Throughout the Stop The Rot campaign, there’s been one running theme: ‘Liverpool has too many beautiful, abandoned buildings.’

Although the ECHO, working with Liverpool City Council and Historic England, has taken on the mammoth task of battling to bring 25 of our ‘at risk’ buildings back into use – there are plenty more that readers have been begging us to feature as part of our campaign.

And none more so than Holly Lodge House – a detached Georgian House on Queens Drive, West Derby – built in 1828.

Although not one of our Stop the Rot buildings, which is made up of Historic England’s ‘heritage at risk’ register drawn up with the council, the building has drawn the attention of many readers who have asked us to include it in our campaign.

Unfortunately stopping the rot at Holly Lodge House seems unlikely as the building is due to be demolished to make way for nearly 60 new houses being built by Redrow.

Originally part of Holly Lodge Girl’s College, the site includes two Grade II listed buildings, Fremont and Sandheys – which will be saved as part of the proposals.

For Holly Lodge House, however, its fate was all-but sealed after Liverpool council planning officers recommended that demolition plans be approved.

Hopes to save it were dashed after it was not awarded listed status following an inspection by English Heritage. They concluded it had been substantially altered and modernised both inside and out, leading to the loss of numerous original features.

The West Derby Society has hit out at the plans, saying they believe the building is of historic importance, and should instead form part of the plans for the new housing development.

Chairman of the group and local historian Stephen Guy says he hopes that Redrow will reconsider their plans – but remains realistic about his prospects.

He said: “It’s one of the few Georgian mansions in Liverpool. and it has so much history. There’s thousands of girls all around the world that went to that school and have memories of it.

“The West Derby Society is opposed to the building being knocked down and we wish we could appeal to Redrow to include it in their plans without demolishing it.”

Terry Hutchinson Powell, also campaigning against the demolition, says the building, which was built by his ancestor Edward Hutchinson, should be saved.

He said: “There are proposals to demolish Holly Lodge and replace it with a new-build development. This shouldn’t happen. We think this building has historic value to the city of Liverpool.

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“Edward and his family provided employment for hundreds of Liverpool citizens from 1852 to 1960. His son S. Mason Hutchinson commissioned the building of Central Hall, Renshaw Street as a centre for Methodist worship before being elected Lord Mayor of Liverpool 1910-1918.

“There is just nothing like it elsewhere, it is totally bespoke.”

Last year, however, a spokeswoman for Redrow confirmed the building would be demolished as part of their plans.

She said: “Redrow has taken great care when it comes to the listed buildings on the site. We’ve been very sensitive in our approach to ensure their history, heritage and surroundings are protected. An independent review of the main school building was recently undertaken by English Heritage. They found it was not worthy of listing, and therefore it will not be retained as part of the redevelopment plans.

“We are liaising with Liverpool City Council to ensure the designs are developed in the most suitable way, taking into account not only highways, but the listed buildings and other key features on the land. The consultation with residents and the council will enable final amendments to be made prior to a planning application being submitted. We are very excited about our proposals for the site, and feel that the development will bring much needed high quality homes to the area.”

The new £7m Holly Lodge Girls’ College was officially opened in March 2015. Select features of Holly Lodge, including a stained glass triptych screen installed in 1885, have already been restored and relocated to the new site.