Liverpool opens new ‘green lung’ linked to Festival Gardens housing strategy

Liverpool Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, opened a new 24-acre recreational area alongside the River Mersey this morning (August 7).

Southern Grasslands has been created as a result of a massive remediation programme to lay the foundations for a potential new housing scheme at the nearby Festival Gardens development zone.

It has been regenerated from the recycled soil of a former landfill site and is the largest transformed green space opened in Liverpool in the 21st century – almost five times as big as Chavasse Park in Liverpool One.

Situated three miles south of Liverpool city centre, Southern Grasslands was officially opened by Mayor Rotheram and Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins this morning.

Over the past two years more than 400,000 cubic metres of soil and waste has been removed from the Festival Gardens development zone, land that was used as a public waste deposit facility for more than 30 years.

More than 95% of this material has been recycled including 100,000 cubic metres of earth that has created what will become an eco-haven for wildlife.

The radically relandscaped green space, which now rises by more than 30 feet to provide views of the city centre and River Mersey, also features more than 5,700 new trees and shrubs as well as two km of walking paths near to the shoreline.

The planting has involved the formation of new areas of woodland and meadow to create new habitats and to enrich the biodiversity in this unique coastal environment. This includes wildlife corridors to boost the population of insects, butterflies and bees.

Situated just a 10 minute walk to St Michael’s train station, Southern Grassland also contains a series of new public benches and picnic tables. The ambitious redesign means people will also have dedicated paths to the Festival Gardens park for the first time since it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984, as part of the International Garden Festival.

The council’s principal contractor, VINCI Building, began work to dramatically transform the former landfill site and Southern Grasslands in early 2021.

The mammoth excavation programme, which has been shortlisted for a national Brownfield Award, has also included an additional £6m programme of ground infrastructure works to lay drainage and construct a substation to provide power supply for the future development.

The package of works has been jointly funded by Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Homes England and OFGEM.

Access to the rejuvenated site is also possible now through Riverside Drive, which has Liverpool’s first ‘sparrow crossing’, which enables cyclists and pedestrians to cross the road using separate lanes.

Access from the river front, on Otterspool Promenade, has also been improved with new resurfacing, railings and art installations, providing an enhanced entrance into the Festival Gardens site for pedestrians and cyclists.

Southern Grasslands is also serviced by a new car park which will ensure it is accessible for people with mobility issues.

Liverpool City Council is seeking to appoint a development partner for the Festival Garden development zone, which covers 28 acres of prime waterfront land. This exercise will launch in Spring 2024.

Following the appointment of a developer, a major housing scheme for potentially up to 1,500 homes is predicted to begin in 2025 following the relevant planning application process.

Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins said: “The opening of the Southern Grasslands is a watershed moment in both the story of our famous Festival Gardens site and in Liverpool’s journey to tackle climate change.

“It’s creation marks the end of a truly monumental two-year long process to excavate the nearby development zone – and is testament to how nature and wildlife can benefit from development when we put our minds to it. I applaud everyone involved for the work that has gone into making this dream a reality.”

Steve Rotheram said: “The Festival Gardens site holds a special place in the hearts of many Scousers, but it has been left to go to rack and ruin by decades of private sector failure. It is only through devolution, with a metro mayor working in partnership with Liverpool City Council that we can put that right.

“Our funding is helping to transform the Festival Gardens into a public asset once more and laying the groundwork for homes to be built. Rather than a forgotten wasteland playing home to dumping, this new grassland should be home to a thriving community of new homeowners.”

Rob Symons, contracts manager at VINCI Building, said: “Working collaboratively with Liverpool City Council, our specialist subcontractor (Vertase FLi), and numerous other stakeholders, we have delivered a lasting legacy for this part of Liverpool.

“Our methods of working enabled the recovered waste materials from the historic land fill to be recycled and re-processed in numerous ways avoiding the need to go back into landfill elsewhere, whilst sorting all engineering fill from these wastes and using them to create the development zone.”