As foreshadowed in our November 2003 Newsletter, plans have been drawn up for the conversion of the former Gateacre Brewery building - more recently Clegg's Felt Factory - into residential apartments. The plans include the demolition of the more modern factory buildings to the rear of the site, and their replacement by apartment blocks and town houses.

Altogether about 30 dwelling units are proposed, with vehicular access from Lower Sandfield off Sandfield Road. Some of the flats will be built on a 'deck' above the proposed parking area, which is designed to accommodate about 35 cars, and further parking spaces will be laid out at the Sandfield Road entrance to the site. The old Brewery building - including the former manager's house at 42 Gateacre Brow - is a Listed Building, and the plans aim to preserve its Victorian character. However, the rest of the development - on the advice of the City Council's conservation officer - will be designed in a more contemporary style, and the 'old' and 'new' parts of the complex will be linked by a 'glass box' structure accommodating one of the staircases.

Members of our Committee were given a preview of the plans earlier this month, when the architect and the owner's representative showed us round the building and described what is being proposed. We shall shortly be examining the scheme in more detail, and forwarding our views to the Council's Planning Department in the usual way.

The drawings should very soon be available for inspection at Millennium House, Victoria Street, Liverpool - the reference number of the planning application is 05F/0664, and there will also be a listed building consent application - and we would encourage all members of the Society to study them and send us (and the Council) any comments. The phone number for enquiries about this and other Liverpool planning applications is 0151 233 3021.