Company behind ‘Holy Trinity’ plan opposite Blues new stadium ordered to cease work immediately
Work on a planned fan zone opposite Everton’s new stadium has been ordered to stop
Work to create a new fan zone opposite Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium has been dramatically stopped after a council inspection raised health and safety concerns.
Earlier this week, the ECHO reported that a planning application had been submitted for a new marquee structure to be assembled opposite the Blues’ new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The company behind the plans – Mersey View Leisure Ltd – intended to name the fan zone The Holy Trinity, in tribute to legendary Everton midfielders Alan Ball, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey.
A licensing application was granted by the city council earlier this year, permitting operators Mersey View Leisure to operate from 9am to midnight daily. This includes the sale of alcohol on the premises only.
The plans are from a private company and in no way linked to Everton Football Club.
But while planning permission had not yet been granted, Liverpool City Council said work on the structure had already started, prompting an inspection from its Building Control team this week.
The local authority confirmed that this inspection raised a number of health and safety concerns, which, along with the fact that permission to build had not been granted, led to a stop notice being issued to Mersey View Leisure Ltd, meaning any work on the plans must immediately stop.
Confirming this, a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: “Following a site inspection this week by Building Control officers a number of health and safety concerns were raised about the construction of this building.
A CGI image of how it was hoped the fan zone would look(Image: FrancisDonovan/Spire Design)
“Due to the nature of these concerns, and the fact the scheme has no planning permission, the Council has issued a Stop Notice to Mersey View Leisure Ltd.
“This notice sets out a contravention of building regulations as required by Regulation 47D(3), under the Building Act, which requires works to immediately cease.”
The ECHO understands that if the stop notice is not adhered to, the council will explore further potential legal steps it could take regarding this matter.
The ECHO has attempted to contact Mersey View Leisure Ltd for a response.
The site is bounded on the east side by Regent Road, to the south and west sides by Fulton Street and to the north side by Boundary Street. It was anticipated the new facility would use the entire space, leased to the applicant by Liverpool timber merchants Terry’s Timber.
In its planning application for the scheme, the company suggested it had gone to extra lengths to make sure the application would be appropriate for the site. The application said: “It is accepted that the development of the new Everton Stadium alone will attract a possible increase in crime and anti-social behaviour, therefore additional attractions will similarly add to that possibility.
“It was also acknowledged that the new Everton Stadium could become a target for terrorism, and therefore consultation took place on steps to respond to any perceived terrorist attack by both the developer and Merseyside Police. Those steps have been agreed and will be implemented by both parties.”