A redeveloped parkland on the banks of the River Mersey will be an “eco-haven” and “benefit coastal bio-diversity for decades to come”, Liverpool City Council has said.

Southern Grasslands, on Riverside Drive, has been created using recycled soil to prepare part of the Festival Gardens site for housing.

Trees and shrubs have been planted at the park, also built on landfill.

…

The site, which was home to the Liverpool International Garden Festival in 1984, was bought by the council in 2015 and is split into three zones:

• Development Zone - the site of the Festival Hall dome, which is being now being prepared for housing
• The Gardens - Oriental Gardens set around the remaining original Festival Gardens
• Southern Grasslands - former festival site land which has now been reopened as parkland

The 90-acre site had been derelict since 1997 and part of the gardens, features such as Chinese pagodas, Japanese gardens and water features, were reopened in 2012 after after a £4.5m redevelopment.