All of Liverpool’s parks to be protected with building on them banned

19 MAR 2021   Unique council partnership will protect 100 parks and 1,039 hectares of land across the city. Liverpool City Council has announced that all of the city’s parks are to be protected forever.

The city’s Acting Mayor, Councillor Wendy Simon, is set to make the plans official at a cabinet meeting today which will see the protection of 100 much-loved parks and green spaces, totalling 1,039 hectares across the city.

In a unique partnership with the charity Fields in Trust, Liverpool City Council will become the first local authority to adopt this vision, ensuring that the outdoor areas will not be built on or sold off, safeguarding them and ensuring a tangible legacy for local communities.

The landmark decision will also outline the ambition that every resident will live no more than a ten-minute walk from a high quality green space – this could be a beautiful park, a smaller neighbourhood green space, football pitches or play area. Any location that enables people to exercise, play or simply relax and unwind.

The announcement forms part of The Great Outdoors pledge – one of ten promises made by the city council to build a better, brighter future for the city.

Through partnership work, it will secure the future of dozens of much-loved parks and green spaces across the city in a phased approach which aims to be completed by the end of 2023.

For the first phase, Fields In Trust has carried out at a thorough strategic review which has identified the spaces which have the most potential to improve physical and mental wellbeing.

As a result, 20 areas – which equates to 60 per cent of the city’s green space – will be protected in the first 12 months.

And, by the end of the process, more than 1,000 hectares of land will be protected.

Liverpool City Council will retain ownership of the green spaces and will continue to be responsible for the maintenance of all the parks.

The importance of parks and green spaces has never been highlighted more than in the past year, when they have become an essential place to exercise, relax and reflect.