The Lancaster Road site was set up in 1904 as a private boarding school for boys, known as 'Terra Nova'. It was taken over by the Central National Registration Office[CNRO] in 1939, and used throughout the Second World War as a Records Office. Following the end ofthe war, The Liverpool School for the Partially Deaf was officially opened by the Earl of Derby on Saturday, 11 September, 1948. From 1948 until 2003 when the school was closed, Birkdale School For Hearing Impaired Children (as it became known) has seen generations of children with moderate to severe/profound hearing loss pass through its doors. The Grade II listed building and playing fields were an ideal environment for the education of children with special needs. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

After the closure of the school in 2003, (as a result of the then Government of the day's drive tointegrate special needs education into mainstream education), there followed a decline in the physical condition of this wonderful Grade II listed building when it was taken over by property developers seeking to redevelop the site. In the summer of 2010, a major fire broke out, destroying part of the main building which is Grade II Listed. Despite the promises of the developers to rebuild the damaged part to the exact style of what was destroyed in the fire, they still intend to submit plans to redevelop the school into private dwellings.

We feel that a more appropriate use can be made of the building that would benefit the wider community and not just a few wealthy individuals or families who would buy the planned dwellings. Please can you support us by signing our petition to save a Grade II listed building from being foreverruined by theproperty developers.

Please use your full name and not an online user name as we are likely to present this petition to Sefton Council at a future date. Any nicknames or pesudonyms will be erased!

Thank You

Links