Council eyes £1.5m revamp for historic park

Birkenhead Park opened in the nineteenth century

A council plans to spend £1.5m upgrading a historic park which inspired other urban green spaces including New York's famous Central Park.

Wirral Council hopes the revamp of Birkenhead Park will support its bid to be a Unesco World Heritage site.

Nearly £1m will be spent sprucing up the park while the rest of the money will go towards supporting other costs related to the bid.

Birkenhead Park, sometimes known as the People’s Garden, opened on 5 April 1847.

Acknowledged as the world’s first publicly-funded park and designed by Joseph Paxton, it influenced other famous parks such as Sefton Park in Liverpool as well as the famous park in the Manhattan metropolis.

The UK government announced a shortlist of seven sites it would nominate for Unesco World Heritage status - including Birkenhead - just after its 176th birthday on 10 April 2023.

The council’s formal bid for the park is being developed with the government.

Central Park was among the parks inspired by Birkenhead Park

Councillors are being asked to recommend the plans at a tourism, communities, culture and leisure committee.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service details a council report, stressing that “there needs to be a real drive and focus" on completing the preparatory work to restore the site’s physical assets and look.

It added some of the park’s key natural and cultural landmarks are not at the level of World Heritage site expectations.

The planned upgrade includes new railings and gates as well as improvements yo the grand entrance, Swiss bridge, and Roman boathouse, boundaries and lake platforms.

It is envisaged £580,000 will be spent on more staff, obtaining external advice and community engagement, while £975,000 will be spent on physical improvements.

The council believes Unesco World Heritage status could double the number of visitors to the park, which currently receives nearly two million a year.

A full submission of the bid is expected by February 2026, once an evaluation has been completed.