Opening of new green space a “watershed moment” for Liverpool
A new 24-acre recreational green space called the Southern Grasslands has opened in Liverpool. It was created in response to a remediation programme laying the foundations for a new housing scheme at the nearby Festival Gardens development site.
Situated three miles south of Liverpool city centre, Southern Grasslands is the largest transformed green space to open in the city this century. The site was previously a public waste disposal facility.
The space now features more than 5,700 new trees and shrubs, creating a new raised woodland meadow, forming an ecological corridor to boost the population of insects and pollinators and creating new habitats for the local wildlife.
Access to the space has been revitalised with additional shoreline access points and two kilometres of walking paths situated close to the shoreline implemented.
More than 95% of the 400,000m3 of soil and waste removed from the development zone has been recycled, including 100,000 m3 of soil, set to be repurposed into habitats for the local wildlife.
An additional £6m ground infrastructure programme has been delivered to lay drainage and construct a substation for the future housing development.
Funding for the works was procured through Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Homes England and OFGEM.
Laura Robertson-Collins, Liverpool city council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, says: “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.
“Liverpool is gaining not just a potential new housing scheme but a year-round recreational space which will also act as a huge new carbon sink and which will benefit our unique coastal bio-diversity for decades to come.”