A piece of land in Kirkby set aside for a new park will be given back to Knowsley Council after a developer responsible for the scheme failed to make progress.
The plans for the park in the Tower Hill area of Kirkby originally formed part of a development agreement from 2018 between the council and Countryside Properties Ltd ,which is currently building a residential housing development nearby.
The agreement, which involved the developer building homes on three plots at the site of former tower blocks in Kirkby, included an agreement for the park to be constructed by Countryside Properties Ltd instead of paying s.106 developer contributions towards open public space.
A council report produced last year said that while the residential developments were nearing completion, there were concerns the developer had failed to make progress with the park.
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The report stated that as well as the Countryside Properties “showing little progress in creating the public space, as intended, the developer was not meeting their commitments to maintain the site for the community as part of their wider scheme during the development of the housing areas.”
As a result, the council has done a deal with Countryside Properties Ltd to reacquire the land, which they had previously received under a leasehold agreement. As part of the deal, the developer will pay the council £260k towards the cost of the project.
As part of the deal to return the land, the developer was required to carry out some remedial and maintenance works including cutting the grass and providing the council with “as built” drawings showing the location of utilities and underground infrastructure to enable the council to carry out works at the site.
The park is part of a £1m project which is drawing money from local and government funding to bring a new open space into the area.
The council has secured £85k from the government’s Levelling Up Parks Fund as well as a further £38k from an account held by the council linked to the development agreement with the developer for the scheme.
A sum of £617k had also been previously agreed from an enabling works funds linked to the Headbolt Lane train station currently under construction nearby.
According to a report published by Knowsley Council last week, it is taking responsibility for the management of the project following the reacquisition of the land.
Speaking about the plans earlier this year, cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Tony Brennan said the scheme would make “meaningful improvements” to the area.
Cllr Brennan said: “The plans for public open space in Tower Hill were agreed as part of the initial planning application and were an important part of the improvements and development taking place in the area.
“Unfortunately, Countryside Properties, who initially agreed to carry out this work, were unable to progress with these plans within the timescales we hoped.
“Therefore, we have been proactively working with them to find a solution that would allow us to push on with this scheme and really make the meaningful improvements we want to in the area.”
Cllr Brennan added he was “delighted” at the land transfer and the “range of funding streams” the council had assembled to “really boost this project.”
According to the March council press release, work should be completed on the space by September 2023.
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