Liverpool Council has also been ordered to pay Peloton Real Estate’s costs
The storage plans are for part of the Garston Industrial Estate(Image: )
A major industrial development in a “neglected” area of the city that had been rejected by Liverpool Council will go ahead after a successful appeal. In April last year, many Garston residents gathered at Liverpool Town Hall to oppose Peloton Real Estate’s proposal for an open storage site on land encircled by York Street, Brunswick Street, Blackburne Street, and Window Lane.
The developers sought to repurpose the industrial site for open storage use, including the housing of plant/machinery, construction materials, vehicles, pallets, and self-storage units. However, this move sparked community anxiety around potential noise pollution and impact on air quality, especially following the contentious approval granted for the enlargement of a waste facility nearby earlier last year.
This was supported by members of the local authority’s planning committee, who backed the arguments put forward by residents, and rejected the application. Peloton launched an immediate appeal, the decision of which was confirmed late last week.
In his report, planning inspector Tim Burnham said Liverpool Council had objected on the grounds of noise and air quality but only chose to defend its position at an inquiry held in November on the grounds of noise and did not present a case on air quality or transport. Garston Community United (GCU) retained concerns among other matters over air quality and transport matters.
Peloton told the inquiry how the site would be open from 7am to 11pm with concerns raised regarding noise of operations during this period. However, this was not supported by the inspector.
The report said: “There is nothing to indicate any significant adverse impact in relation to noise from vehicle movements on the highway to and from the site. To conclude on this issue, there would be some limited adverse impacts in terms of noise.
“There would however be no significant adverse impact on the living conditions of occupiers of nearby residential properties with regard to noise associated with the proposed use of the site.” Mr Burnham also rejected issues around air quality, saying the development would not “give rise to any significant harm to the living conditions of occupiers of nearby residential properties.”
In approving the scheme, a condition was imposed which requires the submission of a scheme for highways improvement works which would include a signage scheme to discourage HGV users from deviating from the junction at Banks Road / Blackburne Street onto Banks Road.
Liverpool Council has also been ordered to pay Peloton’s costs after the appeal was brought. Mr Burnham wrote: “There is evidence of unreasonable behaviour by the council which has led the appellant to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process.
“A partial award of costs is therefore justified with regard to the appellants’ costs of responding to the concerns of the council with regard to air quality matters.” In a statement on social media, Garston councillors Sam Gorst and Lucy Williams criticised the decision to proceed.
They said: “It is a sad day, despite over 2,000 local residents signing a petition, and Liverpool City Council formally objecting, the planning inspectorate has overturned the council’s decision and given the green light for Peloton, a major corporation, to build a large storage and logistics development in Garston.”
The councillors added: “Garston is a living community with homes, schools, health services, traffic pressures and air quality concerns. Decisions about its future should be shaped by the people who live here, not imposed on us.
“We want to thank everyone who signed, campaigned, attended meetings, and raised their voices. This fight was right, and it matters even when the outcome is unjust.
“The struggle for community power, and development that serves people rather than shareholders does not end here.”
