Liverpool Local Plan
The principal city-wide planning framework, including policies for heritage, urban design, conservation areas, listed buildings and tall buildings.
Read the Local Plan documents →
Planning · conservation · managed change
Liverpool Local Plan and planning guidance
How city-wide policy and supplementary documents guide development while recognising the significance of Liverpool’s historic waterfront and central districts.
The policy framework
A long-term vision for the city.
The Liverpool Local Plan provides the spatial vision, strategic priorities and policies used to manage future development across the city.
Planning policy helps change take place in a considered way. It sets expectations for design, heritage, land use and the relationship between new development and the established character of streets, buildings and public spaces.
- Heritage policy: Chapter 11 addresses the city’s heritage, including conservation areas and listed buildings. It contains Policy HD2 concerning the former Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site.
- Urban design: Chapter 10 includes Policy UD6 on tall buildings, addressing their effect on Liverpool’s streetscape, skyline and public realm.
Key documents
Plans and supplementary guidance
These documents operate at different scales, from city-wide strategic policy to detailed guidance for particular historic areas.
World Heritage Site SPD
Adopted in 2009, this supplementary planning document provides detailed guidance on development, regeneration and conservation within the historic maritime area and its setting.
Read the supplementary guidance →Ropewalks SPD
Adopted in 2005, this document gives area-specific guidance for development in Ropewalks and informs the consideration of planning applications there.
Read the Ropewalks guidance →How the framework works
From strategy to decision.
Planning decisions draw on an interconnected body of policy and evidence. The relevant documents depend on the proposal, site and heritage context.
Set strategic direction
The Local Plan establishes city-wide priorities and the broad approach to development and conservation.
Identify heritage context
Designations, historic character and the setting of significant places help define what must be considered.
Apply detailed guidance
Supplementary documents explain how broader policies should be interpreted in particular areas or circumstances.
Assess proposals
Applications are considered against the development plan and other material planning considerations in force at the time.
What the guidance covers
Reading change in context
Heritage planning is not simply about preventing alteration. It asks how change can respond to significance, character and the wider urban landscape.
Historic fabric
Listed buildings, conservation areas, docks, warehouses and civic architecture require careful understanding before interventions are designed.
Townscape and skyline
Building height, massing, views and street-level experience can affect how historic places are perceived and understood.
Regeneration and use
Adaptation can support viable new uses, but proposals should respond to the character and significance of their setting.
Planning documents may be revised, replaced or supplemented. Always consult the published documents and current planning authority guidance when making or assessing a proposal.
Local Plan questions
Useful distinctions.
What is the Liverpool Local Plan?
It is the city’s principal planning policy document. It sets a long-term spatial strategy and policies used when considering development proposals.
Does the Local Plan protect historic buildings?
It contains heritage policies concerning listed buildings, conservation areas and the historic environment. National policy and statutory protections may also apply.
What is a supplementary planning document?
A supplementary planning document, or SPD, adds detail to policies in the development plan. It provides guidance but does not create a separate development plan policy.
Why does the historic maritime area still appear in planning documents?
Liverpool was removed from the World Heritage List in 2021, but the area retains extensive historic significance and includes assets protected through national and local designations. Some documents also retain terminology from when they were adopted.
What does tall-building policy consider?
Relevant considerations can include location, height, massing, design quality, views, skyline effects, public realm and the setting of heritage assets.
Which document applies to a particular proposal?
That depends on the site, type of development and current policy framework. Consult the planning authority’s published documents and seek appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Place policy in its wider context.
Explore how planning, management and conservation work together across Liverpool’s historic maritime landscape.