Major plans to redevelop an area around Alder Hey Children’s Hospital have been approved despite protests from neighbours.
Liverpool Council’s planning committee passed two applications on Tuesday that will see the hospital extended and homes, shops and other amenities built nearby.
The first part of the development will see an extension of a clinical accommodation block on the hospital site itself and expanded facilities there.
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The second will see a new development on land on nearby Springfield Gardens, with a series of office, commercial and residential housing blocks built.
The new development on Springfield Gardens will include four new blocks housing a range of facilities, including homes, a gym, a creche and retirement apartments.
A representative for Step Places, the applicant, said the plans “had been developed a scheme with extensive consultation” with the community and had “evolved” with commentary from ward councillors.
He said the new development would include a “public piazza” that would link the hospital, park and the nearby community.
A number of neighbours objected to the plans at the meeting this morning, including the West Derby Society’s Stephen Guy.
Mr Guy said the society objected to the development outside the hospital grounds, arguing it would create “privacy issues” and put pressure on “an already overburdened road network”.
Ward councillor Harry Doyle also spoke against the plans, saying the community around the hospital had been let down by previous promises from the trust that runs the hospital.
Councillor Doyle said parking was a serious issue in the area and that that issue would worsen if the plans were passed.
Despite the objections from neighbours and ward councillors, both plans were approved by the committee.
That came despite efforts from councillor Steve Radford to prevent the extension of the hospital, with fellow member Pat Moloney also voting to reject the application.
