Bowring Park launches Liverpool City Region's 1st Sustainability Campus

THE historic Knowsley landmark Bowring Park is to create the Liverpool City Region's 1st sustainability campus aimed at tackling the climate crisis through practical, community driven solutions.

The park and golf course, managed by regeneration specialists Oneday, has launched the new campus as a hub for local businesses, community groups and educational institutions to collaborate on sustainable practices.

The initiative is a key element of Oneday's GROW programme, a long term vision to make Knowsley the UK's most sustainable borough.

The campus will focus on driving green innovation, offering hands on training, and embedding sustainability into everyday life - helping meet the Liverpool City Region's ambitious net zero goal by 2035.

Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said:- "We're delighted to collaborate with partners like Oneday across the City Region on sustainability and environmental initiatives. They're already driving several efforts to make this park greener and transform it into a greater community asset. This is a fantastic initiative to bring people together, foster collaboration across the region, and have a meaningful impact on implementing ideas that will help us reach our goal of becoming net zero by 2035."

Bowring Park became England's 1st municipal golf course when it was gifted to Liverpool in 1906.

It has since been taken over by Knowsley Council and is now run by regeneration specialists Oneday, who recently took on a 123-year lease.

Bowring Park and Golf Course has been revitalised with a £3.5m investment and will host a series of green initiatives, including:- community-led workshops, green skills training, and sustainable business bootcamps.

The campus is already working with partners like Liverpool John Moores University and Jaguar Land Rover to explore new approaches to sustainability in practice.

The campus will also act as a launchpad for practical projects, such as:- tree recycling programmes, local food initiatives, and renewable energy workshops.

By fostering collaboration and innovation, Bowring Park is set to become a beacon of sustainability for the region—showing how communities can lead the way in creating a greener, more sustainable future.

Matt Bell, Director of Oneday, said:- "We all know that we need to be more sustainable but actually doing that is hard. We want to bring all the great minds together; businesses and the public; and admit that we don't have all the answers. We want to use the park to test, try and experiment so that the City Region can become the most sustainable in the country. 1 reason why we aren't solving the climate crisis is because there is a lot of negativity and doom-driven messaging. We do need to act quickly, but we need to be positive because the actions are there and if we work together we can actually make things happen."

Helen Paton, Head of Fundraising and Corporate Partnerships at Oneday, said:- "We believe sustainability should be practical, positive, and inclusive. The Sustainability Campus at Bowring Park is about testing ideas and learning together, not just talking about change but making it happen. By connecting people, businesses, and new technologies, we're building a future where sustainability works for everyone."

Natasha Andrews, Service Manager at Catch22, highlighted the campus's potential:- "I think for our participants the campus will open up opportunities and training and I hope people come down and see what it is all about, see if they can change career goals, find out what's in their local area, people growing their own fruit and veg, people who can do voluntary work. I think it is also a good opportunity to upskill people into green energy jobs. The initiative also integrates with GROW's broader sustainability goals, which include:- urban greening, reducing food waste, and creating a circular economy that benefits the entire community."

Dr. Sarah Percival, Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, remarked:- "With the campus they are trying to improve our understanding of sustainability and how we actually put that into practice, especially with businesses. We talk about sustainability a lot but we often we don't actually know where to start. The Sustainability Academy gave a presentation at the launch in which they gave some guidance and codes of practice."

Tax expert's warning to pensioners about tax returns before 31 January 2025 deadline
Report with thanks to Tax Accountant

WITH Christmas over, the season of the tax return is well and truly upon us. The question:- 'Do pensioners need to file a tax return?' is the second most Googled in the UK when it comes to tax returns. With this in mind, Aatif Malik, director at Tax Accountant, has put together some expert advice, to reassure pensioners and help them know where they stand in terms of tax ahead of the deadline for submitting a tax return by the:-  31 January 2025.

Many people assume that income from pensions; particularly, the State Pension (a regular payment from the Government to all people of State Pension age) are not taxable. But this isn't the case, as Aatif explains below.

Do pensioners need to file a tax return?

If you receive a private pension and the State Pension as income, Aatif says that if you receive both a private pension and the State Pension, you do not usually have to file a tax return for your pension. This is because your pension provider, in partnership with HMRC, which assigns tax codes to each type of pension, will usually take off any tax you owe via a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, and give it to HMRC before they pay you the money.

HMRC will calculate the amount you owe on your State Pension, and adjust the tax code used for your private pension, allowing the tax you owe on both your private and State Pension to be deducted from your private pension.

Similarly, if you receive a Workplace Pension and the State Pension, your Workplace Pension Provider will deduct the tax you owe, based on the tax code issued by HMRC, and pay it to HMRC before paying you any money.

If the State Pension is your only source of taxable income and you are paid more than your Personal Allowance (£12,570 for the 2023/24 tax year), HMRC will send you a Simple Assessment Tax Bill.

HMRC uses the Simple Assessment system to collect tax that cannot be collected through PAYE (as is the case with private or workplace pensions), and where filling in a self-assessment tax return is not required. Note: there may still be situations where you have to file a self assessment tax return, and HMRC will decide this on a case by case basis, depending on your financial circumstances.

So, if you receive the State Pension as your only source of income and it exceeds the Personal Allowance of £12,570 (for the 2023/24 tax year), you will pay it via the Simple Assessment system. You will be notified by letter about how much you owe and how to pay it. If your State Pension is the same as or lower than your Personal Allowance, you will not usually have to pay tax.

You can pay your Simple Assessment Tax bill online at:- Gov.UK/Pay-Self-Assessment-Tax-Bill, via bank transfer, or by cheque, and your letter will tell you the deadline by which you must pay it.

You will only be taxed on the amount you earn above £12,570, not on the whole amount.

If you receive the State Pension and continue to work after you have started receiving the State Pension, your employer will usually take off any tax you owe. While tax is not directly deducted from your State Pension, HMRC will issue you with an adjusted tax code. This will allow your employer to deduct the correct amount of tax from all your taxable income via PAYE. It's important to notify HMRC about any additional income you receive while on the State Pension so that they can ensure they issue correct tax codes for you. If you believe your tax code is incorrect, you should contact HMRC.

If you are self employed, you must fill in a Self Assessment tax return.

If you're doing a paper tax return, you will need to have submitted it by midnight on:- 31 October 2024.

If you're doing an online tax return, you must submit it by midnight on:- 31 January 2025.

You will use the Self Assessment tax return to submit your overall income; including:- how much you've earned in the last tax year (6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024) through self employment, your State Pension and any money from private or workplace pensions.

If you are a pensioner and you have other income sources beyond that of your pension and any money from continuing employment or self employment, you may also need to submit a self assessment tax return.

For example, you must submit a self assessment tax return if you:-

• Earn income from renting out a property.
  

• Receive money from saving, investments and dividends.
  

• Receive interest on savings that exceeds the Personal Allowance.
  

• Have had to pay Capital Gains Tax when you sold or disposed of an item whose value has increased.
  

• More information on who needs to submit a self assessment tax return is available on the HMRC website.

Aatif Malik, Director at Tax Accountant says:- "The concept of tax returns can feel overwhelming, particularly with pensioners who are adjusting to new sources of income and may have multiple pensions. But knowing where you stand, and following the steps above will help you find clarity as to whether or not you need to submit a self assessment tax return as a pensioner. Ultimately, every person's situation can be different, and so it's a good idea to contact HMRC personally if you have further questions about whether you need to submit a tax return."