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Wirral Waters Green Grid
Strategic Environment Initiatives
Town & Country Planning February 2015 77
this in the North End of Birkenhead. Ilchester Park
itself was never considered a park until 2014 – it has
only recently been adopted as a park by the local
authority. Before that, it was simply a neglected
green space in the middle of a windswept housing
estate that had seen better days.Ann McLachlan,
the local ward councillor and Deputy Leader of
Wirral Council, explains how much has changed:
‘Ten years ago, when I became a councillor, [the
park] had tenement buildings on it. It had a pub
known as the ‘Blood Tub’ (it was called the New
After a morning of unseasonal squalls, the sun
has broken through at Ilchester Park. Children are
gathering in a giant tipi in which African drummers
are ramping up the party mood. Others are preparing
costumes for a street parade. An avenue of young
silver birch trees has been yarn-bombed in bright
colours. Below them there are clusters of wild
flowers planted by local children.
It might sound like a typical August Bank Holiday
community festival in many parts of Britain. But
until recently nobody would have imagined doing
planting a sense
of pride
Julian Dobson looks at how the inclusion of green infrastructure
within regeneration activity in Birkenhead andWirralWaters has
improved 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
McCoyWynne
Dock Inn), and the old tenement style courtyard
was 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; their
families live here.’
In recent years a series of housing upgrades by
Magenta Living, the largest social landlord in the
borough, have provided new external cladding and
energy-saving improvements. Homes deemed unfit
or unsuitable have been demolished. A private
developer, Keepmoat, is starting to build homes for
sale on the demolition sites. But housing has not
been the only change. Ilchester Park is at the heart
of The Mersey Forest’s Green Streets initiative, a
key part of the jigsaw that is the regeneration of
the former industrial heart of Birkenhead and the
neighbourhoods that served the dock areas.
Green Streets is a programme to plant thousands
of trees across neighbourhoods in Merseyside and
North Cheshire, funded through a range of agencies,
including the Forestry Commission’s Setting the Scene
for Growth programme, the INTERREG ForeStClim
project, and the Government’s Local Sustainable
Transport Fund, as well as the Department of Business,
Innovation and Skills and the Big Tree Plant. In the
Wirral, it dovetails with long-term plans to improve the
green infrastructure and enhance biodiversity around
is being introduced to attract children and families.
The Veolia Environmental Trust has contributed
£67,000 through the Landfill Communities Fund to
construct natural play areas and a network of new
paths.
‘The community have got wide open green space
for their children to play in, for them to breathe in
really, rather than them being in an overcrowded
environment,’ Ann McLachlan says. ‘Physically
there’s a big difference, but it’s raised aspiration in
the community as well about a better quality of life.
I think local people feel a garden’s been brought to
them. Where people have no gardens, they feel the
greening of their community is a welcome addition
to their life.’
Anna Barnish, Manager of North Birkenhead
Development Trust, the main community organisation
for the area, sees the greening of local streets and
the revitalisation of the park as part of a long-term
change in the fortunes of one of the most deprived
neighbourhoods in the UK:
‘In spring when the trees are in blossom it looks
lovely, and people comment on how uplifting it is
to walk down a street which is lined with trees in
full blossom. If you look at the trees, there’s
been very little damage to them, which shows
the impact that the process of education and
engagement has had.’
That engagement has been secured through
close partnerships between Mersey Forest staff and
community organisations to involve local people in
choosing which trees are planted where, building a
sense of ownership of the greening of the wider
area. North Birkenhead Development Trust is now
supporting plans to set up a friends’ group to plan
events and activities and help care for Ilchester Park.
‘There are people that genuinely enjoy living here
and 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 and
loads to encourage positive development, with new
shops in the area. The fact that there’s new private
development in housebuilding says a lot. It says that
people want to live here.’
McCoyWynne
Above
A greener scene – tree planting by The Mersey Forest at
Egerton Dock, Birkenhead](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/humberestaury28112017-171128075616/85/Humber-Estuary-28112017-29-320.jpg)
Uploaded byRichard Tracey
Humber Estuary 28112017
This document discusses a conference held in Liverpool on green infrastructure and parklands. It covers several topics: the importance of green infrastructure for both the economy and the environment; the Atlantic Gateway Parklands initiative and its community funding projects; and Liverpool's green infrastructure framework. It provides examples of specific green infrastructure projects in the Liverpool area and their benefits. In the final section, it emphasizes that sustainability issues are long-term challenges that require ongoing solutions.
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Humber Estuary 28112017
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- 4. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk What is GIand why is it important? GI is the network of natural and semi-natural features, green spaces, rivers and lakes within and between our villages, towns and cities. When appropriately planned, designed and managed, these green assets have the potential to deliver many benefits – from providing sustainable transport links to mitigating the effects of climate change. Landscape Ins;tute
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- 12. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk 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
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- 17. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk Landscape character assessment Landscapecharacter areas Landscape character The Evidence Base
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- 21. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk Water and the Landscape Urbanlandscape The Approach
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- 25. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk The Landscape forProsperity 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
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- 29. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk Wirral Waters GreenGrid Strategic Environment Initiatives Town & Country Planning February 2015 77 this in the North End of Birkenhead. Ilchester Park itself was never considered a park until 2014 – it has only recently been adopted as a park by the local authority. Before that, it was simply a neglected green space in the middle of a windswept housing estate that had seen better days.Ann McLachlan, the local ward councillor and Deputy Leader of Wirral Council, explains how much has changed: ‘Ten years ago, when I became a councillor, [the park] had tenement buildings on it. It had a pub known as the ‘Blood Tub’ (it was called the New After a morning of unseasonal squalls, the sun has broken through at Ilchester Park. Children are gathering in a giant tipi in which African drummers are ramping up the party mood. Others are preparing costumes for a street parade. An avenue of young silver birch trees has been yarn-bombed in bright colours. Below them there are clusters of wild flowers planted by local children. It might sound like a typical August Bank Holiday community festival in many parts of Britain. But until recently nobody would have imagined doing planting a sense of pride Julian Dobson looks at how the inclusion of green infrastructure within regeneration activity in Birkenhead andWirralWaters has improved 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 McCoyWynne Dock Inn), and the old tenement style courtyard was 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; their families live here.’ In recent years a series of housing upgrades by Magenta Living, the largest social landlord in the borough, have provided new external cladding and energy-saving improvements. Homes deemed unfit or unsuitable have been demolished. A private developer, Keepmoat, is starting to build homes for sale on the demolition sites. But housing has not been the only change. Ilchester Park is at the heart of The Mersey Forest’s Green Streets initiative, a key part of the jigsaw that is the regeneration of the former industrial heart of Birkenhead and the neighbourhoods that served the dock areas. Green Streets is a programme to plant thousands of trees across neighbourhoods in Merseyside and North Cheshire, funded through a range of agencies, including the Forestry Commission’s Setting the Scene for Growth programme, the INTERREG ForeStClim project, and the Government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund, as well as the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Big Tree Plant. In the Wirral, it dovetails with long-term plans to improve the green infrastructure and enhance biodiversity around is being introduced to attract children and families. The Veolia Environmental Trust has contributed £67,000 through the Landfill Communities Fund to construct natural play areas and a network of new paths. ‘The community have got wide open green space for their children to play in, for them to breathe in really, rather than them being in an overcrowded environment,’ Ann McLachlan says. ‘Physically there’s a big difference, but it’s raised aspiration in the community as well about a better quality of life. I think local people feel a garden’s been brought to them. Where people have no gardens, they feel the greening of their community is a welcome addition to their life.’ Anna Barnish, Manager of North Birkenhead Development Trust, the main community organisation for the area, sees the greening of local streets and the revitalisation of the park as part of a long-term change in the fortunes of one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK: ‘In spring when the trees are in blossom it looks lovely, and people comment on how uplifting it is to walk down a street which is lined with trees in full blossom. If you look at the trees, there’s been very little damage to them, which shows the impact that the process of education and engagement has had.’ That engagement has been secured through close partnerships between Mersey Forest staff and community organisations to involve local people in choosing which trees are planted where, building a sense of ownership of the greening of the wider area. North Birkenhead Development Trust is now supporting plans to set up a friends’ group to plan events and activities and help care for Ilchester Park. ‘There are people that genuinely enjoy living here and 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 and loads to encourage positive development, with new shops in the area. The fact that there’s new private development in housebuilding says a lot. It says that people want to live here.’ McCoyWynne Above A greener scene – tree planting by The Mersey Forest at Egerton Dock, Birkenhead
- 30. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk 2. Community Environment Fund Acknowledgment: Thework of the Atlantic Gateway Parklands Community Environment Fund has been made possible by the generosity of
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- 41. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk GreenPrint for Growth GreenPrintfor Growth strategic framework (Parkinson Inc)
- 42. www.atlanticgateway.co.uk Image by MarkLoudon www.markloudon.com “It all starts with a park ..... a park which will use beauty as a compe;;ve advantage to aYract wealth, talent and investment” Bruce Mau
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