Everton Park transformation set to move a step closer

PLANS to transform Everton Park into a major visitor destination are set to take a major step forward.  The City Council has been working with a range of different organisations in the area over the last two years, including the Friends of Everton Park, Liverpool Biennial and Liverpool Vision, to draw up a series of exciting proposals.  The plans include a stunning Sky Pier visitor centre, gallery event space and café with views across the City and the River Mersey; which it is estimated will attract 150,000 people annually and be worth £3 million to the local economy over a 3 year period.  A series of walks; 5 Pathways; will be created focused around the themes of food, art, lookout, activity and history which will host regular events to attract people into the park to build on the work of the Friends of Everton Park.  On Friday, 16 May 2014, the Cabinet is being asked to endorse proposals to hand the park over to the independent land management charity The Land Trust on a long term lease. They will manage and maintain the park on a long term basis and bid for external funds to carry out improvements.   The Council is also being asked to approve the phased development of land around the periphery of the park for housing over the next 10 years, with the receipts ring fenced and used as an endowment to fund future management and maintenance. The plans for the housing will emerge at a later date but they will be eco-friendly homes.  Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- "This is a visionary and exciting scheme which will transform Everton Park into a must visit destination in Liverpool.  This is a project which has been led by the local community in partnership with the City Council and other organisations. It is their passion and ideas have resulted in a set of ambitious but wholly achievable proposals which we are committed to helping deliver."

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) cash has been secured to cover almost half of the £2 million construction costs of the Sky Pier, with further bids being made to minimise the cost to the Council. It is hoped it could be constructed as early as next year.  A submission will be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund's new Parks for People programme later this year to help pay for the restoration of the park.  Improvements already carried out at the park include a new Heritage Trail, a Portrait Bench which highlights the rich social history of the space and the lighting up of the iconic and historic lock up which features prominently on Everton Football Club's crest.  Paul Edwards, Chair of the Friends of Everton Park, said:- "We're absolutely delighted as this Council report is the green light our community has been waiting for since back in the 1980's. At last our dream of a new green inner-city village in beautiful parkland with amazing views over our City is becoming a reality; and the days of wholesale moving out of families and communities are truly over. As the community partner in the regeneration of Everton Park over the last three years we have really appreciated what great partnership can achieve; the City Council, Liverpool Vision, and our colleagues in the health authority and the Biennial and particularly in the community around the park have been brilliant. And we're looking forward to working closely with the newest partner, the national organisation the Land Trust, who will now do much of the heavy lifting as we take the park forward. Our community will certainly be celebrating a fresh start for the park, fully confident that the Everton Park neighbourhood will become a great place to live, to visit, to work and to play for generations to come."

Alison Whitehead, Development Manager (North) for The Land Trust, said:- 'We're very excited about working on this project. Already we have found a huge amount of enthusiasm from local residents and this really helps us to plan and manage a site in a way that works for the local community. This is a big project and there is much to do, but we're already working on a master plan which will set out what we would like to see in the park. We're looking forward to hearing the views of the local people on this, so that they can help us design and maintain a park that is used and loved by the local people, as well as tourists and visitors from afar."

Other regeneration work underway in the area includes the multi-million pound Project Jennifer scheme to revitalise the Great Homer Street area; and the brand new Notre Dame Catholic College.  A video in which the Friends of Everton Park talk about their vision for the park can be viewed on YouTube.