A former Brookside actor's plans to turn a transform a former Mersey Ferry into one of the city's newest waterfront attractions are set to be approved this week despite the coronavirus crisis causing many council meetings to stop.
Philip Olivier, who played Tim ‘Tinhead’ O’Leary in the soap, is among a group of business leaders from our region which plans to convert the dilapidated MV Royal Daffodil into a museum, restaurant and bar.
The plans will go before Liverpool's planning committee, one of the only meetings still being held amid the crisis, on Tuesday.
Officers in the council's planning department have recommended the project be approved.
Mr Olivier, now CEO of Liverpool City Sights, submitted plans for the transformation - which also involves a hotel below the deck of the ship - last year.
The idea of resurrecting the ship has the backing of both city region metro mayor Steve Rotheram and Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson.
The ship has been out of service since 2012.
Speaking to the ECHO last year, Mr Olivier said he and others involved in the project were "working hard" to make sure the ship would become a major destination for both visitors and local people.
He said: “For that reason, it’s been so important to ensure that investment and jobs pay back into the area and that the business can continue to contribute to the development of our waterfront zone and the wider Visitor Economy.”
Mr Olivier said more than £600k will be spent on transforming the much-loved vessel into a floating venue that will feature a cafe, cocktail bar, and 106-cover seafood and grill restaurant, alongside an al-fresco Promenade Deck and event space in the former engine room of the hull.
The hotel part of the development would be the largest floating hotel on the Mersey.
Also involved in the venture is Orb Events Agency managing director Joshua Boyd and Managing Directors of popular Baltic Village businesses, Alfred McCaughran and Terence Stockton.
