The Festival Gardens website is now live
UPDATE: Closure is from 14 June until 29 November 2010
The footpath from near the small roundabout at Riverside Drive/Bempton Road down to the river will temporarily be closed to pedestrians from Monday 14th June 2010 for 2 weeks so that Langtree can carry out work related to the Festival Gardens regeneration.
TTRO5870.pdf
RiversideDrivePlan.pdf
The Liverpool Echo has been given a tour of the Festival Gardens site by design firm Planit
Planit website
A selection of various videos relating to the festival site and Otterspool.
The first one is quite recent and has some footage towards the end of the recent clear up in progress.
Recently some attractive signs have gone up advertising the future Festival Gardens development.
Liverpool City Council’s Neighbourhood Management Services, working with Liverpool Charity & Voluntary Services, would like to invite you to an information event on ‘Participatory Budgeting’ that will take place this month at:
St Hilda’s CE High School, Croxteth Drive, L17 3AL, Thursday 22 April, 5-7pm
Free buffet and refreshments
Free raffle – for your chance to win an iconic Liverpool souvenir
The Land Restoration Trust will be managing the park once it has been developed and they are running a drop-in session for the general public where you can meet the various partners involved with the project and see the plans for the site.
It is between 3.30pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday 24th Feb 2010 at Shorefelds Technology College.
One of the leaflets that will be available can be downloaded here.
The land by "The Gates" at the corner where Promenade Gardens, Dingle Road and Dingle Lane meet is for sale by auction by United Utilities on 25 Feb 2010 at Manchester United Football Ground.
The full details of Lot 104 can be seen at Pugh Auctions website
There are various reports available for download on the website which are well worth a read not only for a description of the land but also if you are interested in its history and that of the surrounding area. (Click Download Legal Documents to see them)
According to the Liverpool Daily Post
Developer Langtree will move on to the site today, the first time work has taken place on the derelict site in 13 years.
The £3.7m restoration begins almost 26 years after the International Garden Festival first opened to huge public acclaim in 1984.
After accessing the 70 acres of land construction starts within seven days to restore the Oriental gardens, returning them to public use.
Also revamped will be the lakes and waterways, the Moon Wall will be rebuilt, two pagodas restored and the landscaping of woodland trails carried out.
A new pedestrian access will create links with Otterspool Promenade together with a new parking and public transport facilities.
It is the first work on the Garden Festival site since 1986 when 600 homes were built on the land after the hugely popular park closed.
A recent council meeting resolved that...
... having given due consideration to the objections received as a result of the advertisement of the disposal of the former Landscape Maintenance Depot and adjacent land, Otterspool Drive site as shown shaded blue on the plan submitted, they be not sustained and that the decision (Minute No. 77 (b)) of the Board of 9 October 2009 to grant an agreement for a 125 year lease, conditional on satisfactory planning consent, of the former Landscape Maintenance Depot and adjacent land, Otterspool Drive as shown verged on the Plan No 16,716 submitted to Keith Perryman for the sum of £33,129 plus a rent of £5,000 per annum for the first ten years followed by a peppercorn ground rent, plus £1,656 surveyor’s fees and £1,325 legal costs, and on other terms as agreed by the Operations Manager Property and Asset Management Services be reaffirmed.
The City Council has issued a Tree Preservation Order that prohibits anyone from cutting down, topping or lopping any of the trees in the designated area.
The designated area covers the trees starting at Promenade Gardens where Shorefields Village is on one side and Thistledown Close on the other. Continuing round Glendale Close / Orchid Grove and The Bulrushes, at the edge of Ellerman Road. Then round between Riverside Drive and Floral Wood. Also the trees between Floral Wood and Cottonwood.
The preservation order has been issued because
"This site was considered for protection back in 1999 but due to staffing issues at the time it was not made. This woodland is considered to be of great amenity value making a valid contribution to the character of the surrounding area. There have recently been several enquiries made relating to the protected status of these trees. Protecting them with a Tree Preservation Order will insure that they will be managed correctly to ensure their long term retention and health"
Did anybody else spot that Penguin having his photo taken yesterday morning down by the river just past the Britannia Pub next to the new funnels.
It must be a Go Penguin who escaped a bit early.
He didn't stay long though and there is no sign of him now.
The October issue of the Riverside Residents Association Newsletter.
RRAOct09
Work to restore the formal gardens at the International Garden Festival site is expected to start in November, Liverpool City Council said.
The council's executive board gave the go-ahead to developers Langtree to carry out the work, which should see the gardens reopened in a year.
Full story here
Useful Links
Council meeting that gave rise to the above news
More details