Festival Gardens: What's another year?

By George Thomas

One place I discovered early on after moving to south Liverpool was the wonderful Festival Gardens on Otterspool Prom – a blessing over lockdown. 

The importance of the Gardens goes far beyond offering people a sanctuary to escape the confines of their homes during a global pandemic - they have been central to the regeneration plans of Liverpool for decades now. 

The Gardens were created initially for the International Garden Festival, a concept designed to regenerate Liverpool and drive tourism following the huge industrial decline and riots of the 1980s.  Now, the most recent plans for the waterfront site, which will see 1,500 new homes delivered, are imperative to Liverpool City Council meeting its housebuilding targets.

Having experienced the difficulties of finding a house in south Liverpool, I know how welcome these homes will be.

However, it looks like those people eagerly awaiting these homes will now have to wait. The most recent announcement, that a full procurement process is to be undertaken to appoint a new development partner, is expected to push back delivery by at least 12 months.

Those developers looking to put in a bid will have somewhat of a political minefield to navigate. They will have the Council’s recently adopted Local Plan, Council Plan and the Mayoral triple lock policy to get their heads around, as well as a fractured governance structure – a product of a turbulent 18 months for local politics in Liverpool.

The appointment in March 2021 of Government commissioners to oversee authority at the City Council left a bitter taste for many in the city. There will only be further upheaval next year as the electoral map in Liverpool is expected to be completely redrawn in time for May’s all-out local elections, with Festival Gardens set to have its own representative. 

With much of the old guard now gone, the City Council looking for a new developer for this strategically important site is probably an attempt to distance themselves from previous decision-makers. 

One thing is for sure, the search for a new developer will be an in-depth and thorough process. The Council along with its partners, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Homes England, cannot afford to get it wrong. Not good news for those that were hoping for first completions any time soon. 

I suppose when people have been waiting a quarter of a century for plans for the Festival Gardens to come to fruition, what’s another year?

This article was originally published in Advocacy Local’s Politics and Planning Newsletter. To receive our fortnightly newsletter straight to your inbox, subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/htOBCv