Milestone moment as search for Festival Gardens developer to begin

LIVERPOOL City Council is set to seek a development partner to help transform a prime waterfront spot into Liverpool's newest residential community.

A report to Cabinet, on:- Tuesday, 10 September 2024, has recommended the Council embarks on a competitive procurement exercise to appoint a high calibre development partner to lead on creating a new neighbourhood as part of the City's famous International Festival Gardens site, which was originally opened in May 1984.

The ambition is to significantly boost the City's housing supply with a diverse range and mix of housing types, including:- affordable properties, together with local amenities, creating a thriving new community in this prime South Liverpool location, which is well connected and within 10 minutes of the City Centre.

The scheme, which is a flagship project outlined in the City's draft housing strategy, will connect with and enhance its natural surroundings and biodiversity and provide a high standard of desirable and multi generational living for all.

Significant remediation and enabling works were recently completed in January 2024 to enable development, and since that time a team of experts have been curating an ambitious, and deliverable development brief which will provide an essential framework to market the site.

Clear objectives are outlined which state the Council's intentions to make the 28 acre site a sustainable, healthy and inclusive neighbourhood which has a strong identity and high design quality.

Leader of Liverpool City Council, Councillor Liam Robinson, said:- "This is a major milestone moment in the evolution of the Festival Gardens site. The appointment of a development partner will see the completion of the International Garden Festival initiative and marks the final chapter in a 40 year story of a site which originally covered 250 acres. It will also ensure that the UK's only remaining Festival Gardens are preserved and enhanced for future generations to enjoy. We know how well loved this area is and want to make sure that we are doing as much as we can to ensure this prime waterfront land has the potential to be a flagship development that sets the standard for sustainable housing in the UK. The extensive remediation work is another piece in the puzzle, and we're now in a position to go out to the market and invite developers to share with us their viable vision which will be transformative for the area and the City as a whole. It's an incredibly exciting time and is the next step in making this in demand, thriving community a reality."

If the report is given the green light, the initial phase of the procurement process will begin in October, with a view to securing a partner towards the middle of 2025.

The development brief will form the central part of a procurement process, seeking viable expressions of interest from developers with a proven, successful track record in delivering transformative schemes at pace, which are built on strong community engagement. Montagu Evans will be running the procurement process on behalf of the Council.

It is expected that the contract with the successful development partner will be finalised in Autumn 2025 once thorough due diligence has been undertaken.

This 28 acre site includes:- a unique 8 acre area of landscaped amenity space, with the other 20 acres now primed and ready for development.

But did you know that the redevelopment of the Festival Gardens site has been a 3 year project, which began in 2021? It was a mammoth excavation programme, moving almost 450,000 cubic metres of soil and waste of which more than 95% was recycled, including:- 100,000 cubic metres of earth being used to create the City's newest park; the Southern Grasslands which opened in August 2023. The remediation won a national Brownfield Award in recognition of the complex and sustainable nature of activity which was carried out to ensure the viability of the next phase in the transformation of Festival Gardens. Additional works have also been carried out which include:- laying drainage and constructing a substation to provide a power supply for the future development.

The improvement works to the site that are integral to enabling this exciting development to progress were made possible through a combination of:- Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Homes England grant funding.

Liverpool City Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram, said:- "This is another milestone on the journey to transforming Festival Gardens into a vibrant, inclusive community that will be cherished by generations to come. This isn't just about building units; it's about building desirable homes, where families can put down roots, where nature and urban living coexist in harmony, and where the community spirit that defines our Region can thrive. Working with the City council we have done much of the hard graft on remediating the contaminated land, and we're now ready to work with a partner who shares our vision to turn this prime waterfront site into a beacon of sustainable living. Together, we'll make sure that this development is something we can all be proud of."

The remediation was led by the Council's principal contractor VINCI Building.

Read the Cabinet report here.

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⅔ of North West adults without an up to date will

A staggering 66% of adults in the North West either don't have a Will or have 1 that's out of date, a national Will writing charity has revealed.

Will Aid's poll, which surveyed more than 2,000 people across the country, found 56% in the North West haven't made a Will, and 10% admitted theirs did not reflect their current wishes.

Nationally, the figures showed 56% of people haven't made a Will, with a further 11% whose Will is out of date.

Financial pressures seem to be holding people back - with 21% citing the cost of instructing a solicitor as the reason they haven't sorted a Will.

Other reasons included:-

• Believing they had nothing worth leaving (27%).
  

• Never finding the time (18.5%).
  

• Feeling uncomfortable talking about death (16%).
  

• Concerns about the process being too complicated (16%).

Nationally, the average time since people last updated their Wills is 6 years, with nearly 20% admitting they've never updated theirs.

34% of those surveyed have updated their Will in the past 3 years.

Parents with children over 18 last updated their Wills an average of 7 and a ½ years ago, while those with under 18s averaged 4 and a ½ years.

Peter de Vena Franks, Will Aid Campaign Director, said:- "Making a Will is a final loving act for those you care about. It provides a clear plan and guidance for your family after you're gone. We know thinking about death is uncomfortable and considering your final wishes can be daunting, but not having 1 can lead to confusion and distress among family members and beneficiaries, at an already upsetting time. The statistics on outdated Wills are worrying, because circumstances change, and it's crucial to keep your documents up to date to ensure they reflect your current situation."

Trusha Velji, of Touch Solicitors in Oldham, said:- "Having a Will is essential for ensuring your wishes are respected and providing peace of mind for you and your loved ones and keeping that document up to date is vital, especially when circumstances in your life change. Common reasons for updating your Will might include the death of a relative, divorce or separation, having children or gaining stepchildren. We advise you to regularly review your Will to make sure it still outlines your wishes. Will Aid is the perfect opportunity to have your Will professionally drawn up or to have it updated, while supporting charities that help some of the most vulnerable people in the UK and abroad. Getting your Will drafted by a solicitor is the safest way to ensure it is done correctly and legally. This year, you can finally tick that task off your to-do list by securing an appointment with a participating Will Aid solicitor; it can be an in-person meeting if there is a participating firm near you, otherwise you will be offered firms that can do it remotely, so wherever you are in the UK, you can get your affairs in order through Will Aid this year. It's a straightforward and easy process, allowing you to secure your family's future while supporting to important causes."

The annual Will Aid campaign sees solicitors across the UK volunteering their time to write Wills throughout November.

Will Aid is a partnership between the legal profession and 7 of the UK's best loved charities.

The initiative, which has been running for more than 30 years, sees participating solicitors waive their fee for writing basic Wills every November.

Instead, they invite clients to make a voluntary donation to Will Aid; a suggested £100 for a single basic Will and £180 for a pair of basic 'mirror' Wills.

Appointments are available now. To find out more information and sign up, visit:- WillAid.Org.UK.

Donations to the campaign are shared by Will Aid's partner charities, which operate both here in the UK and around the world.