It will come as no surprise that I am delighted that MagHELL Developments are unable to proceed with their Hope Street plans.
I was critical of the plans to demolish Josephine Butler house, which MagHELL had started to do before planning permission was granted, and build a totally inappropriate development of apartments. (When did we stop calling them flats?) and shops in the Georgian Quarter of Liverpool.
I emailed MagHELL Managing Director, Michael Hanlon about this development expressing my disgust.
Michael Hanlon replied in the most explosive manner, (*see his email at the end of this blog... but be warned his email is not for persons of a sensitive nature).
I would have kept this private except that Michael Hanlon had seen fit to include his staff, his public relations company and his solicitor at Hill Dickinson, one of the main sponsors of Liverpool Capital of Culture year, in his reply to me. Silly boy.
I contacted the press and received extensive coverage in the local papers. Mr Hanlon did not accept an invitation to explain himself on the City Talk Breakfast Show.
It was a feather in my cap when our spat was the subject of the Nooks and Corners column of Private Eye. I was amazed at the number of Private Eye readers who contacted me expressing their support.
To add to this the Architects Journal also criticised Mr Hanlon for being "unprofessional".
I had expressed the hope that the current credit crunch bankrupts MagHELL Developments and that this development never sees the light of day. Not very charitable of me I know, but in my defence I have watched the destruction of Liverpool over the years with a mish mash of developments and I felt that the demolition of Josephine Butler House on Myrtle Street would be yet more mindless distruction.
As it turns out, I was right, MagHELL Developments are having trouble with their bankers, Royal Bank of Scotland. They want to demolish the building, having already removed the attractive red brick façade for specialist restoration, and turn the site into a large car park.
Now I am all for car parking in the city as you know, but this time: NO! MagHELL must replace the façade and the wimps in the planning department, supported by the toothless councillors must not allow this site to be turned into a car park.
MagHELL Developments have no idea when work will start on the Hope Street developments. It would be 'crystal ball gazing' to predict when work would start, according to MagHELL spokesman.
So why did the Planning Committee and the Planning Department officers give their permission for these developments to happen, when the money was not there?
Were they all carried along and dazzled by the 'pretty' drawing and boom town expectations of the developers, not just MagHELL but all the others.
Prior to the present downturn in property prices there were thousands of empty apartments in Liverpool - apartments that developers could not sell, yet more were being built. Why?
West One is in a very prominent position close to the Pier Head, designed by an award-winning architect Cesar Pelli. What did he win his awards for...his chrysanthemums, marrows or leeks?
In fact West One (where on earth did they get that name) is virtually empty. The cost of the apartments is dropping and still there are no buyers, why was it built after so many people had objected?
Originally this 1970s Technical College design of a building was supposed to be six, yes SIX stories higher. It was only objections raised by the World Heritage Commission that stopped West One being an even bigger disaster.
The Council planners had wanted West One limited to 12 stories, but gave-in to the developers’ demands for more stories and so a compromise was reached and now it is 17 stories... of empty flats.
Developers were meeting a need that was not there. Where are all these young professionals with money to spend? Not there... and they never were. Look at the high rise flats along the waterfront at night and you will see how many are empty, no lights on, just like our planning people, no lights on.
Sounds simple now but it was beyond the planning committees and the planning officers who gave permission for these white elephants, because that is what they are, empty blots on the landscape of Liverpool.
*This is the text of Michael Hanlon's e-mail. Dear Philip, thankyou for your exquisite email below which I presume refers to the granting of planning permission to redevelop the Josephine Butler House site at the junction of Hope Street and Myrtle Street.
Are you always so ignorant? If your wife thinks you are a fucking ignorant pig then perhaps someone can refer you to a specialist who may be able to help you.
However, if you are as ignorant as I think you are and are beyond medical help then we could always make room for you in the foundations within the new development.? From what I have heard about you from several colleagues of yours this course of action would delight many of your peers, and most certainly your wife.
Please let me know should you wish to discuss face to face your snide comments regarding what we may have done to secure planning consent for the scheme.....................but the short answer is more than 2 years of very high level discussions and negotiations with the Planning Director and Officers, Conservation Officers, Highways Officers, English Heritage and a whole raft of local consultation groups, many of which consist of time-wasting wankers like you who seem to think they are experts in heritage and regeneration and that professional people like myself and English Heritage don’t have a clue. Well guess what dickhead, you are wrong.
It’s been hard work but it will be worth it to develop a first class modern mixed use scheme which will bring delight into so many people’s lives, create in excess of £60m of investment and over 200 jobs for local people.
Finally, there is more chance of John Lennon giving a guest appearance next Friday night at one of your poxy tour do’s than the credit crunch bankrupting our business, so if you don’t like our proposals then that’s hard lines for you , so why don’t you fuck off and seek medical help for your condition too.
My contact numbers are below should you wish to discuss any of the above in greater detail, or arrange a meeting face to face.
Regards, Mike.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
(Thu 02/12)
TURN IT DOWN.
(Thu 11/11)
Do we need another Beatles book.
(Mon 11/10)
President or Pope, who is most welcome?
(Mon 16/08)
