THERE has still been no decision made about the future of the site of a listed building – more than a year after it was destroyed by fire.

The Grade II Liscard Hall, in Wallasey’s Central Park, had to be demolished after it was consumed by flames, in July last year.

The council said the structure was so badly damaged it needed to be torn down – but the site has remained grassed over since then.

Last night, local councillor Leah Fraser said the authority had been too slow in coming up with options for the site.

The grand hall was built in around 1840 as a rural retirement home for Sir John Tobin, a local merchant and former Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

Following the blaze, the roof of the mansion in Central Park collapsed and the upper floor was destroyed.

At the time of the fire, the council said it had been close to agreeing a deal to secure the hall’s future.

The council had listed acceptable uses for the hall in order of preference, with the first choice being “self-sustaining community uses” such as a community centre, day nursery or health centre.

Other possible uses were as a gym or sports centre, followed by commercial uses like recording studios, boutique hotel, restaurant or cafe.

A retrospective planning application for the demolition of the hall was finally submitted more than a year after the blaze which led to its destruction.

Cllr Leah Fraser said: “Will this council ever learn? It was their total incompetence in not protecting Liscard Hall in the first place that caused yobs to desecrate it and finally burn it down, and it's their incompetence again that the retrospective planning application has sat on someone's desk for a year.

“Immediately after the destruction of the Hall, meetings were held with local councillors and community representatives to discuss what to do next and how to develop the site.

“We were told retrospective planning permission would take around six weeks and further meetings would take place early this summer.

“Sadly, it seems the council is too busy selling off our remaining assets to worry too much about Liscard Hall.”

A spokesman for Wirral Council said: “The hall was so extensively damaged by the fire that it had to be demolished for safety reasons. Since then, the site has been grassed over.

“The council needs to apply for retrospective planning consent to demolish a listed building and is in the process of doing that.”