I’ve enjoyed going to for some peace and quiet away from the
hustle and bustle of city life, since I moved to St Michaels in the
beginning of 2006. I joined the green party late last year, and one of
the first things I enquired about was the development of the Garden
Festival site. This is what I learned:

The developers who are planning to build on the site of the old Festival
Hall and the car park adjacent to it are called Langtree McLean, a
partnership between Langtree Plc and David McLean Ltd. Their plan is to
build 1350 homes on the site, by building seven tower blocks near the
waterfront and two semi circular housing blocks on top of the old
festival hall. To do this they had to clear fell all the trees between
the festival hall site and the riverside walkway, which they have done,
to create a barren open space that they need to build on. These
apartments would fund a £2m scheme to renovate what is left of the old
festival garden site, including the Chinese and Japanese gardens, and to
manage the rest of the site, including building a great big path that
runs from the festival hall building right the way across to the edge of
the site near the Otterspool Pub. You can see these plans online at
 http://www.festivalgardens.co.uk/ .

However, what they failed to mention was that they were going to start
clearing the land BEFORE they got planning permission to build the
flats. They can do this because they actually own the land. John Coyne
informed me that it was sold to the developers by another company called
the Wiggins Group, who were the owners of the site since the days of the
International Garden Festival. It has never apparently been public
space. They got permission from the Forestry Commission to cut down the
trees that they’ve cut down because they needed to thin the site out in
order to manage it effectively and put paths in, but also because many
of the trees were dying from growing roots into the refuse underneath
the ground, and since first visiting the site and taking the photos that
went round the district, I’ve noticed that the clear felling, thinning,
and cutting back that they have done does roughly correspond with the
plans on the website. I have also spoken to the security guard on site
who informed me that there were no plans to do any more, and that the
suddenness of what they did was because of the onset of Spring.

It was the 12-16th March that they cut the trees down, using what can
only be described as a tree combine harvester, and a device for chipping
the wood. They don’t seem to have put much care into the procedure; it
seems quite arbitrary to me. They have done untold damage to the
wildlife and bird population in the park, not to mention the aesthetic
value of the park, and if they don’t get planning permission they will
leave behind a wasteland. The park looks terrible at the moment, and
they have effectively destroyed half of the site. The other half looks
pretty dreadful, as in amongst all the natural beauty are tree stumps
and sawdust literally everywhere. Luckily, the only unspoilt part, the
most beautiful part, is the hill at the centre of the site. They have
done some thinning to the woodland behind it, to the Chinese / Japanese
gardens to the right of it, and to the old trainline in front of it, but
the area immediately around it has been untouched. Luckily this is where
most of the most mature trees are, so I guess we must be thankful for
that. The problem that we now face is ‘what else are they going to do
that they haven’t told us’? They own the land, and because of this, they
can effectively do what they want with it, so long as it’s legal.

However, on balance, the redevelopment is broadly a good thing for St
Michaels, and for Liverpool, as the increase in residents amounts to
roughly 1/6th of the local population, meaning more money for the area,
more business in the area, more people using public transport in the
area (they have space for only 1 car per household and perhaps not even
that), and we’ll be left with a park that will be for everyone’s use,
not just those who know how to get in and actually can. Their plans for
the park extend beyond the fenced off festival site right across the
moorland to Otterspool Park, and will in effect create a park that runs
the whole way from the Britannia Inn to Mersey Road in Garston. That is
a HUGE park and nearly as big as Sefton area wise. If we can ensure that
the woodland next to the hill stays intact and absolutely no more tree
felling or undergrowth thinning happens, but they carry on with their
plans for the rest of the site, then it will be a win-win situation. The
only thing we will lose is the view of the upper part of the Mersey from
that hill, as it will be obscured by the tower blocks they want to
build. We will still be able to see for 20 miles in the other direction.

We need assurances and clarification on what they are planning to do
next, and without them, I think we need to try and put a stop to the
planning application as best possible, and we have til 17th April to do
so. Without the assurances for the protection of the wildlife, and the
careful management of the foliage, we may lose the area’s most valuable
natural asset, They NEED to involve the community in the development
process and frankly I’m prepared to chain myself to the trees if they
try to do any more damage to the hillside woodland! ;-)

Thanks

Did you know that under Section 15 of the Commons Act 2006 you can register an open space as a 'Town Green' if it has been used by local people for recreation for the past 20 years and there is little the landowner can do about it. Contact the Open Spaces Society for info and support