Liverpool City Council has revealed plans which will mean no park in Liverpool can ever be built on or sold off.
The protection prevents the outdoor areas from being built on or sold off and covers 100 of the regions popular parks and green spaces, all adding up to 1039 hectares.
The current acting Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Wendy Simon, will make the plans official on Friday 19 March at the Cabinet meeting.
She said said: “Liverpool is blessed to have so many stunning green spaces, and this new initiative means we can ensure everyone has access to free, local outdoor spaces for sport, play and recreation, forever.
“The health, wellbeing and community benefits these locations deliver are priceless, demonstrated so clearly during this pandemic where they have become such a central and important part of our lives.
“And the benefits aren’t just health related. Access to green spaces improves our neighbourhoods, tackles climate change, supports education and economic growth and they frequently become the stage on which we host many of our hugely popular cultural celebrations.”
The council’s project is in partnership with the Fields in Trust charity.
The acting mayor says the collaboration is ‘groundbreaking’ and classes the scheme as a ‘forward-thinking approach’ to protecting Liverpool’s parks.
Through the pandemic we’ve realised just how valuable parks and green spaces are to our health and wellbeing, yet across the UK only 6 per cent of parks are protected and access to them is not equitable.
“We welcome this pioneering commitment by Liverpool City Council to recognise the proven physical and mental health benefits of local parks.
“These are valuable places; places where we can all move, breathe, run and play.
“We need to champion and support these precious spaces by protecting them for future generations to enjoy. Because once lost, they are lost forever.”
Liverpool City Council will be the first local authority to take on this task and adopt this vision. The landmark decision also supports the vision that every resident will live no more than ten minutes away from high quality green spaces.
This new commitment will protect green spaces in every one of Liverpool’s 30 wards which will remain as green spaces forever.
This is vital when, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1 in 6 people in Liverpool (16%) have no access to a private or shared garden.
