PLANS to build the biggest-ever private housing development in the heart of Liverpool would be disastrous for the city, regeneration experts warned last night.

The £270m Baltic Triangle scheme would see more than 850 homes built opposite the dockside Wapping Warehouse site.

But yesterday it was claimed the eight apartment blocks harked back to 1960s tower blocks and would soon become a blot on the city's landscape.

Cllr Steve Munby, Labour spokesman for regeneration, said: "This would be disastrous for the city. We would be left with the 21st century of 1960s tower blocks, which would blight the city for generations to come.

"We are in real danger of repeating the mistakes made 40 years ago.

"We need something much more sophisticated than this. It should be used for a mixture of green space and retail, not just flats. "

"This is a very important site. It is the fulcrum of the Kings Dock, Paradise Street, the Ropewalks, the cathedrals and the regeneration to the south of the city.

"We don't need vast numbers of characterless blocks forming an impermeable obstacle on that land."

London-based developers the Windsor Group has submitted a planning application for the scheme, which spans the area between Blundell Street, Jamaica Street and Wapping. Although it has been billed by the company as a development of family homes, it is made up mainly of two and three bed apartments.

Work has already started on phase one of the scheme, three residential buildings on the site once occupied by ships' chandlers Joseph T Lamb..

The scheme also includes 70,000 sq ft of leisure, retail and office space.

Liverpool's city centre population is expected to grow by 57% over the next decade

But a recent Centre for Cities report, by the Institute for Public Policy Research, found that students would still form the largest proportion of those moving in and out of the L1 postcode.

Liverpool University civic design senior lecturer Sue Kidd said: "There are developments coming in to the city, but one of the biggest criticisms from people is that there are not the services they would expect for a residential environment."

Roger Darwin, Windsor group director, said: "Cllr Munby's response to a £270m investment that will create 600 new jobs and bring in 2,000 residents is incomprehensible.

"We believe we can attract new people into the city centre by offering a new product within a new, residential development.

"It is not feasible or desirable to propose low-density suburban dwelling in a city centre area like the Baltic Triangle."

samlister@dailypost.co.uk