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Contact

For more information please contact Clare Olver at Mersey Forest:
clare.olver@merseyforest.org.uk

Images
Click here for fly throughs of the Newlands sites and the project picture gallery
Fingertip Facts
View facts about Northwood
Size:
10 hectares
Investment:
Capital Funding received: £30,000 from NWDA via Newlands; £10,000 from Knowsley MBC (Working Neighbourhoods Fund 'Environmental Blight Fund'); £22,000 from Marks & Spencer 'Greener Living Places' Fund (via Groundwork Merseyside). Revenue Funding received: £1,000 from Riverside Housing Association 'Community Engagement Fund’'; £4,500 from Marks & Spencer 'Greener Living Places' Fund (via Groundwork Merseyside), £13,000 from Setting the Scene for Growth
Partners:
Partners Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Mersey Forest, Forestry Commission, Northwood Community Allotments, Groundwork Merseyside, Marks and Spencer, Merseyside Environmental Advisory Services, BTCV
Status:
Phase 1 of project complete – further phases of work proposed for subsequent financial years.

  1. Past

    The Northwood site is a long strip of derelict land which covers the northern border of the Northwood Estate. There was initially only one entrance to the site with no formal paths across the land.

    High palisade fencing and limited facilities – no benches, bins, signage, etc – meant that Northwood was unwelcoming for local people, especially as there were reports of fly-tipping, crime and anti-social behaviour on site.

  2. Present

    There has been extensive community consultation regarding the plans for the Northwood site, through leafleting and surveying of the local area. An online blog has been established to encourage residents to have their say on the developments, and a number of community drop-ins were hosted to gain initial ideas on site design.

    Following investment through the Newlands programme, a new entrance was created at the end of Trecastle Road, off Roughwood Drive, and a 'hoggin' self-binding gravel path linked the community to the new pond and wetlands area.

  3. Future

    Soon, local residents will have the opportunity to fish and pond dip from a series of bespoke fishing pegs connected to the path by a boardwalk. Plans are in place to extend the scheme to link up with viewpoints behind the pond and to the east of the site through an entrance on Simonswood Lane.

    Following the success of a pilot children and youth engagement programme, the new site will continue to engage children and young adults through conservation volunteering, ecological surveying and entrance feature design work in liaison with local youth workers. Similarly, a structure for ongoing community engagement is being explored through the development of a 'Friends of the Woods' group.

  4. Regeneration

    The new community woodland will have a profound improvement of quality of life for local people as they now have a clean and safe natural environment on their doorstep, whilst extensive community consultation and engagement has meant that the site has been designed and maintained by residents. There have also been a number of volunteering opportunities made available through the development of the site, thanks to the involvement of different partner organisations.