Consultation on St George's Gateway Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

Start date: Thursday 26th June 2025
End date: Thursday 7th August 2025

What are we consulting on?

In the heart of the city centre, St George's Gateway is an area rich in history, culture and architectural grandeur, presenting a majestic arrival point to Liverpool. Together with a consultant team, with support from National Museums Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, we are producing an SPD to guide regeneration in the area, and to facilitate sustainable growth which benefits the city's economy and its residents. 

We’d like to know what you value in the area and would love to hear your thoughts and aspirations to help shape the priorities, focus and change within the St. George’s Gateway area. 

We would like to hear from all groups that may be affected by the proposals, whether that’s local residents, businesses or students who live, work or study within the area, visitors to the city and interested members of the public. 

Indicative area

The focus of the SPD comprises the area around St. George’s Hall, St. John’s Gardens and William Brown Street. The site is defined by Hatton Garden and Prescot Street on the west (including the now defunct Churchill Way flyovers); Great Crosshall Street, Byrom Way and Hunter Street on the north; and Norton Street, Islington, and along Commutation Row in front of Lime Street Station in the east.

Aims of the SPD

• To maintain, shape and improve the potential of the public realm and support the diverse range of functions, experiences and activities within the area, including culture, commerce, education, movement, housing and community life.
• To protect and enhance the surrounding environment and its assets, create socially and commercially attractive places, and ensure that designs are informed by the local context.
• To propose ways to improve connectivity across the area and with adjacent neighbourhoods through safe, green and easy-to-use streets and routes which promote active travel and bring life to the area.
• To ensure that high-quality public realm is implemented as part of any new development, regeneration and street renewal.
• To promote a landscape and place-led approach to regeneration, seeking to create a framework for well-designed, sustainable, and beautiful places where people of all ages want to live, play, work, and spend time.

Objectives of the SPD

• Enhance public spaces - suggest ways to improve streets and routes making them easier to navigate, safer, and attractive, including ways to improve the links between North Liverpool and the city centre.
• Propose sustainable transport improvements - suggesting practical and achievable ways to promote walking, wheeling, cycling, and other forms of active travel.
• Expand green spaces - improve biodiversity, green and blue infrastructure to reduce the impacts of climate change and improve the appearance and enjoyment of the area.
• Bring new life to unused buildings - propose creative ideas for the reuse of empty or neglected buildings into functional and valuable spaces, boosting regeneration and the local economy.
• Unlock the potential of development sites - identify opportunities and provide a framework to unlock sites for development and make better use of land and buildings, including the creation of spaces that enhance community life and improve the overall quality of the area.
• Develop clear design criteria - create guidance that reflects the unique character of each area, ensuring new developments fit well into their surroundings and contributes positively to the local identity.

The Consultant Team

The multidisciplinary team is led by LDA Design, one of the UK’s leading landscape architecture and urban design practices, with support from Haworth Tompkins Architects, PLACED, Aspinal Verdi, WSP, Pegasus and Hatch.

How to comment

There are a number of ways for you to engage and contribute:

1. Online engagement

Complete a short online survey or leave feedback

The online engagement platform is run by local social enterprise PLACED on behalf of Liverpool City Council. The platform for engagement on St George's Hall Gateway includes various options for local people and stakeholders to have your say and includes a survey, comments area and an interactive map.

The platform will close for comments on Thursday 7th August.

2. Self-led walk and activity sheet

Take a self-led walk and share your insights into the challenges and opportunities in the area. Collect a sheet from one of the following locations and return completed sheets to any of the locations before Wednesday 6th August.

 You don't need to book - simply take a sheet and explore the area!

• Lovelocks Coffee Shop, 27 Old Haymarket, L1 6ER
• Central Library, William Brown Street, L3 8EW
• Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, L3 8EL
• World Museum, William Brown Street, L3 8EN
• St George’s Hall, St George’s Place, L1 1JJ
• LJMU Avril Robarts Library, 79 – 81 Tithebarn Street, L2 2ER
• LJMU James Parsons Building, Byrom Steet, L3 3AF

3. Drop-in events and walking tour

We are holding two in-person drop-in events to directly from you.

• Wednesday 9th July, 5pm to 7.30pm at Lovelocks Coffee Shop, 27 Old Haymarket, L1 6ER
• Thursday 10th July, 5pm to 7.30pm at Liverpool Central Library (foyer), William Brown Street, L3 8EW

You can drop-in at any time during the above hours.

Walking tours around the St George's area will also be taking place on 9th and 10th July. These must be booked:

Book tour for Wednesday 9th July, 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Book tour for Thursday 10th July, 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

4. Roaming pop-up displays

On Wednesday 16th July between 10am and 5pm we will be holding roaming pop-up displays in various locations around St George’s Place and the surrounding area. Look out for us on the day if you are in the area!

What happens to my views?

Once the engagement period closes, the feedback will be accessed by a restricted team of Liverpool City Council staff and the consultant team only, and will only be used to inform the new SPD. The results will be published on this website, in a consultation report which is expected to be released in early 2025. 

Responses will be summarised for inclusion in the report. Your comments may be included in the report, but this will be done anonymously. 

The data from this consultation will be kept securely for a maximum of 12 months and then destroyed. You can find more information in our privacy notice.

What happens next?

Following the completion of the engagement period, Liverpool City Council and its consultants will review the feedback and use it to inform the drafting of the St George’s Gateway SPD.

The draft SPD will then be made available for external view and public consultation. This is currently proposed to happen in Spring 2025. After the consultation period closes, the final SPD will be prepared and reported to Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet early Summer 2025. If approved, the document will be fully adopted and become a material consideration in all current and future planning decisions. 

Further information

If you have any questions about this consultation, please email planning.engagement@liverpool.gov.uk