City seeking ‘cultural garden’ development partner
Liverpool City Council has announced it is seeking a development partner to create “a cultural garden suburb” on the banks of the River Mersey.
The authority has unveiled the next stage of its vision for the former International Festival Gardens site today (Tuesday, 14 March) at MIPIM – Europe’s largest property expo in Cannes, France.
The 90-acre site, which lies just 10 minutes’ drive south of the city centre, is to be promoted as Festival Park Liverpool.
The key regeneration feature of the site is the 28-acre northern development zone which is being hailed as one of Liverpool’s biggest investment opportunities over the next decade with the potential to create up to 2,500 new homes.
The new homes are being marketed as of a wider mixed-use leisure and retail scheme alongside a new public open space on the present Southern Grasslands.
The city council, which took control of the site last year, appointed architects to create a draft masterplan and held a public consultation in November/December last year to gauge feedback on transforming the northern zone of the site into a major visitor and cultural destination.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said: “Festival Park Liverpool presents a unique development opportunity at what is a hugely important site to Liverpool and its residents.
“We need a partner, or partners, to help realise the vision and create a cultural garden suburb which will have no equal in the UK.
“The site is fully owned by the city council and we see the Festival Park as a key component of Liverpool’s future prosperity, addressing the need for more quality homes and complementing what the city is achieving at the Knowledge Quarter and Liverpool Waters.”
Following positive feedback from the public consultation regarding a mixed-use approach, maintained public access, improvements to the southern grasslands and enhanced transport links, an updated masterplan is to be submitted to the council’s Cabinet in the next six weeks.
A recommendation will be submitted that Festival Park Liverpool is taken forward as a strategic priority and once approved, the refined masterplan will serve as a development framework to inform any future planning applications.
Following MIPM, at which Liverpool has sent its largest ever delegation, a set of land surveys and environmental assessments will also be undertaken before site excavation works begin.
There is a current outline planning consent for a 1,380 unit residential development on part of the site, valid until December 2022.
