Authority leaders must “unravel the past” to learn lessons from the land swap agreement involving Alder Hey Hospital Trust and Springfield Park a decade ago.
A report is being commissioned into the handling of an agreement between Liverpool Council and Alder Hey in 2012 over land at the park after a motion was passed by members of the authority’s climate change overview and scrutiny committee.
In December last year, Friends of Springfield Park (FoSP) called for Alder Hey to return the parkland that was lost during the expansion of the hospital which opened in 2015.
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A motion from Cllr Richard Kemp CBE said “there are clear concerns amongst the West Derby community about how the serious issues of Springfield Park have been handled by the City Council and the Alder Hey Trust.”
In proposing the motion, Cllr Kemp, said “there is absolute confusion” from residents around Springfield Park about how the agreement occurred, how “outsiders were brought in” and there “are lots of questions to be answered.”
Cllr Kemp praised an intervention by Mayor Joanne Anderson earlier this month who said any further delay on returning the land would not be accepted and the community had waited long enough.
The Mayor’s statement added that the hospital trust should focus on delivering the park back to the community on time and on this matter, the trust had failed its community.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Kemp, added that residents “just want the park back” and recognised the work done by FoSP in their attempts to reclaim the land.
Cllr Kemp said providing the group with more control over the park would also come with advantages, such as when seeking financial support and grants.
He said: “This is not a question about what might be happening now, more a question of what happened in the past.
“We need to unravel the past, we need to understand it and use the truths to move forward.”
Cabinet member Cllr Dan Barrington also praised Mayor Anderson’s statement and said a report would be a good idea “to get a clear understanding of what happened.”
He said: “It’s very clear from the community we just want the park back and fully restored.
“We don’t want any more delays from Alder Hey and there are questions to be put to Alder Hey.”
The motion was unanimously backed and a report will go before the next meeting of the committee in March.
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