Friends of Williamson's Tunnels

.....News added on 19th January 1999.....

· FWT Open Meeting to be held on 11th February

We (Friends of Williamson's Tunnels) will be holding a meeting on 11th February at 7pm at our usual meeting venue - Devonshire House, 293-297 Edge Lane, Liverpool. The meeting is open to FWT members and their guests and may well be open to the general public. The current situation of the tunnels will be discussed and their will be new audio visual material for everyone to see.

· Paddington Gardens demolished

The derelict Paddington Gardens flats were demolished in December '98 to make way for new blocks of student flats, being built by a private developer. There are a number of Williamson tunnels under this plot, just opposite his original house, so we have kept a close eye on proceedings. A number of possible tunnel locations have been identified and we are rushing to speak to the developer about these and about future access to the tunnels once the new flats are built. The County Archaeologist has visited on several occasions but, without seeing an actual open tunnel, remains unconvinced. we continue to work on this. At the time of writing the site is being cleared and new foundations laid.

· Interest in Williamson's house

We were recently in discussions with a friendly business, genuinely interested in saving the tunnels, who expressed interest in acquiring and renovating Williamson's house and the tunnels underneath with our involvement. They submitted an expression of interest to the City Council and were told that another party had expressed interest and mentioned a substantial amount of money. We have heard the supposed figure mentioned and it is far, far more than the property is worth. In the meantime, formal bids are not yet being invited or accepted and we suspect that the Council will take some time to make the property safe before putting it up for new ownership. We continue to monitor the situation.

· Survey of Williamson's house
	With the City Council's permission, we carried out a formal set of measurements of Williamson's house and the tunnels underneath late in the year. Conditions weren't ideal, but we got a good accurate spatial analysis of the site and will use this information in forming plans for the future of the house and tunnels.

· English Partnerships meeting

The meeting mentioned below, where the developers of the Stable Yard site were to present their case to potential funders English Partnerships, took place in mid-October. FWT's representative was present and aired our views. The upshot of the meeting was that E.P. would not begin to evaluate the developer's case until their planning application was submitted and approved. The application was submitted some time later and a significant number of letters of objection were received by the Council Planning Department. These are now being reviewed and a the Council will decide whether the scheme is permissible some time in late January or early February. The developer is eager to begin building his student flats on the land and hopes for an early decision. If planning permission is granted, the stables would unfortunately be demolished very quickly afterwards. The key point thereafter will be whether English Partnerships give a £472,000 grant to the developer to preserve the two large tunnels in the stable yard. If they do, those tunnels will be slowly renovated and eventually opened to the public. The fate of the other tunnels under the site would be very much open to question - the developer pays lip service to the idea of possibly altering the flats' foundations 'on the fly' if any tunnels are found while the site is being worked. We do not feel confident in this and continue to press for greater assurances.