tree-hugger

As the Socialist Labour people are always talking about direct action campaigning, how about you getting involved in direct action to save our park? How about it>>> Kai and Mike and your other members, as we hear you talking and writing a lot, what we need here is action and we need it now, once this park, our green space is gone, it is gone forever, it can't be re-made, re-built, tree replanted.

So Socialist Labour Party when are you going to take some DIRECT action to help this community here in Kensington, including Newsham Park?

save our park - hug a tree

Can I point out that the use of quotation marks has meant that, on Kai's response, my message and that of Kai's appears to be jumbled up! I think Kai was responding to individual points but I felt it necessary to draw a distinction.

Whilst other groups are useful, I don't believe the Friends of Newsham Park want it to be particularly Political (with a big "P") as this can often cloud the issue and create more antagonism.

It's brilliant to see support from all parties and none for local people's campaign against the desecration of this beautiful public park. Sadly it's a bit late to stop the development, but we can make sure a line is drawn in the sand to stop any more encroachment, and demand that reparations are made to the park in return for the £1m of free land the school has had and the public money that's gone in.

Whether it be letters and phone calls to the local media or other action, it all counts.

The Bishop of Liverpool James Jones's remarks on BBC Radio this week about the environmental ethos and tree planting projects of the City Academy have caused further anger amongst local people.

The experience of those using Newsham Park and living around the Kensington Academy building site belies his 'environmental' and 'community' spin. Just go and see for yourself what a mess is being made at the top of Balmoral Road.

Far from having trees planted, dozens of mature trees have now been felled and the Balmoral Road section of the open park now fenced off forever (local activists counted 450 stumps, the Bishop's official line is 85 - either way, a hell of a lot more than the 'no trees will be felled' promise originally made in writing by him and the council).

Whilst the Bishop and council continue to deny this site is parkland, the council's own statutory local Unitary Development Plan shows clearly that it is. Older residents remember the parks glorious Victorian Chrysanthemum houses sited here.

Your readers might be interested to know that the Local Government Ombudsman has now launched an investigation into council maladministration in the granting of the planning permission, and legal expert Robert McCracken QC called the planning permission for this school 'seriously flawed' and thus arguably illegal.

Local people sincerely welcome the school but do not see why they had to pay the price in parkland when so much derelict space still lies around Kensington. Newsham is the oldest municipal park in the city, supposedly triple protected by its Grade II listed status, open space designations and conservation area policy. If it can be built on, where is safe?

The fear is that with planning protections now broken, the Bishop's school sets a dreadful precedent for further encroachment by developers on more of the city's precious parkland. Of course, the schools to be replaced by the City Academy will themselves be sold off by the churches for development.

With another public playing field now announced as the site earmarked for Liverpool's second City Academy in Anfield, it will take more than warm words from politicians and bishops to convince local people that the concept is not in part being used as a 'trojan horse' to open up swathes of protected public land for lucrative development.



www.savenewshampark.org.uk

LIVERPOOL'S PARKS AT RISK

Edseam, Kai and others are right - this is not just about individual parks. There is a CITY WIDE LAND GRAB going on in Liverpool and we need co-ordinated action to expose and stop it.

Newsham Park - BBC NW Tonight's Political Editor Jim Hancock and Labour's Cllr Paul Brant last August exposed council plans offering private housebuilders 40 acres on Newsham Park - one third of its entire area.

Newsham Park - the Bulldozing Bishop's Academy is now under way on the old glasshouse site and part of the open park, with dozens of trees felled despite assurances that none would go. Council planners are under investigation for Maladministration, as they advised the planning committee that public recreation would be unaffected, no access would be lost and the conservation area preserved and enhanced. QC Robert McCracken has called this advice 'seriously flawed' and 'unreasonable'

Princes Park - developers building luxury flats as we speak - drive down Ullet Road to check out the destruction.

Wavertree Park - Liverpool Land and Development Company are in secret negotiations with owner of the Edge Lane Retail park to expand onto this historic open space, despite previous community campaigns against it.

Botanic Gardens -Liverpool Land and Development Company again in secret negotiations with owner of Littlewoods complex to expand Wavertree Technology Park onto historic air raid shelters area under the eastern edge of the park.

Springfield Gardens - Council encouraging Alder Hey to build on this lovely public park.

Dixie Dean Memorial Playing Fields - Council wanting to build Anfield City Academy on this site. Consultants who conducted city wide open space audit are said to be involved in the design and build contract for the school. Opposition to the land transfer has put a spanner in the works.

The good news is that the CPRE have now spotted what is going on and moved to set up a co-ordinating group - this needs your support.

>>...exposed council plans offering private housebuilders 40 acres on Newsham Park - one third of its entire area.

that is incredible.

the more news you are able to post to this site, the more support you are likely to get.

Not enough has been made of this exposure of council plans. I will look into some form of publicity surrounding it, alongside the desecration of trees.

Should add:

"And I will not make it party political"

IT'S ANOTHER (UN)TRUE STOREY

Anyone remember cuddly Councillor Mike "photo opportunity" Storey and his designer stubble touchy feely earth mommas the Liverpool Lib Dems sweep to power 6 years ago on a pledge that (and I quote from a front page Echo headline)

"CITY PARKS ARE SAFE FOREVER".

Go check out the central library microfiche archeive, it's the front page report on:

Tuesday May 26th 1998, by Echo reporter Larry Neild.

Let me remind you of the firm pledges made back then:

"Liverpool's parks are to be safeguarded from the clutches of land-grabbers forever. A plan has been mapped out for a special trust to ensure the parks remain the property of the people. The move will take the historic green spaces out of the hands of Liverpool's political leaders - removing the risk that they could be sold off...

New council Leader Mike Storey told the ECHO today "Too many of our family jewels have been flogged off by previous administrations. We want to make sure it never happens again by taking them out of their reach forever" Today, Councillor Storey vowed that under the plan the parks, gardens and open spaces would be protected for all time from the threat of developers. "I would emphasise that the council will not be selling off these parks and open spaces. We are planning this precisely to prevent sell offs," he said.

Lady Doreen Jones said "So much of our green space has gone. If it continues to disappear at the rate of the past few years our children will have to go to Wales or the Lakes just to see green land."

Green spaces and parks included in the Unitary Development Plan will be protected under the ambitious scheme"


Whew! Anyone ever heard politicians called liars and hypocrites? Wondered why?

The Bishop's school on Newsham Park was (in his own words in a letter to a local resident) "encouraged by the council to take more of the park" and lies entirely on land designated as "recreational historic parkland for conservation as open space" in the same Unitary Development Plan mentioned in the article.

Furthermore, the city council's Housing Market Renewal Initiative (HMRI) plans (you know, the ones that propose demolition of swathes of terraced housing in Anfield, Kirkdale, Kensington and Granby) earmarked the whole section of Newsham Park between the Lake to the North, Prospect Vale to the west, Prescot Road to the south and the railway to the west as PRIME NEWBUILD DEVELOPMENT LAND.

Check the archives again - August 7th 2003, Labour Environment Spokesman Councillor Paul Brant (0151 707 2171,  paul.brant@liverpool.gov.uk) alerted BBC North West Tonight political editor Jim Hancock, who came down and did a live TV slot with the Friends of Newsham Park expressing shock at the plans.

Henshaw was smoked out and denied "the city's parks policy was changed", and promised searching questions - Cllr Brant called for an enquiry.

We are still waiting for his answers, and meanwhile have come up with our own.

No way would this plan have gone to developers without Henshaw's approval, so obviously it is the council's stealth agenda - those of us who followed with mounting disbelief the way the council planners steam rollered through the Bishop's Academy planning application saw this thrown into sharp relief.

E.g. "The park is bounded on its southern side by Gardeners Drive"
Er, wrong - it is bounded by Carstairs Road, some 100m to the south, and has been for 140 years! Suddenly a very valuable (£40m+?) pieceo of land is being removed from UDP protection without consultation or scrutiny by an outside Planning Inspector!

E.g. No trees will be felled
Er, check out www.savenewshampark.org.uk for some serious tree felling!

E.g. No publicly accessible parkland will be affected
Er, Robert McCracken QC called this statement "unreasonable and seriously flawed"


Thsee are just a few of the reasons residents have managed to get the Local Government Ombudsman to launch an investigation into the granting of planning permission.

So much for safe from the clutches of land grabbers forever!

These people ARE the land grabbers!

Don't let them get away with it!

Sorry, correction to the above posting - the railway alongside Newsham Park (yup, Tuebrook once had a station!) of course lies to the EAST, not the west of the 40 acre site secretly offered to private housebuilders by the council for cul-de-sacs and gated apartments.

Sure, when the BBC exposed this scandal the 'city parks are safe forever' Lib Dems ate humble pie and claimed a cock up, but come on, these maps weren't drawn up and sent out without very high level approval by the executive of the council - they just did it too early before the politicians were given a storey (sic) to spin.

Money talks, and this land is worth millions, so listen out for this asset stripping plan or a further incremental step towards it in the near future - the Academy is just an attractive Trojan Horse for opening up a HUGE stretch of land to developers.

If you add to this third of Newsham Park the huge Lister Drive allotments and playing fields, the Stoneycroft library land, the former municipal swimming pool, the Lister Drive power station site, the Merseyside Police Club and playing fields, Stanley Market, the Abattoir and former stockyards and sidings as well as the old Edge Lane Flower and produce Market and Rathbone Park, all owned by the city Council, the swathe of joined up development land is utterly vast - 120acres plus, a deal of a lifetime for any developer and worth plenty of 'persuasion' to officers and the ewxecutive.


That could also explain why the Fairfield area and the Prescot Road houses opposite the Police Club are being left to rot - the city's long game is to drop the lot and rebuild a 'new town in the city' with loads of lovely regeneration spin and hype, not to mention some very juicy contracts for the boys in the know that will see plenty of
'partners' good in their retirements.


The Bishop is either naive for not seeing this or a front for this process.

nice work parkie.

........................................................................................................................................................................................

Thanks for the map!

EDSEAM - Are you one of the ever dwindling Labour Party members by the way?

You refer to a quotation, I see no quotation, but surprise - surprise, regularly I've posted stuff and Liverpool Indymedia just loses it. Which orginally why didn't post in 2003 because I posted stuff and it never appeared. It seems my postings require MI5 viewing or something because of the hours they sometimes take to appear or not appearing at all, or plain just disappear.

kAi - "Mr doesn't know when enough is enough"... Julie - CBS Records

I am indeed Kai! But then, at least we have a band to dwindle!

And yes they seem to have removed your post from the thread which leaves mine hanging in the ether looking, frankly. bizarre!

I believe Indymedia thought it was too much political propaganda for this thread. Just check the mailing list section.

Anyway, regarding Newsham Park. I would urge people to register their support on the save Newsham Park website. I have notified them regaridng this thread.

I believe it may be difficult to overturn the council's decision but, if that is the case, local people can make sure that:
a) any development takes into account the unique resource that Newsham Park is and no further development is allowed to butcher this community.
b) This sort of thing is not allowed to continue to go unchallenged across Liverpool.

The developers, the Council, the churches and the NDC have failed, consistently, to answer questions regarding the increase in traffic not just in surrounding streets but also in the park itself (with Gardener's Drive being a good access point for those coming from Tuebrook). The argument that the majority of children will come via bus or walk/cycle is merely an assumption it seems, based solely on socio-economic facts about the school intake.
Also, with the problems of antisocial behaviour already being experienced in other areas of the park, the siting of the school could be seen as exacerbating the problem. We have yet to be told what the plans are for this as well as the safety of the children in a park that has been ignored by both council and police leading to an increase in prostitution, drugs and other crimes.

There are many other concerns, already outlined above, but the problem goes much further.

before and after photos from the area of the park making way for the school.

There is a certain dark humour coming from the developers when they paint the monstrous wooden fence green. Of course, this was in part to cover up the statement painted on the side of it (it was NOT graffiti) which highlighted the council's failings and the felling of 450 trees.

Anyone who attended the area committee meetings about the proposed school, as well as the planning committee when they approved it, would have realised just what a shambles the devlopers, council planning officials and LD councillors were.

I should point out that I have a certain amount of sympathy with the planning dept because they have to work within rules and are not public speakers (not too much sympathy I hasten to add!). The belief that they flouted the rules (UDP etc) can only be a realistic means of "attack" if it is seen that they were under political pressure to do so and did not follow the strict guidelines laid out. They can apply to the Secretary of State for a departure from the UDP, so the UDP is not set in stone.

Also, it was ridiculous to have planning officers having to be the "voice" of the application to the public (anyone who saw the guy would have noted that he was, shall we say, a little one-sided in his approach). This is where the local Kensington councillors, along with the developers should have presented the case to the public, face-to-face. Instead, they all cowered away as the application and area commmittees dragged on. The councillors in the area committee seemed hell-bent on approving the application (except the Tuebrook councillors).

Look at the pictures and many will say "it is only a few feet of park they have dug up". That may be so in comparison with the rest of the park but where do we stop? It is the thin end of the wedge. Pupils are expected to use the park as their games area, which cuts it off from the public (admittedly not a huge impact but an impact all the same). So what happens when the school wants a bit of extra security? Do they erect a fence around some of the park?

As for traffic, I have stated above the problems that people will face. Appleyard and Lintell's classic study of traffic and its effect on relationships within streets will see what problems could be caused by the allowing of traffic to use Gardener's Drive (essentially it will cut off the majority of the park from those living in Fairfield). I have pasted an extract below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In the late 1960s Appleyard conducted a renowned study on livable streets, comparing three residential streets in San Francisco which on the surface did not differ on much else but their levels of traffic. The 2,000 vehicles per day street was considered Light Street, 8,000 traveled on Medium Street and 16,000 vehicles passing down Heavy Street. His research showed that residents of Light Street had three more friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Heavy Street.

Further, as traffic volume increases, the space people considered to be their territory shrank. Appleyard suggested that these results were related, indicating that residents on Heavy Street had less friends and acquaintances precisely because there was less home territory (exchange space) in which to interact socially.

Light Street was a closely knit community. Front steps were used for sitting and chatting, sidewalks for children to play and for adults to stand and pass the time of day, especially around the corner store, and the roadway for children and teenagers to play more active games like football. Moreover, the street was seen as a whole and no part was out of bounds.

Heavy Street, on the other hand, had little or no sidewalk activity and was used solely as a corridor between the sanctuary of individual homes and the outside world. Residents kept very much to themselves, and there was virtually no feeling of community. The difference in the perceptions and experience of children and the elderly across the two streets was especially striking."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Essentially, a divide is created. And the research shows that there is a higher percentage of mental health problems within high-volume traffic areas. In the inner-cities we are already most affected by this. It is criminal that people either have this inflicted upon them or inflict it on others. Even worse when it comes down to what is in your pocket as to whether you are victim or perpetrator.
Newsham Park (and the inner-city parks like it - Sefton, Stanley, Everton etc) acts as an oasis, almost, for people affected by such problems. This is not an anti-car tirade, it is just to highlight the inappropriateness of the development.
It is a blight that is occurring all around us (note Kensington and Prescot Rd for one) and to suggest an "environmental" school full in the knowledge that schools are generally the second-highest public building generators of traffic behind hospitals, is a travesty.

The investment should not go into destroying these open spaces but into making them more accessible to the public.

Right then, so lots of people are now saying let's do summat, but what people need to know is when, where, etc, so we can get doing some proper action against it. i rechon a lot of 'normal' people would be prepared to take action, especially locals. does anyone live around there??

My own personal preference would be for a march from the Park to the Town Hall and then to the cathedrals. Gets in most of the major players! If that is too long then why not have a march between the cathedrals and the Town Hall with a festival on at the park where people can speak out against such development. Groups from Anfield would be supportive of it too regarding Stanley Park.

Why not at the next full council meeting (beginning of September) to coincide with the start of the new school term. Make it rush hour too!

However, I should add it is up to the people who run the Save Newsham Park campaign (Friends of Newsham Park?)

Some good over-night repainting of the Bishop's fence has happened! It says

PARK VIOLATED! - WHERE NEXT? in big blood red letters!

Can anyone get the Echo or someone down to take a pic of it?

The March For Parks is being planned by the new CPRE Liverpool Group - great idea to hold it on the day of the first new council, any one know what date that is? Think we can get plenty of bodies for it?

CPRE Liverpool are the old Save Our Spaces (SOS) group. CPRE have stepped in to try and helpco-ordinate all the disparate local groups campaigning for open spaces in neighbourhoods across Liverpool.

(latest is against plans for a school access road over Calderstones Park, so it seems even the south end is in the city's sights now)

They would welcome a bit of help - contact Peter Mallon at the CPRE NW office who has details of the Liverpool group contacts, Pamela Leadbetter is the main lady.

Peter Mallon
CPRE North West
Tel: 01772 627 510
Fax: 01772 697 416
Email:  info@lancashirecpre.nildram.co.uk

Front page of the Merseymart this week - SAVE OUR PARK!

Despite dozens of local objections, your "City Parks Are Safe Forever" Council have again granted permission for a school to be built on public park land, this time on Springwood Park in the south end.

This means handing over this public property to our old friend Steve Norris's cuddly corporation, Jarvis Plc., who have been given the council contract to design, build and run the school.

The same firm recently admitted liability for the Potters Bar rail disaster two years ago, in which 7 people died and 76 were injured.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/3664289.stm

They have also been fined a number of times for breaches of the law by the Health and Safety Executive, including the Aldwarke junction case in which the judge told representatives of the company it was a matter of "public good fortune" the incident was not a disaster involving a passenger train.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3868059.stm

Are these really the kind of people we want taking our parks and looking after our kids?

How long are we going to lie back and take this shafting?

GOOD NEWS! 'JARVIS STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL' (BBC)

Yes, the Jarvis name strikes fear into many travellers and teachers - PFI schools in Liverpool and the Wirral are MONTHS behind schedule, contractors are still waiting for payment and as we know, some trains on tracks Jarvis were meant to maintain never arrived at all.

It would be comic if it weren't so tragic.

BUT PERHAPS THERE IS SOME JUSTICE - according to this they might not make it to the end of the month! Here's hoping!

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3866725.stm

Make no odds to the council's bumper stealth park giveaway, but it sure cheered me up!

Roll on August...

Just for your info the KNDC 6 weekly public meetings are happening this week - Fairfield is tonight (Wednesday) in the Devonshire at 6.30, could be a chance to put some of the above points?

a manchester story from may:

Campaign saves Platt Fields from development
Beanie B.

U-turn on green haven car parks
CAR parks will NOT be built on two historic city-centre parks after plans were dramatically withdrawn.


Health chiefs wanted to pour concrete over green space in Manchester's Platt Fields Park to create a 416-space park-and-ride for hospital staff. They also submitted plans for a second car park, for 191 vehicles, in Whitworth Park.

Both projects have been scrapped after provoking fury among local residents and environmental campaigners.

It is understood that council leader Richard Leese - who branded the plans "appalling" and said he found out about them only after the Manchester Evening News story - stepped in to demand a re-think.

The M.E.N. revealed last week how the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust had applied for a "temporary" car park on Platt Fields Park during work on a new ?350m super-hospital.

The trust - which controls Manchester Royal Infirmary, St Mary's, the Royal Eye Hospital, Booth Hall and three other hospitals - said it needed the facility for staff who were displaced by the building work.

The car park would have provided them with a park-and-ride service from Rusholme to their hospitals. After two years it would have been passed back to the council, whose parks department admitted they wanted to keep it their permanently.

A second application, for a car park in Whitworth Park, would have involved cutting down more than a dozen trees.

The M.E.N was flooded with messages of complaint and residents organised local protests and began signing petitions in their hundreds.

A trust spokeswoman confirmed: "After consideration we have decided to withdraw our planning application for a temporary park-and-ride facility at Platt Fields.

"The trust recognises the strength of local feeling for Platt Fields to remain as it is and wishes to respect the desires of the local community. The trust is exploring a number of options to provide adequate car parking facilities during the new hospital's development."

The spokeswoman confirmed the Whitworth Park application had also been withdrawn.

Paul Shannon, Lib Dem councillor for Rusholme and a leading campaigner against the Platt Fields Park car park, said: "We welcome this u-turn. These plans show the council cannot be trusted to protect green spaces."

Coun Leese said: "It was a bad idea and there should have been public consultation before the planning applications went in."

As someone who was privvy to the scheme in Manchester I can assure people that councillors were not aware at first. It was scheme investigated by officers and the NHS outside of councillor scrutiny before planning committee. We can blame councillors for a lot but not this to be fair.

Good luck in Newsham/Liverpool!

Many PFI companies use the 'going bust' mechanism (business tool) as a way to extract more public money from the government. Who will meet the companies debts and obligations? Im 100% that it will not be the directors and ex shareholders.

tree-hugger wrote:

"As the Socialist Labour people are always talking about direct action campaigning, how about you getting involved in direct action to save our park?"

We're buoyed up by our recent housing victory in Kensington, we believe direct action campaigning is a way of showing the public and those in power that we're serious about our campaigns and demands.

"So Socialist Labour Party when are you going to take some DIRECT action to help this community here in Kensington, including Newsham Park?"

It would be good to be involved in a save our parks campaign and raise the issue of threats against Liverpool's public parks:

Let's list them shall we!!!

Stanley Park - Threatened for use by Liverpool Football Ground
(Anfield)
Springfield Park - Threatened for expansion by Alder Hey Children's hospital
(Knotty Ash)
Falmouth Park - Responsibility transferred to private landlord COBALT/LHT
(Croxteth) council decided to transfer their insurance costs and ownership.
Norris Green Park - Been run down throughout the 1990's, threatened with being built
on by the Queens Partnership group circa 1995-97, it is probably
now owned by COBALT/LHT as well, thus it could end up under the
bulldozer to boost COBALT Housing Company Ltd's profits.
Newsham Park - Being built upon by an academy plan.
(Kensington)

Kai Andersen, Liverpool ***

PLANNING COMMITTEE TO APPROVE STANLEY PARK STADIUM THIS FRIDAY

A demonstration will take place at the southern end of Stanley Park when the planning committee arrive early on Friday morning (8am!) for their site visit, then opponents will gather at the Town Hall to speak against the proposal to take a whopping 50% of the historic park from the public forever.

No prizes for guessing that the rubber stamp is just about ready to fall on the park's death warrant, but let the committee know they still have a chance to be heroes if they have the democratic inegrity and vision!

Parks and Gardens

Want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city? Liverpool has acres of beautiful parks and gardens ideal for relaxation and recreation.

In the heart of the city there are quiet havens such as St John's Gardens, St Luke's Churchyard, Falkner Square, St James Mount and Gardens and Our Lady & St Nicholas's Churchyard.

On a much larger scale are the great Victorian Parks of Stanley, Newsham and the internationally acclaimed Sefton Park, a 'Parisian Park' in Liverpool.
Further out lie the former landscaped estates of Clarke Gardens, Allerton Tower, Camp Hill and Calderstones Park (to name a few), the latter noted for its gardens and rare trees.

Walton Hall Park covers 130 acres including a lake for model boating and fishing and excellent sports provision focussed on the park sports centre.

Some of Liverpool's Parks


The History of Liverpool's Parks - an overview

When in the late eighteenth century the distinguished William Roscoe cherished the notion that one day Liverpool could become as beautiful a city as Florence, he could not possibly have foreseen the massive population growth and boom which quickly followed the wealth he witnessed about Liverpool in Georgian times.

While Roscoe affirmed that a great city must develop both culturally and through commerce, the township rapidly expanded as trade routes brought work and the promise of riches. Immigration and passing emigrants crowded into the Victorian dwellings and by 1847 the average lifespan was less than 21 years.

Environmental Health reforms were introduced but by the mid 1850s a clamour grew for "parks for the people" with the realisation that amid densely populated industrial heartlands, public parks could provide "lungs for the city". When Liverpool ultimately embarked on actively reclaiming the ground lost since Roscoe's early proclamations, a small yet significant number of open spaces were already approaching maturity.
Arguably the first public open space in the township was established in 1767, when an impoverished workforce were given labour to fashion a 'pleasure ground' from the quarry spoil alongside 'Mount Zion'. St. James' Mount Gardens were opened as a public walk commanding fine Mersey views from next to the present site of the Anglican Cathedral.
The early Nineteenth Century brought further open space initiatives, as private garden developments sought to enhance property ventures, notably at Abercromby (1800) and Falkner (1835) Squares, coupled with the founding by Roscoe of Liverpool's Botanic Garden (1802) initially at Myrtle Street, later re-established at Edge Lane (1836). The most ambitious scheme was the 90 acre blend of landscaped park surrounded by Victorian villa and mansion devised by Richard Vaughan Yates in 1842. Parkland designed by Joseph Paxton embellished the prospect of the new properties, introducing a private park, which was also publicly accessible "once the streets are aired". The park became fully public in 1918.

Although the Edge Lane Botanic Garden and adjacent Wavertree Park (1843) became an enviable public facility in 1846, at this time Liverpool still lacked the scale of open space befitting either its municipal ambitions, or its social need. This was rectified when, between 1870 and the end of the century, some of Liverpool's largest and grandest parks were established. Using Corporation land to the east, and with acquisitions to the north and south, a trio of great Victorian Parks - Newsham (1868), Stanley (1870) and Sefton (1872) were opened. The century closed with the gift of Wavertree Playground ('The Mystery' of an anonymous benefactor) in 1895 and Greenbank Park (1897), totalling nearly a fifth of our present open space resource.

The Twentieth Century brought a new era of park development, marked by the purchase of the Calderstones Estate in 1902. The next thirty years saw some of Liverpool's most beautiful park landscapes, acquired as once rural estates and properties were relinquished by their families, relocating to less suburban locations. Through astute purchase and generous donation major new open space development included Springfield Park (1907), Walton Hall Park (1913, opened 1934), Harthill (1913), Woolton Wood (1917), Camp Hill (1922), Allerton Tower (1924), Clarke Gardens (1926) and Reynolds Park (1929).
Small scale, local park developments also continued to meet the expansive needs of new suburbs such as Norris Green and Dovecot Parks (1930) and a growing number of 'recreation grounds' were created to accommodate play needs.

The Thirties also marked the commencement of an ambitious scheme to create a new coastal open space to serve the City's more mobile population. The construction of Otterspool Promenade (1950) provided both a new amenity for Liverpool and an open space dividend from the disposal of Mersey Tunnel spoil and household waste; a project repeated three decades later to reclaim the future International Garden Festival site.
Less extensive, post war and contemporary park developments have also attempted to respond to population and social change. Land use economics that encouraged coastal reclamation have extended to the redevelopment of derelict or fragmented land in new park and open space developments such as Everton (1989) and Netherley Parks (1991/2). A growing awareness of habitat ecology and the varied benefits of urban countryside have redefined open space to include informal landscapes, while concepts such as Fazakerley Ecology Park and the Loop Line Linear Park now provide highly accessible, robust natural environments within the urban fabric.

Arguably the finest example of urban countryside in the City is not a new park but an old estate. Since 1986, Croxteth Hall and Country Park has represented the City's largest public open space: 160 hectares (400 acre) of woodland, field, pond, lake, river, garden and farm, which on one site, demonstrates the rich blend of heritage and habitat, recreation and attraction which characterise the City's wealth of parkland.

The English Heritage Register and Liverpool's Historic Parks

Liverpool's key historic urban parks: Sefton, Stanley, Newsham, Princes, Wavertree are all included on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks as Grade II sites. Sefton is actually a grade II* park. Croxteth Country Park, Anfield Cemetery, Toxteth Cemetery and Allerton Cemetery are also included as Grade II sites. The former cemetery at St.James Mount is another grade II* site.

Sefton Park designed by Edouard André (Gardener in Chief, Paris) and Lewis Hornblower (a Liverpool architect) who won a competition in 1867 and a prize of 300 guineas was awarded.

The winning design blended the natural undulating topography and two branches of a Mersey tributary to create a landscape in which there was a spinal ornamental watercourse, embellished with rock features including cascades, grottoes and stepping stones leading to a 7 acre lake. Carefully planted woodland clumps sought to create a spacious park landscape with framed vistas revealed from elliptical and tangential pathways.
The park is 269 acres (108 ha) and is the city's largest urban park once known as 'Liverpool's Hyde Park'. Park features include listed statuary, grottoes, gateways and buildings. Statues include full replicas of Peter Pan by Sir George Frampton and the Shaftsbury Memorial (Eros fountain) by Sir Alfred Gilbert. Both are Grade II listed.
Sefton Park Palm House, constructed in 1896, is a Grade II* listed building recently fully restored and refurbished with Heritage Lottery and European funding. The building reopened as a major botanical and events attraction in September 2001.
Stanley Park is arguably the most architecturally significant of the city's great Victorian parks. Landscaped by Edward Kemp, who had assisted Paxton at Chatsworth and Birkenhead, the park features a grand terrace punctuated by imposing shelters with expansive bedding schemes once highlighted by fountains. The 45ha park opened in 1870 and contains the Gladstone Conservatory (Grade II) by Mackenzie & Moncur (1899), who had also constructed the Palm House in Sefton Park.

Newsham Park was the first of the celebrated trio of new parks developed to ring Victorian Liverpool. The park, which was based on designs by Edward Kemp, may represent Kemp's first solo venture in public park design. It is surrounded by fine period architecture which were developed to fund the park layout in 1866 and includes the grade II listed Seaman's Orphanage and Newsham House. The latter is the 'sumptuous mansion' where Queen Victoria stayed in 1886 and which is still in use as the 'Judges' Lodgings'.
Wavertree Botanic Park and Garden is a good example of a mid C19, public park incorporating an earlier walled botanic garden, and extended in the late C19. Particular features of the Garden include mid-Victorian (1850-70) geometric planting beds and the two storey Grade II listed curator's lodge (1836-37).

Princes Park was the first public park to be designed by Joseph Paxton (1843). The park was originally a private venture associated with wider development of prime building plots around Paxton's parkland. Public access, though once limited to certain areas (the lake gardens were open only to adjacent residents) gradually became more available. Boundaries adjacent to the lake area are a vestige of this era. The park landscape retains many of Paxton's often subtle design qualities, including views both within the parkland and beyond to the surrounding conservation area.

The Green Flag award scheme is the national standard for parks and green space and is backed by the government. The aim of Green Flag is to encourage good standards across a wide range of criteria.

Find out more by visiting:
 http://www.civictrust.org.uk/gfpa/gfpa.shtml

The English Heritage Register of Historic Parks:
 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

I think party politics is not what the campaign wants, especially not the sort the SLP advocates. It is likely to do more damage than help.

And what is this "Kensington housing victory" rubbish? I live in Kenny and have heard absolutely nothing about an SLP housing victory! They make it up as they go along!

Amyway, back to the parks, anything happen? The NDC?

IMO
26.07.2004 17:30

"I think party politics is not what the campaign wants, especially not the sort the SLP advocates. It is likely to do more damage than help."

I don't think you have clue what SLP advocates do you, like the vast majority of in capitalist society you are ignorant of what socialism really means for the majority in a society. It is down to capitalist (money before people) politics that we're seeing parks given away to private housing companies (Falmouth Park Croxteth given to COBALT Housing Co.Ltd.) 'our' public land given away for free to private business interests. If the SLP's politics are so extremely obnoxious to you then I say, what are you fighting for?? Prostrate yourself in front of your Lib-Dem councillors who run the city council promised to protect public green space. That's party politics, one group of people in capitalist society organised against another, usually one greedy wealthy section against the majority in the case of Liverpool the Lib-Dem's and inter-changeably Labour against the vast majority most of whom don't vote in elections full stop, ooh what rebels!

"And what is this "Kensington housing victory" rubbish? I live in Kenny and have heard absolutely nothing about an SLP housing victory! They make it up as they go along!"

Well ask a few people in Needham road that will have seen the removal van that the SLP used to help move the family into their new home last Tuesday 20th July, it wouldn't have gone unnoticed as it had "SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY - SUPPORTED HERE" posters all over it. If we made up the fact that the SLP had been battling for the past three months to get a family rehoused then we'd be liars. Fact is it's a victory and just because you've not heard about it doesn't mean it didn't happen, for us to make up such a liar would be pointless wouldn't it, we're not into deceiving people, we leave that to capitalist parties and the media controllers both corporate and wannabe sellouts.

"Amyway, back to the parks, anything happen? The NDC?
Jay"

Well then we'll just keep out of it and let the Liberal-Democrats and the Labour party play politics with your (our) parks then shall we. Nicey-nicey middle class politics never stopped Norris Green losing our local college led by a nicey-nicey well spoken middle class priest, it never stopped us losing our local swimming pool in the mid '90's, a nicey-nicey middle class priest up in Kirkby leading the Kirkby Against Toxic Sonae (KATS) ain't got it closed down despite widespread community call for it to be closed down. We'll see how your nicey-nicey ever so polite if-you-please methods change the council's mind...

Contact us when you've suffered enough defeats in the cause of profits over people!

Rant rant rant! Same as ever! See my post on the Kensington thread.

Anyway, anyone yet able to say what happened at the NDC meeting re the park?

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

Very little spoken about Newsham by the NDC people except to say that the new Academy will be called The St Francis of Assisi Academy. We all remember who last used St Francis to promote their credentials ("where there is discord..." etc)!!

NDC are obviously very proud that they support a new school within the area. They are unwilling it seems to address the issue of opposition to it and inappropriate development.

Naturally the NDC comes in for a lot of criticism due to the inability of its leaders to actually do much that is visibly worthwhile and is not simply a delivery of council services. Therefore, a new school being built (despite it being funded by central govt) is an ideal opportunity for them to say that they are helping the area. So we should not be surprised that there was little spoken about it in a meeting open to the public.

Whilst not about Newsham Park, it is reflective of the situation seen in Newsham. Anfield Stadium today goes through its planning application at committee. Although most of us would assume we know the outcome, it is a good indication of the long term strategy of the council towards greenspaces. At the moment they could call Newsham a one-off. Plans for Anfield and other parks will show whether there is a definite policy of undermining our public park space.

Good letter in the Echo this week - the 2nd August:

Modern mystery

IT is with wonder and curiosity that I appeal to fellow readers of the Liverpool ECHO about a modern day mystery.

Around the building site of the new academy in Newsham Park a local resident had written, blood red, and in huge letters: "PARK VIOLATERS WHERE NEXT?"

The next time I walked past, these words had meticulously been painted out to make it appear they never were yet scores of other pieces of grafitti were left untouched.

Does anyone know of a conspiracy to wrest the parks of Liverpool from its people while successfully suppressing local anger?

A council hell bent on appeasing property developers at the cost of Liverpool's heritage means that we and future generations all lose out.

M. O'Keefe,
Anfield


Don't worry - there is another protest slogan there now, asking the world

"IS THE BISHOP A PAWN?"

I reckon he might be.

Below is from the Echo on Monday - seems the campaigners have forced the Bishop's bulldozers off the main park for the time being.

NB Public meeting at the Lodge on September 22nd to address 'misconceptions' - like the misconception fed by the council that no trees or parkland would be lost!


School PE site moved Aug 9 2004

By Mike Hornby, Liverpool Echo


THE new Kensington Academy has backed down on plans to site the school's playing fields in nearby Newsham Park.

The 900 pupils will instead have to travel half a mile for PE lessons and use the facilities at the newly opened Kensington sports centre.

The announcement was made by the academy's head teacher Jim Burke as work on the new high school got under way.

Mr Burke said: "We want to be good neighbours and a lot of the people who live by Newsham Park are sensitive about the park."

The academy, which will cost £15m and is being funded by the government, overcame objections to win approval last January.

Opponents say the site, ata former council depot, is too small for a large high school and that the park, recognised as one of the most important in the country, will be ruined by the development.

They were backed by the Save Our City campaign, the Friends of Newsham Park and national campaigners the Victorian Society and the Garden History Society.

Kensington resident and park campaigner Jonathan Brown said: "Lots of us are really excited about the new academy.

"But the best interests of the two facilities were bound to come into conflict - now kids will have to travel to play outdoor sport."

Even the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, who is chairman of the Kensington Academy Trust, has not escaped criticism.

Recently daubed graffiti at the site suggested he is being manipulated by the education authorities. A spokesman for the Bishop declined to comment.

* Mr Burke is inviting residents to an open day at Newsham Park lodge where the plans for the school can be viewed. The event, on September 22, is designed to address some "misconceptions" about the scheme.

The full council is to meet on September 1st (5pm)

Is there to be a protest outside the Town Hall? Perhaps something including not just Newsham Park but also the other threatened parklands?

At least with some form of protest, the local papers (and perhaps even the local TV?) cannot ignore it. It is rush hour after all!

CPRE Liverpool are organising a march from the Pier Head to Church Street at noon on Saturday September the 4th, following a fund raising disco/caberet/live band party the night before (Friday 3rd) at May Duncans on Everton Road.

Might be a good idea to have a presence outside the Town Hall on the 1st though.

It may be useful to get a question tabled at the council session on September 1st.

Everyone should bear in mind that the full council meetings are open to the public (amount of people dependent on space) and tea, coffee and biscuits are served!! So why not turn up and question Mr Storey and his minions whilst enjoying a nice brew and a coffee cream?!

See you all at the Pier Head!

Will there be any publicity surrounding this? Trying to get something in the Echo (for what it is worth!), flyers etc?

Publiciy for March for Parks and Culture

CPRE have had coverage in the Post, Echo and Merseymart of late as well as Radio Merseyside. BBC NW Tonight are seeking to run a story - best thing everyone can do is spread the word and do their bit by stepping up email hits to local press and councillors friends and enemies etc.

 letters@liverpoolecho.co.uk

 letters@dailypost.co.uk

Roger Phillips 0151 709 9333, or email  roger.phillips@bbc.co.uk


Meanwhile Edseam can you highlight the events at the top of the Liverpool listings?

1st Sept 5pm Town Hall new full council

3rd Sept ParkLIVE! fundraising party May Duncan's, Heyworth Street

4th Sept 12 noon Pier Head March for Parks and Culture!

SPREAD THE WORD WORLDWIDE!!

The choice of what goes at the top of the listings and what goes on the Event announcements lies with the people who administrate the IMC Liverpool site.

Therefore, any chance?!

Let's hope this is the first step towards protecting parkland.


From the BBC:

New rules on playing field sales

Rules on the sale of England's school playing fields are to be tightened, making it harder for land to be sold. From now on schools and local authorities will have to show that selling the land is a last resort. They will also have to use the cash raised to improve other outdoor facilities before any money can be used on indoor projects.

Fewer playing fields have been sold since 1998 when rules governing such sales were introduced, say ministers. Councils that want to sell a school playing field already have to get the permission of the education secretary. And they have to show that the land is not needed by other schools or the local community.

Last year, 17 applications were made in England and nine were approved. This was down 20 on the previous year.

Community

Under the new rules, new sports facilities must be sustainable for at least 10 years, to ensure they are available to pupils for the long-term. The government worked with the campaign group the National Playing Field Association (NPFA) to draw up the guidelines.
The body had clashed with the government in the past, saying the country was losing too many playing fields to developers.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke told Radio 4's Today programme there were around 25,000 playing fields left across the country and that all these would be protected:
He said: "We have already stemmed the tide of playing field sales that took place before 1998, and I am grateful for the support of the NPFA in further strengthening our guidelines.
"This means that school playing fields will now not only be protected but also improved for the benefit of pupils and the wider community.
"It should also challenge the misconception that school playing fields have been sold off indiscriminately."

Monitoring

Mr Clarke said the changes were being made because he was not satisfied with the way the existing rules were working. But he pointed out that before 1998 there were no rules governing sales. The education secretary said since 1998 of 194 applications to sell playing fields, 33 were either rejected or withdrawn, 60 were approved at schools which had been closed and 88 were approved at schools which remain open.

The director of the NPFA, Elsa Davies, said: "On my last day in post, it warms my heart enormously to know that in future school playing fields will be lost only in the most extreme circumstances and even when this happens, the income will be used to improve outdoor play and sports facilities.

"I leave the NPFA mightily heartened that the government is serious about protecting school playing fields."

But former sports minister Kate Hoey told Today: "This will only protect the larger playing fields. It's not going to protect the smaller school playing fields."
Good monitoring of the process was very important, she added.

The guidelines will be introduced once they have been formally approved by the School Playing Field Advisory Panel, which is due to meet next month.

Hi, the www.savenewshampark.org.uk website has been updated with some new pics and stories...

The police have asked the CPRE to reaarange the March for 2nd October, noon at the Pier Head rather than September 4th!!! There was a double booking!!

So you can have a lie in after the May Duncans ParkLIVE event on Heyworth Street this Friday!

Residents from the Fairfield area have been talking of strong rumours circulating in the area - can any one look into the truth of these:

- Newsham Park South field to be a housing estate
- Bowling greens at Prescot Drive to be a primary school
- Prescot Drive to be reopened to traffic at both ends
- the old road through Newsham Park between Orphan Drive and Prescot Drive (grassed over 20 years ago) to be reopened
- Gardeners Drive to be re-opened
- Prescot Drive and Prescot Road houses opposite police club to be demolished.

I don't know WHERE this is founded from, but overall it sounds frightening. For info, the nearest primaries are the two on Boaler St, St Sebastians on Holly Road, Pheonix on
Edge Lane and St. Cecilias and Lister on Green Lane - anyone know if one of these is earmarked for rebuilding etc?

 http://www.newshampark.org.uk/aug04.pdf
www.savenewshampark.org.uk
www.newshampark.org.uk

i would like to thank all those people who contributed to make the fundraising night at may duncans a great success.
the entertainment was varied and there was something for everyone, orange revolution kicked things off with des from the dockers doing a great job in hosting/entertaining.
sean finn was next, the son of the legendary mickey finn and carrying on the family tradition of making people laugh, vicky abban looked and sounded brilliant, it was a pleasure and a privilege to sing with her. a big thank you must go to all the staff at may duncans for providing delicious food and as usual a warm and freindly welcome to all.
look out for the next fundraiser, the battle goes on to protect our trees from being felled, and open spaces from innappropriate use.
with the support of all those at save newsham park, friends of newsham park, friends of stanley park, the CPRE and many others we will continue to raise money for this and other good causes.
we know we are up against the vested interest and real power that money can buy, we feel our cause is just, and hopefully the more we explain how this council continues to land grab the more we can build our opposition to the loss of open spaces.


mickthecatXXX

See tonight's Echo regaridng the granting of money for the Stop the Rot campaign from the HLF.
I wonder if this includes money originally granted to Newsham Park?

 http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=14644367%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=%2dpound%2d4%2d5m%2dto%2dstop%2dcity%2drot-name_page.html

Article in yesterday's Times on Liverpool's park land grab

 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-1304441,00.html

LOSER!!!