Southern Grasslands - one of Liverpool's forgotten green lungs
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00:00 Opened in August 2023, Southern Grasslands is a unique 24 acre recreational area created as a result of massive remediation programme to lay the foundations for a new housing scheme at the Festival Gardens.
00:13 Situated just 3 miles south of the city centre, it's the largest transformed green space opened in Liverpool in the 21st century and is almost 5 times as big as Shavas Park.
00:25 More than 400,000 cubic metres of soil and waste was removed from the Festival Gardens that was used as a public waste deposit for more than 30 years.
00:36 And more than 95% of this material has been recycled including 100,000 cubic metres of earth that has created this eco-haven for wildlife.
00:46 The new radically landscaped green space which now rises more than 30 feet to provide amazing views over the River Mersey which you can see behind me there, also has 2km of walking paths near to the shoreline.
01:00 The planting has involved the formation of new areas of woodland and meadow to create habitats to enrich the biodiversity in this coastal environment. This includes wildlife corridors to boost the population of insects, butterflies and bees.
01:17 More than 5,700 trees and shrubs were planted here. As you can see a lot of the trees are still in their infancy but imagine how much more gorgeous this is going to look like once they're fully matured.
01:32 Situated just a 10 minute walk to St Michael's train station, Southern Grasslands also contains a series of new public benches and picnic tables.
01:41 The placement of these benches they've installed is really well thought out. They're right along the top here, along the front. Fantastic views of the River Mersey.
01:51 It feels so peaceful up here. It's pretty quiet apart from the odd aeroplane going across overhead.