Notice of representations to be given in writing or by email by 12 noon, Friday 24 September 2021 to the Council’s Monitoring Officer (committeeservices@wirral.gov.uk) and to be dealt with in accordance with Standing Order 11.1.

Petitions may be presented to the Committee. The person presenting the petition will be allowed to address the meeting briefly (not exceeding one minute) to outline the aims of the petition. The Chair will refer the matter to another appropriate body of the Council within whose terms of reference it falls without discussion, unless a relevant item appears elsewhere on the Agenda. Please give notice of petitions to committeeservices@wirral.gov.uk in advance of the meeting.

There was one statement from Roger Lee in respect of the Dominick house report.

My name is Roger Lee, I am a chartered town planning consultant and have acted as a consultant on behalf of Prospect Estates Ltd for a number of years on a range of development projects, including outline and full planning applications, planning appeals and prior approval applications.

I submitted the prior approval applications on Prospect’s behalf for the change of use of Dominick House to residential units, comprising three separate applications – one for 45 units, one for 50 units and one for 70 units, all of which were approved by the council. The reason for the variation in unit numbers is to give maximum flexibility relating to what the ultimate demand may be for occupation of the building.

As a starting point to demonstrate the compatibility of Prospect’s proposals with the aspirations of the Council, Dominick House is included in the draft Liscard Masterplan for refurbishment and redevelopment to bring it back into an active use with the primary aim for it to be a residential use, although the Masterplan advises of a preference for a more interactive use of the ground floor rather than wholescale residential, which is what the current planning approvals are for.

Prospect Estates are agreeable to a non-residential use of the ground floor and last year entered into discussions with the Citizens Advice Bureau who had expressed an interest in occupying the ground floor of the building. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing delays in reaching an agreement with the council the CAB have now secured alternative premises.

Prospect and the council have been in discussions over the freehold of the building since May last year and until the turn of the year those discussions were progressing positively with an understanding that the council wished to progress with an agreement with Prospect without delay.

Unfortunately, that position has subsequently changed and the council now appears to wish to take a considerably longer period of time to explore its options and have linked this to the unknown future at this stage of the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre.

With respect though, Prospect’s proposals align with those in the draft Master Plan and there is no need to delay the negotiations on the freehold interest as the current position with Dominick House does not have any negative effect on the overall long-term aspirations for Liscard.

Prospect Estates is a longstanding experienced property and development company. It has carried out a number of similar developments in recent years in the north of the country – in Accrington, in Stockport, in Bolton, in Barnsley, and in Sunderland – building out residential conversions and securing much needed high quality residential occupation for people living in those areas. This is its simple aspiration for Dominick House and I would urge you to support the company’s proposals to acquire the freehold interest and bring this building forward for development which will have a considerable and positive impact in terms of the regeneration of the centre.

The Chair thanked Mr Lee for his representations and assured him that his comments would be taken into account by members during their consideration of item 9 (Dominick House Liscard).