Pace of parks' protection plan criticised

Parks, such as Wavertree Botanic Gardens, are often credited as the "lungs of a city"

The slow pace of a city council's plan to protect parks from development has diminished public trust, according to campaigners.

In 2021, Liverpool City Council pledged to place 100 parks in trust to protect them from being built on – but nearly four years later, only one park had been given the status, overseen by the charity Fields in Trust.

The council said the paperwork had been "complex to assemble" and stated 20 parks would be protected by the end of summer 2025.

Caroline Williams was part of a campaign to stop a housing development being built on the Harthill Estate, part of Liverpool's Calderstones Park, in which campaigners took the council to court over the plan in 2019, and won.

Caroline Williams is worried that some green spaces could make way for urban developments

The land, which would have had 30 luxury homes built on it, is now a nature reserve.

But, speaking to BBC Politics North West, Ms Williams said the current delays by the council made her "frustrated" and question whether it was really committed to protecting parks in the longer term.

"I'm worried that this procrastination isn't just the council dragging their heels - it's deliberate," she said.

"They feel, in the future, they might want some of these spaces to be developed.

"[So] instead of being honest and upfront about dropping the plan, they are drawing it out and thinking if it takes this long to protect one park, people will give up.

"But we won't give up – the electorate in Liverpool have been promised this," she added.

Tom Crone says the council has to counter public backlash

The Green Party's Tom Crone said Liverpool City Council's proposals to build housing on several green spaces more than a decade ago had led to a lack of trust by some members of the public after the Harthill Estate debacle.

He said: "There are several green spaces that wouldn't exist right now if it wasn't for people and communities protesting against proposals to build on them."

Mr Crone claimed the council "had to do something" at the time, to counter the "backlash" and "negative headlines", and "that's why, to great fanfare, the council announced this plan".

He said the Labour administration in 2021 had made protecting parks a "political priority", that had since fallen off the agenda.

"They let people down, they lost the trust of the people of Liverpool on the issue of green spaces, and they have to do something to show that they take the issue seriously now."

The only park to be placed in trust so far is Falkner Square in Toxteth.

Mr Crone acknowledged the park was "beautiful", but was "essentially a big garden for the Georgian houses surrounding it", rather than a public park.

The council said: "Legal discussions are now at a very advanced stage to progress with placing 20 of the city's parks into Fields In Trust.

"This will include the 10 largest parks in Liverpool, which will see more than 1,500 acres of green space placed under the protection of Fields In Trust.

"It is hoped this process will be concluded by the summer."