SOUTHPORT & FORMBY
16 16March March2022 2022
Vol 29• Issue 11
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From Little Acorns Community Early Education shows support An and Childcare Provision Feature for Ukraine
INSIDE THIS WEEK: Town centre could soon get new aparthotel AN ‘aparthotel’ could be created above a kitchen and bathroom store in Southport town centre. A planning application has been submitted to Sefton Council to turn the vacant building above Crown House, on Coronation Walk, into 19 self-contained apartments. The applicant, Manchester Real Estate Ltd, believes an aparthotel, which is described as a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system, would be beneficial for visitors to the town. The existing ground floor, occupied by Crown The building on CoronaHouse, will remain tion Walk unchanged. The planning application states: “The upper floors, historically used as office space, have remained vacant for a considerable period, leading the applicant to explore other commercial enterprises that bring the building back into viable use. “The application seeks permission to use the upper floors as an ‘apart-hotel’ where the individual flats would be used for hotel accommodation. The flats would be used on a temporary basis and as an alternative form of accommodation for people visiting Southport. “The longer term trends indicate that the number of visitors is increasing, and that those visitors are spending more compared to previous years. Most visitors are day-trippers, only 8% stay overnight, less than half of which stay in hotels or B&B accommodation. “The visitors who stay overnight contribute more to the local economy than day visitors. The proposed development would see the regeneration of vacant units located within Southport town centre. “As such, the proposal would bring a vacant building back into use within the Conservation Area, making a positive contribution to the conservation area and character of the area as a whole.”
GO-AHEAD FOR FLATS AND ROOF GARDEN AT FORMER BHS STORE Report by Tom Martin PLANS to transform the upper floors of the former BHS store on Chapel Street, Southport into apartments and a spectacular roof terrace have been approved. Sefton Council has given permission to JSM Company Group to turn the first, second, third and fourth floors of the building into 30 self-contained flats, as well as a roof terrace. The planning documents state that alterations to the roof will be made to create the roof terrace for future residents to access it as an outdoor area. The approval has been a long time in the making, with the plan designs first lodged with the council in December 2020. BHS had traded for almost 25 years on An artist's impression of how the roof terrace will look and, inset, how the building looks now. Chapel Street before closing in July 2016 after the company fell into administration in close connections to social and recreational “The location of the development will encourApril 2014. activities, and close links. age people to walk, cycle or make use of public The planning application states how the flats “To achieve long term sustainability for the transport services.” would be “social, affordable or intermediate development and in turn the area, the planning A separate planning application has already rent.” application seeks to reflect a mixed community been lodged with the council which could see It continues: “The apartments will provide of varying age groups. Accordingly the devel- the ground floor turned into “retail units and accommodation for families and couples wish- opment includes a property type that can drinking/eating establishments.” ing to stay within a vibrant town centre with respond to the continued evolution of the area. Continued inside
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