Festival Gardens clean-up to begin in spring

Vinci Construction is being lined up to deliver the remediation of Festival Gardens in Liverpool, according to a report due to be discussed by the council this week.

A planning application for the remediation of the 28-acre development zone is expected to be considered in March, and is the first phase of work required to deliver up to 1,500 homes on the former landfill.

At a cabinet meeting this Friday, Liverpool City Council is due to accept £150,000 of SIF money from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to go towards the clean-up phase.

In February 2019, Homes England revealed it would provide a grant of £9.9m to facilitate the development. As part of the terms of the grant, the money needs to be drawn down by 2021.

Developers Ion and Midia, working with architecture practices BDP and AHR, are bringing forward the scheme, having been named as preferred partners last year. Previously, K2 Architects worked up a masterplan for the council, detailing 2,500 homes, 500,000 sq ft of commercial and leisure space, and a waterpark.

Vinci, Arup and Kier Business Services were appointed to work on pre-remediation material trials and site preparation at the end of last year. The ongoing trials are processing 1,000 cubic meters of material, analysing the soil to see if Festival Gardens can be used as a pilot project to demonstrate an innovative approach to waste processing and protecting groundwater.

Vinci is also understood to be lined up to deliver the main remediation package. In the cabinet report the council said: “Should the decision be to proceed with Vinci to deliver the future remediation contract, all preparatory work can be rolled into the main contract.”

Pending planning permissions, the first homes could be available by 2022.