10 February 2009
£3.8 million of regeneration investment boosts Bury’s green
space
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is to invest
£3.8million of regeneration funding into Bury to transform 73
hectares of brownfield land into community woodland.
The investment is being made through the NWDA and Forestry
Commission programme Newlands, which has been billed as land
regeneration for the 21st Century because of its focus on the
economic and social benefits that can be delivered through
environmental improvements.
The site to be regenerated is in the Prestwich area of the
Borough and is known locally as Waterdale and Drinkwater Park. The
land, which makes up part of Red Rose Forest (Greater Manchester’s
Community Forest), is owned by Bury Council and was partly improved
in the 1990s. However this new phase of development work
under Newlands, (informed by extensive consultation with the
community, local agencies and businesses) will include 13.7km of
new foot and cycle paths as well as extensive habitat management
and development. The feasibility of developing a
technical mountain bike course on site is also being explored.
The investment will fund 20 years of long-term management by the
Forestry Commission on site and the Forestry Commission will manage
the site for at least another 80 years thereafter from its own
resources, to ensure the project’s initial benefits are sustained
and the outcome is a sustainable one for the local community.
The site had previously been home to bleach and dye works,
chemical tip, various farming operations, excavation arisings and a
smallpox hospital. It is currently classified as brownfield land by
the NWDA.
The new community woodland in Bury will form part of a larger
project to create a major community woodland across Salford,
Manchester and Bury. This ambitious project is known as LIVIA
(Lower Irwell Valley Improvement Area), and has already created 97
hectares of community woodland in the Agecroft area of Salford,
including an outdoor classroom, climbing boulders and play area,
new foot and cycle paths and considerable habitat enhancement. The
investment announced today for Bury will directly enhance this
existing work (which was delivered through £4.7million of NWDA
investment awarded in August 2004) as the two sites are connected.
This takes the total number of hectares to be turned into
economically viable community woodland as part of the LIVIA project
to 170 hectares.
The LIVIA project aims to capitalise on the critical mass of
economic, social and environmental investments taking place in the
area.
The new community woodland will help to attract business
investment and visitors to the area, as well as benefiting
homeowners overlooking the site who should benefit from the
developments over time through an increase in property values.
The project will boost nearby Neighbourhood Regeneration, and
Neighbourhood Renewal Pathfinder areas and will improve an area
that is currently within the top 20% of the National Index of
Multiple Deprivation.
LIVIA’s development will contribute to Croal Irwell Regional Park
and to the Red Rose Forest, both long term strategies aiming to a
develop a cohesive network of green infrastructure, recreation
facilities and visitor destinations throughout the Irwell Valley,
serving the communities and businesses of Greater
Manchester.
The LIVIA project in Bury will be managed by the Forestry
Commission in partnership with Bury Council, Salford City Council,
Groundwork and Red Rose Forest.
LIVIA, as well as several other areas of brownfield land across
the region were carefully chosen following an intensive land
survey, which used region-wide aerial photography to highlight the
Northwest’s areas of derelict, underused and neglected (DUN)
land.
Using a Public Benefit Recording System (PBRS), designed to
measure the public benefit that can be achieved through
regeneration, all the DUN sites identified were assessed according
to social, economic and environmental factors. The sites chosen
offer the greatest potential for impact with regards to the
priorities of the Regional Economic Strategy.
Joe Dwek NWDA Board Member, said:
“The Newlands programme is making a real difference to the
region, finding new uses for brownfield sites by creating community
woodlands and open spaces that enhance the quality of life for
local people whilst setting the context for economic growth. I am
pleased to announce funding for this latest project as part of the
programme, which will create a valuable new leisure resource for
the area, complementing the wider regeneration of the Irwell
Valley.”
Lord Clark, Chairman of the Forestry Commission, said,
“We are delighted that we will soon start working on a vibrant
new community woodland for the residents of Prestwich and beyond to
enjoy. The new site is the next step towards the vision to create
one of Europe's largest and most impressive city parks by linking
together the growing network of green spaces in the Bury area."
Councillor Dorothy Gunther, Executive Member for the Environment
at Bury Council, said,
“This project will make a real difference and allow the
regeneration of these currently underused brownfield sites. This is
an ambitious project which will provide a fantastic community
resource and leisure facility once it is completed.”
Advance work has already started but the majority of the
improvements will take place in February and March. Users of the
new community woodland should take care in the vicinity of
operations and be aware that large vehicles will be accessing the
site via Clifton Road and via Park Lane / Philips Park for the
first few weeks of development, as part of the path resurfacing
work.
- Ends -
For more information, images, request for interview and/or to visit
the site, please contact:
Faith Ashworth or Steve Connor at Creative Concern
Tel: 0161 236 0600
faith@creativeconcern.com
Notes to editors
Newlands stands for New Economic Environments through Woodlands.
Launched in the summer of 2003, Newlands is a unique £59 million
scheme that is reclaiming large areas of derelict, underused and
neglected (DUN) land across England’s Northwest, transforming them
into thriving, durable, community woodlands. It is the 21st
Century face of land regeneration: carefully planned;
intelligence-led; delivering widespread public benefits; enhancing
the environment; and delivered through partnerships, most crucially
that between the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the
Forestry Commission.
The long-term investment for LIVIA in Bury is £3,826,027
The site to be developed under this project lies off Buckley
Lane, Prestwich, to the south of the M60 motorway and bounded by
the River Irwell. The site is crossed by national cycle route
6.
A brownfield site is any land or premises that has previously
been used and is not currently fully in use, although it may be
partially occupied or utilised. It may also be vacant, derelict or
contaminated. A brownfield site is not necessarily available for
immediate use without intervention.
Using aerial photography, the National Land Use Database and/or
Unitary Development Plans, the DUN Survey which formed the basis
for the selection of the first seven Newlands sites found an
astonishing 3,800 DUN sites of more than one hectare across the
Northwest and of this amount, 1,600 were highlighted as a
brownfield sites.
The Public Benefit Recording System (PBRS) uses a range of
social, economic and environmental factors from proximity to a
transport corridor or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
to a sites location to schools.
Woodland cover across the Northwest currently stands at just
6.5% compared with the national average of 8% and a European
average of 33%
The LIVIA project partners are the Forestry Commission, Bury
Council, Salford City Council, Groundwork and Red Rose Forest.
Red Rose Forest is a leading environmental regeneration
initiative in Greater Manchester and is one of 12 Community Forests
across England. We are a partnership of Natural England, the
Forestry Commission and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Bolton, Bury,
Trafford and Wigan and the Cities of Manchester and Salford. Over
forty years we will help to transform a large part of Greater
Manchester into a greener, healthier and more satisfying place to
live, work and invest. At the heart of our strategy is the
involvement of a wide partnership of local communities, businesses
and other partners in the environmental, social and economic
regeneration of the area. United Utilities is the principle private
sector supporter of the Forest and together we have worked in a
close partnership over the last 10 years.
www.redroseforest.co.uk