Plans to run the UK’s first permanent city zip line from the top of St Johns Beacon to the roof of Liverpool Central Library look set for approval next week.

Proposals from Zip World Ltd have been met with some opposition from residents and other parties who feel the attraction will harm the city’s designated heritage assets.

However, a report which will go before Liverpool City Council’s virtual planning committee next Tuesday (30 June) is recommending the plans for approval.

According to Zip World’s planning application, riders would arrive at Central Library where they would be checked in and given the required equipment before being taken up in groups of 12 to the viewing platform at St Johns Beacon via a designated route.

Thrill-seekers would then be clipped on and descend in pairs down the zip wire, landing on the roof of Central Library.

Summing up why the application should be approved, the case officer writes that the zip line will provide visitors, both residents and tourists, with a “unique experience within a highly sustainable location, complementing and enhancing the city’s existing tourism offer and encouraging additional visits to the city”.

Credit: Zip World

The planning report adds: “It is accepted that the proposed development will result in some harm to designated heritage assets.

“As this is considered to be less than substantial, however, the harm has been weighed against the public benefits of the proposal.

“In this instance, it is considered that the proposed development will bring significant benefits to the local economy and will encourage additional visits to existing tourist and cultural premises, including Central Library and the William Brown Street area and will cause no significant harm to nearby heritage assets or other adjoining buildings.”

When the plans were first revealed in December 2019, Zip World said it hoped to have the attraction up and running in 2021.

The firm currently operates three zip lines in Snowdonia National Park.

Main image: Rebecca Boardman / Flickr

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