Parklands tcpa april 2015

www.atlanticgateway.co.uk

The Landscape for Prosperity TCPA: GI Futures, April 2015, Liverpool


1. Atlantic Gateway

Accelerating Growth


Atlantic Gateway


Atlantic Gateway Investment Priorities

1. Liverpool2 2. Liverpool Waters 3. Wirral Waters: 4. Liverpool J L A 5. Ince Park 6. 3MG 7. Mersey Gateway 8. Daresbury 9. Omega 10. Warrington Waters 11. Northern Hub 12. Port Salford 13. MediaCity UK 14. Airport City 15. HS2


2. The Landscape for Prosperity


‘Adapting the Landscape’, 2009

The Evidence Base


Angel Field Garden, Liverpool Hope University (BCA Landscapes)

The Context


The Context

Everton Park – Fritz Haeg Foraging Spiral – image from Liverpool Biennial


Accessible landscape Diverse landscape

The Approach


Water and the Landscape Urban landscape

The Approach


Innovative landscape Playful landscape

The Approach




3. Parklands

‘PLACE’ in this World


Parklands PLACE

www.farrellreview.co.uk


Turn up the signal, wipe out the noise


The Landscape for Prosperity will be delivered through a series of partner-led initiatives and projects, championed by the Atlantic Gateway Parklands.

Together these will create a new dimension across the Mersey Belt – a collection of strategic ‘Planned Landscapes and Creative Environments’; our Parklands

PLACEs. We envision these PLACEs developing under four categories:

Strategic Environmental Initiatives Those projects with a direct link to the key Atlantic Gateway economic assets and with which the Parklands will seek a direct relationship and supporting role to assist in their delivery within the first 3–5 years of the Parklands initiative.

Emergent Environmental Assets Transformational partner initiatives, which will create a landscape that is liveable and investment ready. These will drive forward the economy of the Gateway and support the wider connection of environmental assets through the creation of the Parklands concept.

natural assets which are critical to the Gateway’s biodiversity and resilience and which form the backbone of the environmental quality that will act as a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent and investment.

Strategic Flood Defence Investments

Strategic Landscape Assets

The critical natural assets that can contribute to relieving the drag on development by dealing with issues at ‘Pinch Points’ and up-stream of key developments through Green Infrastructure and natural capital investments.

Parklands PLACE


GreenPrint for Growth

Strategic Environmental Initiatives


Wirral Waters Green Grid

Strategic Environment Initiatives

Town & Country Planning February 2015 77

this in the North End of Birkenhead. Ilchester Parkitself was never considered a park until 2014 – it hasonly recently been adopted as a park by the localauthority. Before that, it was simply a neglectedgreen space in the middle of a windswept housingestate that had seen better days.Ann McLachlan,the local ward councillor and Deputy Leader ofWirral Council, explains how much has changed:

‘Ten years ago, when I became a councillor, [thepark] had tenement buildings on it. It had a pubknown as the ‘Blood Tub’ (it was called the New

After a morning of unseasonal squalls, the sun has broken through at Ilchester Park. Children aregathering in a giant tipi in which African drummersare ramping up the party mood. Others are preparingcostumes for a street parade. An avenue of youngsilver birch trees has been yarn-bombed in brightcolours. Below them there are clusters of wildflowers planted by local children.

It might sound like a typical August Bank Holidaycommunity festival in many parts of Britain. Butuntil recently nobody would have imagined doing

planting a senseof prideJulian Dobson looks at how the inclusion of green infrastructurewithin regeneration activity in Birkenhead and Wirral Waters hasimproved local environments and helped to lay the ground for further investment

Above

Fun for all – children queue up for the climbing wall at a community event in Ilchester Park

McC

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Dock Inn), and the old tenement style courtyardwas known as the ‘Bull Ring’. It was a rough,tough area. But people from the North End live in the North End, stay in the North End; theirfamilies live here.’

In recent years a series of housing upgrades byMagenta Living, the largest social landlord in theborough, have provided new external cladding andenergy-saving improvements. Homes deemed unfitor unsuitable have been demolished. A privatedeveloper, Keepmoat, is starting to build homes forsale on the demolition sites. But housing has notbeen the only change. Ilchester Park is at the heartof The Mersey Forest’s Green Streets initiative, akey part of the jigsaw that is the regeneration of the former industrial heart of Birkenhead and theneighbourhoods that served the dock areas.

Green Streets is a programme to plant thousandsof trees across neighbourhoods in Merseyside andNorth Cheshire, funded through a range of agencies,including the Forestry Commission’s Setting the Scenefor Growth programme, the INTERREG ForeStClimproject, and the Government’s Local SustainableTransport Fund, as well as the Department of Business,Innovation and Skills and the Big Tree Plant. In theWirral, it dovetails with long-term plans to improve thegreen infrastructure and enhance biodiversity around

Wirral Waters, one of Britain’s biggest developmentsites, based on the former Birkenhead docks (andan Enterprise Zone, signalling that it is a Governmentpriority project). Already more than 1,200 trees havebeen planted, greening more than 12 kilometres ofstreets.

The creation of Ilchester Park out of a boggy and neglected triangle has been one of the mostnoticeable changes. As well as the avenue of silverbirches, other trees have been planted to provideshade and variety, and new natural play equipment

is being introduced to attract children and families.The Veolia Environmental Trust has contributed£67,000 through the Landfill Communities Fund toconstruct natural play areas and a network of newpaths.

‘The community have got wide open green spacefor their children to play in, for them to breathe inreally, rather than them being in an overcrowdedenvironment,’ Ann McLachlan says. ‘Physicallythere’s a big difference, but it’s raised aspiration inthe community as well about a better quality of life.I think local people feel a garden’s been brought tothem. Where people have no gardens, they feel thegreening of their community is a welcome additionto their life.’

Anna Barnish, Manager of North BirkenheadDevelopment Trust, the main community organisationfor the area, sees the greening of local streets andthe revitalisation of the park as part of a long-termchange in the fortunes of one of the most deprivedneighbourhoods in the UK:

‘In spring when the trees are in blossom it lookslovely, and people comment on how uplifting it isto walk down a street which is lined with trees infull blossom. If you look at the trees, there’s been very little damage to them, which shows the impact that the process of education andengagement has had.’

That engagement has been secured throughclose partnerships between Mersey Forest staff andcommunity organisations to involve local people inchoosing which trees are planted where, building asense of ownership of the greening of the widerarea. North Birkenhead Development Trust is nowsupporting plans to set up a friends’ group to planevents and activities and help care for Ilchester Park.

‘There are people that genuinely enjoy living hereand using the space and want to see it develop,’Anna Barnish says. ‘It’s a very up and coming area –there is the new Keepmoat housing development,and Wirral Borough Council are doing loads andloads to encourage positive development, with newshops in the area. The fact that there’s new privatedevelopment in housebuilding says a lot. It says thatpeople want to live here.’

Prouder neighbourhoodsFrank Field, the local MP, is a strong advocate

of The Mersey Forest’s work in greening NorthBirkenhead and the key routes into the centre of the town and the Wirral Waters development sites.For him, the key is to link the physical and visualenhancement of the neighbourhood with jobopportunities that will help to address theentrenched deprivation of the area.

He is particularly excited about the prospects fornew automotive- and energy-based industries onthe nearby site of the former Mobil oil plant, which

78 Town & Country Planning February 2015

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Above

A greener scene – tree planting by The Mersey Forest at Egerton Dock, Birkenhead


4. Partnerships for

Delivering Parklands


author/illustrator: Timothy Basil Ering


author/illustrator: Timothy Basil Ering



image courtesy of Cheshire Life


www.andfes:val.org.uk



Community Environment Fund

image courtesy of Cheshire Life


4. “In the Future when all’s Well”

Parklands Next Steps


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Map -‐ Copyright © 2012-‐2014 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.


Liverpool City Region Parks Study Final Report ‐ 18/03/15

Peter Neal Consulting with Richard Tracey page 0

LCR

PARKS STUDY

Commissioned by the Rethinking Parks Task Group

Established by Nature Connected the Liverpool City Region Local Nature Partnership

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

with Halton Borough Council, Liverpool City Council Sefton Council and St Helens Metropolitan Council

Final Report March 2015

Peter Neal Consulting Ltd with Richard Tracey Ltd



Its Prospectus13 includes a wide‐ranging set of objec‐tives and key messages that align closely with manag‐ing and investing in the region’s asset base of parks. The Rethinking Parks Task Group has specifically been established within the LNP to work across boundaries and identify alternative approaches to promote, support and manage the city regions public parks and green spaces. The Group is seeking to develop more radical ideas and models that can be submitted to the LNP Board for further consideration. This study is part of the process and may include the potential for establishing some form of a Parks Agency concept. This could provide a structure to coordinate and share activities across the city region to support parks and green spaces and in particular high profile ‘destination’ parks. 3.5 LCR Green Infrastructure Strategy The Mersey Forest has produced an extensive green infrastructure framework that includes Wirral and Warrington. With detailed mapping of the GI resource, including data on parks and private gardens, it makes reference to the ‘establishment of a Parks Task Group, to investigate a new approach to the management, maintenance and marketing of urban parks’. The action plan is structured around six ‘park compatible’ themes: x Setting the scene for growth x Supporting health and well being x Climate change x Recreation, leisure and tourism x Ecological framework x Rural economy

3.6 Atlantic Gateway Parklands The Landscape for Prosperity14 sets out a vision and investment framework for a wider region beyond the LCR and local authority boundaries spanning Liverpool and Manchester. By making the best of existing environmental assets and resources, including many of the regions parks and green spaces, the framework provides an environmental foundation for long‐term economic development and growth. 13 Nature Connected ‐ Liverpool City Region’s Natural Environment is a Unique Asset

14 Atlantic Gateway Parklands , The Landscape for Prosperity, June 2014

The Atlantic Gateway Parklands will use its approach to ‘Planned Landscapes and Creative Environments’ ‐ Parklands PLACEs ‐ to drive investment using its own Community Environment Fund, which is available to third sector organisations to fund innovative projects and ideas. 3.7 EU Structural and Investment Funds The European Union (EU) funding allocation for 2014‐20 of £190m is coordinated by the LEP. This includes investment in economic infrastructure, including green infrastructure, to support growth, economic resilience and attract investment and visitors. The Blue/Green Economy and Place & Connectivity portfolios provide direct opportunities for investing in and managing parks and green spaces. 3.8 Health and Wellbeing Boards Local councils now have direct responsibility, trans‐ferred in part from the NHS, for improving the health of their communities. This is primarily delivered through Health and Wellbeing Boards that are established in partnership with clinical commissioning groups. Activities are structured and measured through the Public Health Outcomes Framework. Health and Wellbeing Strategies prepared for each authority across the LCR provide a number of direct and associated opportunities for using parks to improve local standards and deliver a number of agreed and pre‐defined public health outcomes.



A flexible model allowing individual authorities to pool the management of particular parks, or park elements, could be adopted. For example one authority may only look to include heritage and HLF‐funded parks whilst another may also include green flag parks and those of further strategic importance. It will be down to each authority to decide which of their parks is considered to be a strategic priority with all or part of their maintenance potentially resourced collectively. This process could also engage third sector expert advisors in a similar way to current work being undertaken by the Liverpool Strategic Green and Open Space Review Board. 4.9 Phased Programme of Collaboration A phased or sliding scale of collaboration, cooperation and joint working across partners could be adopted allowing time for further research and the flexibility for individual partners to identify a strategy that meets their own particular needs.

This could initially start as an informal network to share skills and expertise that evolves into developing a more coordinated approach to management and mainte‐nance over the long‐term. The establishment of a formal LCR Parks Management Board could follow which could be endorsed at the city‐regional level and its work led by a core group of Park Commissioners. These would be recommended by each authority and appointed by the combined authority.

Lord Street Gardens, Southport, restored with an HLF grant It is useful to note that when the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was established in 2011 it set up seven commissions to guide its development. Each was staffed by both elected members and a wider network of partners. The Environment Commission included a Green Spaces and Waterways Theme that was led by a Green Spaces and Waterways Infrastructure Board (which became the Greater Manchester Local Nature Partnership). The formal establishment of some form of a parks agency could follow that would provide a structure to increasingly support and then lead the management and maintenance of parks.

Adopting a phased and flexible programme of transi‐tion to new ways of working is expected to be easier to establish technically and politically. However, it will be important that there is a clear and agreed strategy for establishing this model and each individual activity is seen as an integral part of the process to develop a more collaborative and coordinated model for deliver‐ing park services across the city region in the future.


Confidential: Not for external dissemination Private roundtable discussion

1

Private Advisory Roundtable Discussion:

“A Right to Beauty: The Role of Beauty and Good Design in Fuelling Local Social Prosperity”

AGENDA & BRIEFING NOTES

Monday 23rd March, 2.15 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Wilson Room, Portcullis House, Westminster, London SW1A 2LW

*Please allow sufficient time for passing through security*

Agenda

14.15 – 14.30 Participants arrive 14.30 – 14.40 Welcome and introductory remarks by Phillip Blond, Director, ResPublica 14.40 – 15.55 Discussion, chaired by Caroline Julian, Head of Policy Programmes, ResPublica 15.55 – 16.00 Conclusions and next steps This project is kindly supported by:


The issue of sustainability is here to stay

Armed with wealth and the best of health, in the future when all’s well



Richard Tracey

Atlantic Gateway Parklands

t: 07841 458 696e: [email protected]

Interim Project Director

Documents

Parklands tcpa april 2015