The grade II listed former restaurant has been left vacant since 2014 and is becoming an eyesore in a leafy village
Cllr Kris Brown wants the city council to be given greater powers to tackle dumping(Image: )
A long abandoned former restaurant has become a “playground for flytippers” as Liverpool Council seeks court permission to clear the land. For more than a decade, land outside the former Crying Tree site on Grange Lane in Gateacre has lain vacant.
The business closed its doors for the final time in 2014, with various planning applications lodged to transform the site. Most recently, an extension was granted in October for plans to reimagine the location as a children’s day nursery.
However, while the future looks uncertain for the grade II listed location, it has become a dumping ground. In a bid to tackle the mess, Liverpool Council is to seek a warrant from the courts to enter the private land after an enforcement notice seemingly went ignored.
Known initially as the Gorsey Cop, the site comprises a substantial Victorian Villa with associated outbuildings, believed to have been built in the 1860s. The original name derives from the nearby Gorsey Cop Farm, no longer in existence, which pre-existed the house.
The house was built by the Cunningham family, originally Manchester cotton brokers, and continued as their primary family residence through several generations until 1922 when it was sold to Alexander McKechnie, a copper smelter who retained the house as a family dwelling. Between 1952 until 2014 the building had 11 successive owners and has been used variously as a private casino, restaurant and bar.
The waste dumped in Gateacre(Image: )
In 2010 the building was renamed The Crying Tree Bar and Grill, but ceased trading in 2014 when the site was closed. A planning application was lodged by Lee Goldsmith in April 2022 to convert the site in a 100-place day nursery after a 2017 bid to build homes on the land proved to be financially unviable.
According to Liverpool Council planning records, an extension for this application was applied in October last year, but no decision has been reached. Fly-tipping has become a constant issue on the site with what appears to be building materials left dumped outside the former entrance of late.
An enforcement notice was issued regarding the fly-tipping issues last year but according to an email seen by the ECHO, this went unheeded. The city council has now secured a date in court to get the right to clear the area.
The waste dumped in Gateacre(Image: )
It said: “It is noted that the enforcement notice was not complied with that the council is now proceeding with work in default to clear the accumulation of waste and pursuing a prosecution against the owner for non-compliance.”
Cllr Kris Brown represents Gateacre Village ward and said the city council needed further support to be able to intervene in similar cases. He said: “The former Crying Tree site is a constant issue for local residents as it continues to be a playground for fly-tippers.
“Being a private site, there’s only so much the council can continue to do. It continues to have planning application after planning application for a new nursery on the old site but nothing ever seems to come of it.
“It’s not enough to just keep clearing it up; we need real legislative support to tackle the root cause – landowners who abandon their responsibilities and leave our councils – already cash strapped and limited in resources – to deal with the mess.” Liverpool Council said it was not able to comment.