{"id":420499,"date":"2026-02-11T20:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420499\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T20:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:17:16","slug":"acmes-liverpool-st-station-plans-approved-despite-3700-objections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420499\/","title":{"rendered":"ACME\u2019s Liverpool St station plans approved despite 3,700+ objections"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u00a31.5 billion project, which involves partial demolition of the listed station, will move ahead despite thousands of objections, criticism from heritage groups, viability concerns, and a rival proposal from SAVE Britain\u2019s Heritage and John McAslan + Partners.<\/p>\n

The City of London planning committee voted nineteen in favour and three against the proposal, which features a 97m-tall office tower over the concourse to fund around \u00a3500 million of improvements to the station.<\/p>\n

The application, which replaced earlier proposals by Herzog & de Meuron, attracted 4,900 written representations from residents, with 3,700 objections compared with 1,100 in support.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the planning meeting\u2019s conclusion, committee chair Tom Sleigh said: \u2018Why is a new station okay for the Victorians and for people 30 or 40 years ago, but not okay for the people living in the City today?<\/p>\n

\u2018The City of London deserves a new station, so unsurprisingly I am in favour of this excellent application.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018It\u2019s a late, but very welcome Christmas present for the nation. The soaring brick arches and bold architecture will cement Liverpool Street\u2019s status as a modern temple to transport.\u2019<\/p>\n

And City of London policy chairman Chris Hayward described the approval as a \u2018major step forward for the Square Mile\u2019.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u2018It will support the City\u2019s dynamic business ecosystem with state-of-the-art infrastructure, create new jobs and strengthen our position as a world-leading destination, while ensuring that residents, workers and visitors all benefit from a modern, inclusive and future-focused transport hub.\u2019<\/p>\n

The 576-page planning officer report listed a series of objections, including from the Victorian Society, the Twentieth Century Society, and SAVE Britain\u2019s Heritage, which protested \u2018in the strongest terms on heritage grounds\u2019 against the application.<\/p>\n

Responding to the approval, the Victorian Society said it would continue to oppose the plans, under the joint Save Liverpool Street Station Campaign umbrella with the Twentieth Century Society and SAVE, stating that they were \u2018prepared for the long haul\u2019.<\/p>\n

TV presenter Griff Rhys Jones, who is president of the Victorian Society and the Liverpool Street Station Campaign, said: \u2018This is a sad day for the City of London. A disfiguring billion-pound office block on top of a major heritage asset is not essential to the City\u2019s development plans.<\/p>\n

Those groups, together with the Georgian Group, the Spitalfields Trust, Civic Voice and London Historians, have run a high-profile effort to prevent ACME\u2019s plans, including offering an alternative scheme<\/a> drawn up by John McAslan + Partners.<\/p>\n

The committee heard objections from John McAlsan, who described the ACME scheme as \u2018speculative and ruinous\u2019, and argued that it would do \u2018irreversible harm to the listed station\u2019 as well as causing a \u2018decade of disruption\u2019 to travellers.<\/p>\n

ACME\u2019s scheme has also been criticised by the City of London\u2019s own Conservation Area Advisory Committee, which said the proposals were \u2018an overdevelopment of the site\u2019 and would \u2018adversely affect the building\u2019s setting and its important role in the Bishopsgate Conservation Area\u2019.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s heritage watchdog Historic England did not formally object, but it raised concerns about the \u2018loss of natural light, the loss of columns\u2019 and how the new shop units and concourse extension would \u2018block views of brick elevations of the train shed\u2019.<\/p>\n

The watchdog was also worried about the \u2018size, location and design\u2019 of the new entrances and oversite development, which \u2018would greatly reduce the ability to appreciate the former Great Eastern Hotel\u2019s landmark qualities, causing considerable harm (in the middle of the range of less than substantial harm in terms of the NPPF)\u2019.<\/p>\n

These concerns were echoed by hotelier Hyatt, which owns the Grade II*-listed hotel, built in 1884 and now called the Andaz London Liverpool Street. Hyatt said the ACME scheme represented \u2018the worst of all possible worlds in terms of impact and disruption, with no added benefit to the Andaz, which we believe will be threatened by the proposals\u2019.<\/p>\n

Network Rail had hoped its reworked proposals, which were submitted last April<\/a>, would allay some of the concerns raised about the initial plans.<\/p>\n

ACME\u2019s 98m-tall scheme, which includes outdoor garden terraces, is slightly shorter than Herzog & de Meuron\u2019s abandoned 15 and 21-storey design, which had itself received more than 2,200 objections, including from Historic England.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ACME\u2019s consented Liverpool Street application (May 2025)<\/p>\n

Unlike the previous plans, ACME\u2019s proposals leave the former Great Eastern Hotel untouched, while the Hope Square entrance has been designed to create a \u2018civic gateway into the City of London\u2019, which also \u2018brings development back to the historic building line\u2019 from pre-1874, when the station was built.<\/p>\n

The City\u2019s planning officer report added: \u2018While many development plan policies would be complied with, the range of impacts would result in numerous policy conflicts, but officers consider that there is overall compliance with the development plan when read as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u2018The nature of the site and the ambition of the proposal create a singularly nuanced and complex policy balance. Ultimately, the proposal would significantly upgrade Liverpool Street Station and deliver density in a suitable and sustainable location. As such, it would advance the\u00a0\u00a0strategic and business objectives of the City, uniquely so in view of the transformational transport benefits flowing from the proposal.\u2019<\/p>\n

It concluded: \u2018While there would be numerous impacts, these have been clearly and convincingly justified, and would be of a lesser order of magnitude compared to the benefits.\u2019<\/p>\n

Speaking after the committee vote, a SAVE Britain\u2019s Heritage spokesperson said: \u2018What a missed opportunity to consider less disruptive and damaging approaches to funding the station upgrades that passengers deserve.<\/p>\n

\u2018We will be carefully examining the committee\u2019s decision and will consider our next steps.\u2019<\/p>\n

The campaign group has, separately, lodged an application<\/a> for the rival John McAslan designs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ACME\u2019s proposal: new pedestrian routes to Exchange Square<\/p>\n

Previous statement from Network Rail<\/p>\n

As Britain\u2019s busiest station, Liverpool Street is long overdue the transformation it deserves. No other development makes such a vast contribution to reduce the carbon footprint in London through the significant upgrade to allow more customers to travel more sustainably.<\/p>\n

This investment in sustainable transport will allow the station to grow from 115m to 150m passengers per annum and beyond while enhancing accessibility for all. This equates to 2 billion additional passengers undertaking sustainable transport journeys over the next 60 years.<\/p>\n

Network Rail\u2019s planning application:<\/p>\n

proposes a new office building in the most-connected location in London, sited directly adjacent to the UK\u2019s busiest transport hub
\nis designed to emit no carbon in use and use low carbon materiality in construction
\nwill utilise all proceeds from the development to fund transport improvements for the Network Rail and TfL station which are vital for the Capital\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u00a31.5 billion project, which involves partial demolition of the listed station, will move ahead despite thousands of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[148549,6225,6485,6486,1120,96,84495,44055,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-420499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-acme","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-liverpool-street","tag-network-rail","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}