Residents of Corn Street, one of Liverpool's last surviving Victorian streets, fear their community could be disrupted by plans for more than 60 new social rent homes on a neighbouring former flour mill site. The vacant former Wilson's flour mill on Mill Street in Dingle closed in 2022, ending a history dating back to 1872 and Britain's second Industrial Revolution.
Historic street faces new development
In November 2024, Mill Street Developments Ltd was granted permission to demolish the former flour mill after purchasing the site in 2023 for £1.1m. To the north of the site is Corn Street, which was saved from demolition by the Corn and Yates Street Housing Co-Operative in the 1970s.
The street will now be bordered by plans from housebuilder Stonebond Properties and Torus for more than 60 new social rent properties. Residents have told the ECHO they are not against new homes in the area but are worried about the impact on their historic community.
Community concerns
Ste Gowland, a resident, said: "It's a very close knit community as well. Some of the residents have been here since they were kids, they'll have relatives in the other streets. We look after each other, it's a shame if it's going to change dramatically."
Kerrie Hoy, who lives across the road from her grandad Tony Whittle, said their street was "one of the last Victorian streets in the city." She said: "It is far more than just a terrace of houses; it is a close-knit, generational family street where children have safely grown up and raised their own families for decades.
"Because our community cares so deeply about our home, our tenants' co-operative have spent decades actively protecting it. Repairs as well as installing safety secure gates, private CCTV, and extra lighting to ensure our street remains safe, clean, and well-maintained. Now, that entire way of life is under direct threat from the major redevelopment at the flour mill site."
Planning details
Stonebond Properties and Torus have secured planning permission for 63 new homes with associated access, parking and landscaping. All of the homes will be made available for affordable social rent. A dedicated parking court is proposed, accessed from within the application site, containing three allocated spaces for the Corn Street fronting houses and two visitor spaces to prevent overspill parking on the existing street. The fourth house fronting Corn Street has its own off-street parking space, accessed from within the application site.
Jake Crompton, on behalf of the applicant, told a meeting of Liverpool Council's planning committee last month how an engagement meeting had been held with residents on Corn Street. He said the homes would be set out in a terrace style to "build upon and reflect the character" of the existing properties in the area. He added how the application had sought to "strike a balance between addressing residents' concerns around parking and traffic while also ensuring the scheme makes a positive contribution to the streetscene."
Design and impact
Speaking to the ECHO, Ste said while the new homes were welcome on the new derelict site, he said it "shouldn't come at the expense of others." Kerrie explained what the experience of living through the mill being knocked down had been like. She said: "It was like one of those apocalypse films, it was just chaos. It went on for months, the dust was unbelievable."
Cllr Steve Munby represents the Dingle ward and asked for the pedestrian access to be amended and homes to face inwardly, rather than out onto Corn Street. He said there had been a consistent design of the historic properties on the street and new properties facing outwardly would "really wreck that." Cllr Munby said anyone who said this was consistent with good design was "living in la la land."
Stuart Clark, team leader for developments in the south of the city, said: "The proposed new relationship with Corn Street is considered to be an improvement in design terms from the previous relationship where a blank wall existed. It's acknowledged there'll be three new dwellings that front onto Corn Street but these are a modern iteration of the traditional terraced property."
Kenny Gowland, chair of the co-operative, said: "I've lived on this street for years, everyone knows each other. It just felt like we never had a chance to tell them how we felt."
