Liverpool prepares for £700M Festival Park redevelopment

Liverpool City Council has announced plans for major redevelopment of the former Garden Festival site, turning it into a major leisure attraction.

The site was redeveloped for the 1984 Garden Festival, but has since been empty as numerous schemes have failed to get off the ground,

The council is now pushing ahead with a plan to turn it into a “cultural garden suburb” with visitor attractions, 2,500 homes and potentially a ferry terminal.

Regeneration chiefs are now talking to Heritage Great Britain, which runs the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the Land’s End tourist complex, about creating a visitor attraction in Otterspool.

The council says the land surveys and environmental assessments will take two months to complete and will mean the phased closure of certain parts of the existing gardens at the site.

The survey will reveal if any more clean-up work needs to be done and will also help the council work out how much the overall development will cost.

Cabinet is also set to agree to spend £232,000 repairing the base of the festival’s former landmark dome.

The council’s master plan for the site also includes up to 32,500m² of commercial and leisure space and a “cultural ‘landmark’ venue” on the waterfront.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “Festival Park Liverpool has the potential to be a huge game changer for this city’s economy.

“I’m encouraged by the work to date and the proposals Heritage Great Britain are developing for a major leisure attraction and we will soon be in a position to share these with the public.

“There is much work to be done but these site surveys will provide us with a road map to making this vision a reality over the coming decade.”