the officers’ recommendation to secure the provision of five electrical vehicle charging points to meet with local planning policy.
Officers have recommended that the plan be signed off when it goes before councillors on Tuesday March 1, subject to an amended Section 106 agreement ensuring the planting of street trees and covering of legal costs.
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