• Liverpool City Council’s formal planning consultation begins
• People urged to submit their views on Everton’s proposals to Council planning department
• Planning application expected to be determined in the summer

Residents, local businesses, stakeholders and the general public have the opportunity to give Liverpool City Council their views on Everton Football Club’s proposals for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock as the Council’s formal consultation on the planning application begins.

People will have from Friday 21 February until Friday 20 March to comment on the detailed planning application submitted by the Club and share their views with Liverpool City Council’s planning department.

The consultation is part of the formal planning process that needs to take place before Liverpool City Council makes its final decision on the planning application for a new waterfront stadium, within Peel L&P’s Liverpool Waters site. It is anticipated the application will be determined by the Council’s planning committee in the summer.

Everton submitted their plans for a 52,888-seat football stadium within Bramley-Moore Dock on 23 December 2019. The application, consisting of over 50 technical documents covering 30 subject areas, is currently being uploaded by Council officials to their planning portal with the full suite of documents expected to be viewable on Friday.

The planning submission came after the Club’s own two-stage public consultation, which received 63,000 responses and is believed to be the largest commercial public consultation to have taken place in the city. Responses to the Club’s public consultation – in which 98 per cent of respondents supported the design of the proposed new stadium - informed the final plans that Everton submitted in December.

The stadium proposals are part of The People’s Project, which also includes a community-led legacy at Goodison Park, for which an outline planning application will be submitted next month.

The People’s Project looks set to deliver a £1bn boost to the local economy, create up to 15,000 jobs and attract 1.4m visitors to the city each year.

The planning application for the stadium includes the creation of a water channel to retain the visual dock connection, a Fan Zone and a new 345-space multi-storey car park within the stadium building.

The application has a heavy emphasis on heritage, bringing the history of the docks to life and restoring and incorporating important historical elements into the landscape design, such as railway tracks which used to transport coal to and from warehouses around the site.

The application also includes a matchday transport strategy that has been developed in conjunction with Liverpool City Council Highways Authority, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseytravel, train, bus and taxi operators. The Club has also proposed the repair and restoration of the existing Grade II listed Hydraulic Tower as a cultural asset, which will be the subject of a separate application for listed building consent.

Colin Chong, Stadium Development Director, said: “A significant amount of work has gone into getting to this final stage of applying for planning permission, and extreme care has been taken to ensure that our stadium proposals enhance Bramley-Moore Dock and the surrounding area.

“The plans we have submitted to Liverpool City Council, and which are now up for consultation as part of the formal planning application process, have been developed following a review of every single comment that we received during our own two-stage public consultation.

"The people of this city and region have helped shape our final plans, and I would urge everybody who took part, as well as those that didn’t, to now share their views with the Council at this final stage. This project belongs to the people of Liverpool and it is vital that you use your voice.

“A new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be truly transformational for North Liverpool, the city region and the Northern Powerhouse. This is a once in a generation opportunity to make a difference to the future of our city. I would ask everyone, even if you are not a football fan, to consider this final planning application and submit your comments to the Council at this vitally important moment.”

How to submit your comments

People can view the full submission on the Liverpool Council website here. 

A hard copy of the application has also been deposited at Central Library, William Brown Street, (1st Floor Reference Section) and is available to view during normal library opening times - no appointment required.

The application is accompanied by a number of supporting documents that explain the scheme and aid the assessment of the application. An application guide has also been provided to explain the purpose of the different application documents which include the architectural plans and elevation drawings, Design & Access Statement, Environmental Statement, Transport Assessment, Heritage Statement, Alternative Sites Assessment and Landscaping Plans. These documents describe the need for a new stadium, the reasons why the Bramley-Moore Dock site has been chosen, how the stadium design has evolved and how it is envisaged the development will be delivered.

Comments on the application need to be made in writing by 20 March 2020 quoting the application reference number 20F/0001. Comments should be emailed to the dedicated council application email address: efcapp@liverpool.gov.uk

Comments can also be sent by post to The Planning Department, Liverpool City Council, 4th Floor, Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1AH, quoting the application reference number 20F/0001.