Two years after Liverpool was brutally stripped of its Unesco World Heritage status, the city’s council is poised to make amends and impose tighter restrictions on the city’s future towers.
The Tall Buildings Supplementary Planning Document is being submitted to Liverpool council’s cabinet tomorrow (October 17) and intends to make sure that all tall building proposals make a positive contribution to the city’s skyline.
What does that mean, exactly? Basically, the doc wants to ensure that all new skyscrapers are attractive, help with the city’s growth, are high quality and that they are sustainable. The document, informed by public consultation, includes guidelines on the location, height and design of future towers.
It comes after Unesco removed Liverpool from its list of world heritage sites in 2021. The city was criticised after overdevelopment caused an ‘irreversible loss’ of historic value at the Victorian Docks and a ‘significant loss to its authenticity and integrity’.
Five spots around the city have been identified as ideal places for new tall buildings, with a different height limit set for each. They are Liverpool Waters, Commercial District, Leeds Street/ Pall Mall, Paddington Village and the southern fringe of Baltic Triangle. The tallest buildings will be limited to 50 storeys.
Nick Small, council cabinet member for economy and development said: ‘Liverpool’s skyline is world famous and its development needs to be sensitively handled. We need to ensure its historic character and charm are maintained, whilst allowing for economic growth and job creation.
‘We want to ensure our next generation of tall buildings will have a long-term purpose and can instil pride when we look up at them, both for how they look and what they offer.’
Time Out in Liverpool
World Heritage Site or not, Liverpool is one of the UK’s finest cities. If it’s on your bucketlist (and it certainly should be) we’ve got loads of in-depth guides, curated by proper locals. Here are the very best things you can do there, all the restaurants you have try, the best nightlife spots and our favourite hotels. There’s loads more we love about this city – we’ve covered the history of the Baltic Triangle, the importance of Liverpool being 2023’s Eurovision host and the abundance of Beatles-related attractions in the city.
ICYMI: this long-neglected English seaside resort town is getting a huge glow-up.
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