‘Tired building’ in Southport town centre to be renovated into new shops and apartments

Plans have been approved to bring a “tired building back into use” in Southport town centre, creating two new shop units and six new apartments and “promoting town centre living”. 

The scheme will see the redevelopment of the former Mini’s Wine Bar & Eatery, formerly the Lal Qila restaurant, at 133-135 Eastbank Street. 

The scheme will see the creation of six new jobs (two full time, four part time), with proposed opening hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. 

It would include the sub-division of the existing ground floor unit into two retail units, the demolition of the existing outrigger, the erection of a single storey rear extension and the conversion to two studio apartments to ground floor and conversion of existing first floor flats to three self-contained one bedroom apartments and one studio apartment. 

The plans were submitted by Mohammed Iqbal, with the scheme designed by RAL Architects Limited. 

In the application, the firm said: “RAL Architects were appointed to put together a design scheme for the refurbishment, remodelling and extension of a building within the Southport town centre. 

“The building is located on 133-135 Eastbank Street and currently comprises a restaurant at ground level and two x 3 bedroom apartments on the first floor, which are in need of modernisation and are presently too large to meet market demand.

“The proposals will put a tired building back into use, improving its general conditions and maximising its internal and external space.

“The redesigned residential accommodations will make the whole building more appealing, improving the living conditions of future occupants and therefore promoting town centre living.

“The retail function at ground level will be retained and the use of the space above the shops for residential accommodation is in support of sustainable living.” 

In his report, Sefton Council Chief Planning Office Derek McKenzie wrote: “The introduction of limited residential use while retaining a commercial use to the lower ground floor within this building would contribute to an improvement in the vitality of the town centre.

“The proposal would retain an active ground floor use within this secondary retail frontage. “The applicant has stated proposed opening hours on the application form which are acceptable and would be secured by a planning condition. 

“The proposed changes to the externalities of the building are minor and predominantly to the rear of the building. As such, the development would not cause any significant harm to the street frontage. On balance the principle of the proposal is acceptable. 

“The proposal would form a car-free development however this is acceptable given the accessibility of the site to public transport. The scale of development is relatively small and would provide a small windfall to contribute towards the Council’s 5 year housing position.” 

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