A much loved urban park, bulldozed into oblivion.
Wildlife slaughtered. Trees felled. A community left devastated. And a city council that didn't care. Welcome to Liverpool in 2019. Imagine a wonderful oasis in the middle of a bustling city. A place where residents and office workers could grab a few moments away from the stresses of the day and enjoy the calm tranquility of a slice of the country in the centre of town. Where they could sit under the mature trees, delight in watching the antics of squirrels and rabbits, birds feeding their young in Spring, bees busily collecting pollen from all the flowers. Where at dusk, if they were lucky, they might catch a glimpse of the local bats, flitting from tree to tree. Imagine that! Now imagine it gone. This is the nightmare that happened at Bixteth Street Gardens, a haven for wildlife and nature in the centre of the city of Liverpool, before an utterly callous city council gave the go-ahead to send in the bulldozers and decimate the peoples' favourite inner city park, destroying it completely and forever. Residents campaigned tirelessly and bravely to save their park from the developers after the council decided that it would replace this precious green space with office blocks and apartments, in spite of the many empty commercial and residential spaces that have become a dubious trademark of the city in recent years. In the end, the fight to save Bixteth Street Gardens became ever more desperate as locals found themselves locked in a battle with property developers and the Mayor of Liverpool himself, whose apparent disregard for the wishes of the people has left locals deeply shocked, angry and filled with despair, as some of the hundreds of posts on social media reflect... "I am so so sad about this. We tried, but it seems it was too little too late. Absolutely gutted." "I cannot bear that this city which I call home is doing this..." "Hang you're head in shame Liverpool city council" No doubt karma will catch up with those responsible for allowing this appalling desecration to take place. But nothing will bring back the wildlife and ecosystem that survived and flourished here, against the odds, until the day that it was driven out by the developers. Locals could only watch helplessly as the wildlife fled in terror from the onslaught of the bulldozers. There was nowhere for it to go. It just went. A sad final post on the Save Bixteth Street Gardens Facebook page sums up the defeated mood of the locals who fought so bravely to save their park, "we cannot fight the will of the Mayor or the incumbent council employees, sadly the system is not designed for the people that it purports to serve." This is 2019. We are more environmentally aware than ever before. We are told to recycle, to stop using plastic, to urgently protect wildlife habitat. We applaud schemes to plant trees and we continue to berate countries that kill endangered species. But we live in hypocritical times. Our own government flaunts its phony green credentials while carrying out mass culling of our treasured wildlife. 'Illegal' fox hunting flourishes in the countryside, and a city council destroys a people's park. Liverpool is a proud and wonderful city. But what has happened at Bixteth Street Gardens will forever be a stain on its character. Shame on the council that let this happen.
18 Comments
Mandy Williams
7/4/2019 11:20:30 am
Thank you. As one of the campaigners this sums up exactly how I feel
Reply
Jon Pain
7/4/2019 11:25:08 am
Hi Jase, only just learned of this story from your blog, thanks for sharing. It is high time that wildlife and the environment is financially costed and protected, rather than being treated as a free resource for financial gain by those who think they own it. The penalty for destruction should reflect its true value. Shame on Liverpool City Council. I have let them know what I think, I will not being visiting Liverpool now.
Reply
Sandie Johnson
7/4/2019 11:43:32 am
People have asked me "How could that happen when there is no planning application for what will supposedly replace the gardens". Mystifying?? I'd say terrifying. The will of the powers that be, allied to the lure of speculative gain has wantonly, dismissively destroyed a little piece of Paradise in the concrete jungle. Happy now LCC?
Reply
7/4/2019 11:58:01 am
It is beyond all reason and sense and they should be ashamed. It should be against the law but sadly is happening all over our beautiful country.
Reply
Del
7/4/2019 12:40:50 pm
Sadly bees, birds, rabbits and any wildlife do not have the gold for greed developers, governments and landowners in a world that a few humans think they are more intitled than any humans and wildlife and are intent that they will be the only ones who can afford nature in the future.
Reply
Tracy Ball
7/4/2019 01:32:16 pm
Greedy bloody councillors make me sick all they care about is money and how much money they will be making off the taxes. They want to explain to their future kids and grandkids that many of the British wildlife are extinct or about to be extinct because they cared more about lining their pockets than protecting it.
Reply
Alan Wybrow
7/4/2019 10:31:56 pm
This is a typical story we read about in Canada. Many environmental parks, grasslands and forests have been destroyed for the sake of a few greedy developers who praise the almighty dollar rather than that offered by the earth with its wildlife, greenery, trees and the health impact that is offered to us by nature. The powers to be ie the mayor and councilors should hang their heads in shame for this destruction but then a few dollars from the developers behind the door can turn many into hypocritical mongers. People have to remember that the power lies with them and can by action and protest have these poor examples of leadership removed from office. They should be representing the will of the people.
Reply
Michael McDonough
8/4/2019 09:17:17 am
More rubbish. You have done nothing to mention the fact a brand new park is being built in the centre of this development, you've selected the rarest of images showing the only truly 'green' bit of this tired 1980's bit of public realm to cover over some old railway station platforms, you've neglected the facts this space was never used very much other than a fire drill meeting spot and as per usual your articles joins in with the ignorant small crowd of whingers who have consistently and flippantly attempted to misguide the public on this development for a myriad of personal reasons ranging from a dislike of Mayor Joe Anderson through to the welfare of ants and bee's - all the time with fingers in your ears to the facts on the ground.
Reply
8/4/2019 02:51:37 pm
That was quite a rant wasn't it, Michael McDonough?
Reply
MICHAEL MCDONOUGH
8/4/2019 07:46:22 pm
Nope, it wasn't a rant and I have not missed the point at all but I notice this is the usual response when someone points out the flaws in the argument for those still complaining about a patch of grass that's now gone. Where I live has nothing to do with my opinion on this...i'm a scouser, I grew up in Speke, I lived and worked around this site for many years before moving to London precisely because Liverpool is not catering for companies wanting to locate in the city.
Donna Garfield
13/1/2020 10:55:47 pm
Oh how misinformed and ignorant you are. Very sad.
Reply
Michael McDonough
14/1/2020 10:04:00 am
The only thing that's sad, Donna, is when people like yourself have no argument so fill that void with insults. Lolz.
Paul Bryan
8/4/2019 09:56:53 am
I honestly believe those rabbits were released in the park as part of the SaveBixteth Gardens propaganda campaign. Otherwise, what? They went on a pilgrimage across the inner city from Sefton Park? Nah.
Reply
8/4/2019 02:56:25 pm
Really Paul?
Reply
Paul Bryan
8/4/2019 05:59:22 pm
No, just common sense really. How did they get there? Did they come on the bus?
Alex Kashko
5/5/2019 03:56:00 pm
I hope the mayor and council were voted out in the local elections. A small revenge but better than nothing. And I wonder if the council had any links to the developers
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
If you appreciate what I write about, please consider showing your support by buying me a virtual coffee!
Click the button below! Thanks :) Archives
July 2023
|