Some progress for Liverpool FC in their attempts to build a new stadium on Stanley Park. Liverpool City Council today started advertising for a contractor to take on the task of restoring parts of Stanley Park, part of the overall work to regenerate the area around the existing ground. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the city council leader Warren Bradley said: “This scheme has been held up for far too long. We gave the go-ahead to the restoration of Stanley Park some time ago so it is good news that we are now advertising for a contractor to carry out the work.”
The plans for the new stadium were reapproved before Easter, and this is another big step towards the new ground for the Reds. Liverpool are still waiting for investment to be agreed before they can start work themselves, but the council say the park restoration work will continue regardless: “This work will be done separately from the new stadium, so we can still carry on with the park’s restoration, even if the club changes its mind.”
Even the opposition leader Joe Anderson was pleased to see some progress, although he didn’t quite say that in so many words: “The regeneration of Anfield and Breckfield is long overdue, and residents and businesses are suffering from this project’s inertia.”
There is a fund of around £20m for this additional work, which is needed as part of the work to build the new stadium, but won’t be spent on the grounds itself. This part of the money is to come from the European Objective One scheme and also the North West Development Agency. Included in this work is restoration of fountains and floral displays in the park, as well the Gladstone conservatory. New play areas will be built on the park too, but none of this concerns the “Friends of Stanley Park”. This organisation seem to prefer leaving things as they are – mainly derelict.