Brewery plans massive village development

Cains Brewery in Liverpool has submitted plans to transform its site and grade II listed building into a tourism, leisure and retail hub.

The plans for the one million square feet development have been put forward by Brewery Village Ltd, which wants turn the area into a “national and international visitor destination” as well as increasing the amount of Cains beer brewed at the site.

Sudarghara Dusanj, managing director of Cains, said: “We want to create a major new tourism and leisure asset for the city which would secure the future of the Cains beer brand and the grade II listed brewery for decades to come. Cities like Manchester and Newcastle have been unable to save their traditional breweries but we know this scheme will ensure Liverpool has a thriving and historic brewery building for future generations.

“We will create a vibrant, independent and varied destination for people to live, work and enjoy which complements the rest of the city’s assets and dramatically improves the appearance of one of the city’s most important arterial routes. Our proposals would also make a significant contribution to the city’s ambitions to regenerate the Baltic Triangle.”

The plans would see the brewery building restored along with a visitor centre and a “Sky Bar” on the roof of the building, with views across Liverpool and the River Mersey.

English Heritage supports the plans, which it described as “a constructive way of finding a new use for some otherwise challenging, nationally significant buildings”.

Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, added: “This is an exciting and creative scheme which will see the restoration of one of the city’s key heritage assets and the creation of a new visitor attraction for an important part of Liverpool. The proposals enable a proud brewing tradition in the city to become the focus of regeneration. I back these proposals.”

A public consultation on the proposals with 94% of local residents and businesses saying they were in favour of the plans, which would create in the region of 528 full-time jobs.

If consent is granted, a new, bespoke craft brewery for Cains would be installed next year. The new craft brewery would enable the business to brew a full range of international beer styles for consumption in the UK and export around the world.