Newlands
Latest News: Liverpool’s colourful community and cultural legacy takes root Tens of thousands of new trees are to be planted in Liverpool as part of the Newlands programme, to create a new community woodland that will form the legacy of the City’s status as European cultural capital in 2008. More than £700,000 of regeneration funding is to be invested by a partnership of Liverpool and Northwest organisations to transform 25ha of brownfield land in the West Derby area. The project is striving to create ‘the world’s most colourful woodland’, which will also be a showpiece for the city’s forthcoming ‘Year of the Environment’ (2009). £440,000 of investment for this project has been provided by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) via the NWDA and Forestry Commission-partnership programme, Newlands. Further funding has come form the Forestry Commission through their English Woodland Grant Scheme, The Riverside Group via the Big Lottery’s Changing Spaces programme, the Mersey Forest via Objective 1 (ERDF) funding and Liverpool City Council. The community-led vision for Mab Lane is to create an inspiring and multi-functional green space at the heart of a Liverpool community, which aspires to become the world’s most colourful woodland. Up to 20,000 new native UK trees with be planted, alongside wildflower meadows, a community orchard, seasonal wetland areas that have all been chosen to support the conservation and enhancement of the area’s existing biodiversity, as well as to deliver maximum colour and visual impact. Over time the woodland will become a vibrant, beautiful place that local people can be proud of and one where they can exercise, relax or simply observe the nature on their doorstep. To ensure the city’s new woodland adheres to the ideas and aspirations of local residents and all user groups, the site owners, Liverpool City Council supported by The Mersey Forest has consulted with neighbouring communities. The Mersey Forest have also created a website for local people to put submit their thoughts on the plans - The new woodland at Mab Lane will also set the scene for wider economic, social and environmental growth. It is expected that the developments will stimulate the local economy, help build community confidence, encourage healthier lifestyles and empower people to play an active role in their community. Among those to benefit from this valuable new resource will be the children and staff from nearby schools and the adjacent Mab Lane Youth Centre. Newlands 2008, highlights 2008 has been another successful year for Newlands– the Northwest land regeneration programme which transforms brownfield into economically and socially viable community woodland. From a £1.78million investment into a project in Southport, the creation of a new community woodland in Rochdale or the development of a mini, mobile forest to raise the profile of the value of trees, Newlands continues to have a significant impact on the region. Green Spot 08 Newlands was the main partner in a large-scale environmental installation, which appeared at the Bluecoat Art Centre in Liverpool city centre during September 2008. Green Spot, which is a ‘mini, mobile forest’, raises awareness of the importance of trees and woodlands to our urban environment; for benefits as diverse as climate change mitigation and community cohesion. Green Spot has since moved to Alder Hey Childrens Hospital, where the health benefits and effects on recovery rates that trees can offer are being highlighted by the installation. Belfield, Rochdale More than £1.75million of regeneration funding was invested into a 28ha brownfield site that links a number of communities close to Rochdale town centre in Greater Manchester. By developing a number of paths, bridleways and cycle paths, outdoor play and classroom facilities and a fishing lodge, as well as considerable environmental management, the site has been transformed from a ‘no-go’ area into a well-used community asset. The work at Belfield contributes to the economic regeneration of the area – enhancing investment by Housing Market Renewal and encouraging growth in the local Kingsway Business Park. Newlands has also kick started some inspiring community development – local people have produced their own celebration film for Belfield, and the site is extremely well used by local schools, youth projects, community groups etc. Investment: An NWDA investment of £1,787,757. Additional funding has been provided by Biffaward and ERDF Size: 28ha Project partners: NWDA, Forestry Commission, Rochdale MBC (site owners), Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale and Pennine Edge Forest Key deliverables: community park, outdoor classroom, football pitch, fishing lodge, wetland area, cycle, foot and bridle paths and gateway features Brockholes, Preston Brockholes, a 106ha former quarry site close to the M6 in Preston, was purchased under the Newlands programme in 2007. However, 2008 has seen considerable activity on the site, including a RIBA design competition for the site’s visitor facilities. Judged by a panel including Wayne Hemmingway, the competition resulted in Adam Khan Architects being selected as the scheme’s designers, following their submission of ‘A Floating World’; a design for the visitor centre that includes a community of floating buildings, making the most of the site’s wetland habitat. Brockholes is currently in the ‘project evaluation’ phase with the NWDA, and if successful, funding will be released to develop the site over the next two to three years. Investment: An initial investment of £800,000 was made by the NWDA to purchase the site (with additional funding from Lancashire Wildlife Trust members and the Tubney Charitable Trust). Further funding is now being sought under Newlands to develop the site. Size: 106ha of brownfield land, and an additional 66ha of existing semi-natural ancient woodland make up the Brockholes project area. Project partners: NWDA, Forestry Commission, Lancashire Wildlife Trust (site owners and managers) Town Lane, Southport This June, over £1.78million of investment was announced for the regeneration of Town Lane in Southport, which comprising two former landfills and unmanaged grasslands located to the south east of the town centre, Southport General Hospital and an area listed in the top 70th percentile of National Index of Multiple Deprivation. Helping to economically and socially rejuvenate 26ha of Southport’s neglected land, Newlands at Town Lane is also working within the region’s red squirrel zone, and Newlands will work towards the protection and preservation of these endangered species. Work on Town Lane has included the large scale recycling of waste sand from a local extraction company, which has been turned into a growing medium on site. Investment: £1.78million investment from the NWDA, £225,000 from The Mersey Forest (via EU Objective One funding) Size: 26ha of brownfield land Project partners: NWDA, Forestry Commission, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, Mersey Basin Campaign, Environment Agency, The Mersey Forest, BTCV and Groundwork Merseyside Watch Videos Watch the full length Newlands videoNewlands full windows media video (27.6MB)
Newlands full mp4 video (26.6MB) Watch the Bidston Moss videoBidston Moss windows media video (8.67MB)
Bidston Moss mp4 video (8.22MB)  Watch the Moston Vale video
Moston Vale windows media video (11.2MB)
Moston Vale mp4 video (10.1MB) Watch the Lower Irwell valley videoLower Irewell valley windows media video (7.09MB)
Lower Irewell valley mp4 video (7.48MB) Newlands – land regeneration for the 21st CenturyLaunched in the summer of 2003, Newlands is a unique £59 million scheme that is reclaiming large areas of derelict, underused and neglected (DUN) land across England’s Northwest, and transforming it into thriving, durable, community woodlands. A partnership of the Forestry Commission and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Newlands is the 21st Century face of land regeneration: carefully planned; intelligence-led; delivering widespread public benefits; enhancing the environment; and delivered through partnerships. Newlands builds on a legacy of work carried out in the sector by the Northwest’s two Community Forests, Groundwork and the Forestry Commission's Land Regeneration Unit. It is an ambitious project, and one that applies cutting edge planning techniques, such as the Public Benefits Recording System and Additional Value Assessments to ensure that investment is allocated, and community woodlands created, according to the greatest economic, social and environmental need. For the first five years of the programme, Newlands worked exclusively within the Mersey Belt area of the region delivering impressive results across six sites. One of these sites, Moston Vale in Harpurhey, Manchester (an area in the top 5% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation), received £1.7million in August 2005. Its development, including the remediation and re-landscaping of the former landfill site, the creation of extensive solar powered floodlit pathways, woodland areas, and sports facilities is intended to drive significant added investment to the area; enhancing the adjacent Central Park Business Park and adding value to the local Housing Marketing Renewal area. Bidston Moss has also been transformed as part of the Newlands scheme. More than £2.7m has been committed to the revamp of the Wirral site by the NWDA and partners including Biffaward; an environment fund that is paying for new sporting and recreational facilities at the site. Groundwork Wirral is also running a three-year programme of community events (assisted by the Landfill Communities Fund) to help maintain and improve the site while encouraging local use. The Wirral site’s reinvention as a community woodland is being helped by a pioneering commitment to recycling – pathways, fishing lodge boardwalks and even the soil which covers the site have all come from recycled materials. The impact of Newlands at a local, as well as regional level is significant and wide reaching. Land values are increasing, Housing Market Renewal areas and deprived wards are being improved and business is being attracted to some of the key economic hubs of the Northwest region. The announcement in June 06, of an additional £36 million of NWDA-funding has seen Newlands begin work across the other sub-regions; Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire. This unprecidented level of funding has secured Newlands place as the largest environmental regeneration scheme in the UK. LinksFor further information please contact Keith Jones www.newlandsproject.co.uk
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