A planning application (ref. 08F/1349) has been submitted to demolish the red-brick Victorian building known as St Gregory's House, Halewood Road, and to build a four-storey block of sheltered flats in its place. The building - which was until recently a training establishment for Catholic priests - was originally a pair of semi-detached houses called 'Red Lyn', built for a Mrs French in 1883.

We discovered a reference to it in the minutes of the Little Woolton Local Board of Health for December 1883; the Board's surveyor reported that Mrs French had built her new house over an old stone drain, despite his specific instruction that she must not do so! This could account for the subsidence, affecting the party wall between the two houses, which the current owners have given as a reason for the proposed demolition. If so, then it seems likely that the differential settlement took place very early on in the building's life - and could be remedied fairly easily.

Although situated just outside the Gateacre Village Conservation Area, we feel that the loss of this fine building will affect the character of the area and that the proposed large, flat-roofed block of flats will not be a worthy replacement. We have therefore submitted an objection to the planning application. The City Council's decision is currently awaited.