Amended 17.12.2007 WIRRAL COUNCIL DEPARTMENT OF REGENERATION PARKS AND COUNTRYSIDE SECTION MANAGEMENT PLAN 2007 / 2017 Contents Frontispiece: Green Flag Criteria 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Purpose and Scope of the Plan 1.2 Content and Structure 1.3 Preparation of the Plan 2.0 The Existing Park 2.1 Site Details 2.2 History and Development 2.3 Park Design and Character 2.4 Condition 2.5 Significance of Birkenhead Park 2.6 Facilities and Current Use 2.7 Ownership 2.8 Lease and Covenants 2.9 Policies and Strategic Context 2.10 Byelaws and Legislation 2.11 Existing Management 3.0 The Restoration Scheme 3.1 Historic Management 3.2 The Restoration Scheme 3.3 Overview of Proposals 3.4 Historic Landscape Restoration 3.5 Listed Buildings and Historic Structures 3.6 Visitor Services 3.7 Management and Maintenance 3.8 Security 3.9 Restoration Contract Implementation 3.10 Consultation 4.0 Issues and their Resolution 4.1 Identifying the Issues 4.2 SWOT Analysis 4.3 General Management Issues 4.4 Heritage Conservation Issues 4.5 Maintenance Issues 4.6 Security Issues 4.7 User and Community Issues 4.8 Restoration Works Issues 2 5.0 Vision and Objectives 5.1 Vision 5.2 General Management Aims and Objectives 5.3 Estate Management Aims and Objectives 5.4 Visitor Services Aims and Objectives 6.0 Management and Maintenance 6.1 Management Structure 6.2 General Management and Maintenance 6.3 Estate Management and Maintenance 6.4 Building Management and Maintenance 6.5 Visitor Services 6.6 Training 6.7 Quality and Performance Management 6.8 Management Action Plan 7.0 Financial Planning 7.1 Revenue Budget 7.2 Income Generation 7.3 Charging Policy 8.0 Monitoring and Review 8.1 Elements of the Monitoring Process 8.2 Monitoring and Review Timetable 3 Frontispiece: Green Flag Criteria Wirral Council is committed to the delivery of an enhanced management and maintenance programme for Birkenhead Park. An integral part of this programme will be the attainment of an external validation of quality that can be used as a benchmark for all management operations. Green Flag and Green Heritage Site Awards are seen as the national standard within the area of local government parks and countryside management and therefore the criteria of these awards have been used extensively in the formulation of management policy as outlined in this plan. Due to the prescriptions laid down by the funding bodies, this management plan follows the Heritage Lottery Fund guidelines for management and maintenance plans and comparison against these criteria may not be as straightforward as for other park management plans. In order to assist desk top evaluation therefore, the Management Action Plan (section 6.8) has been annotated with the relevant Green Flag Criteria. In addition the Judge’s attention is drawn to the following sections in particular with regards to the criteria: A Welcoming Place Section: 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7, 5.1, 5.4, 6.5 Healthy Safe and Secure Section: 4.1, 4.2, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 5.4, 6.5 Clean and Well Maintained Section: 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 5.3, 6.3 Sustainability Section: 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2 Conservation and Heritage Section: 2.3, 2.5, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9, 4.4, 5.3, 6.3, 6.4 Community Involvement Section: 3.6, 4.7, 5.4, 6.2, 6.5 Marketing Section: 2.5, 2.9, 3.6, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 6.5, 7.2 Management Section: 2.6, 2.7, 2.9, 2.11, 3.9, 4.3, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 6.6, 6.7, 7.1, 8.1, 8.2 Birkenhead Park Manager January 2007 4 1.0 Introduction Birkenhead Park is, quite simply, one of the most important public parks in Britain. It is registered Grade I in English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Designed by the leading nineteenth century designer and entrepreneur, Joseph Paxton, and opened in 1847, this was the first public park to be funded by public money. For Paxton and his patrons, this public park was one of the primary requirements of a civilised, urban life, providing space for exercise and leisure pursuits, as well as artistic and natural beauty, and available to every member of the community. There can be no doubt that this park set a pattern – in terms of its function, layout, planting and use – which is still influential today. Birkenhead Park has been the subject of detailed scrutiny of its historic development, its use and the condition it was found in during the late 1990s. The outcome of these analyses was presented in the Birkenhead People’s Park, Restoration and Management Plan, prepared by Hilary Taylor for the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in 1999. As a result of this report, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded development funds to Wirral Council, and a series of more focused investigations was undertaken by a team including Hilary Taylor Landscape Associates Ltd. and officers from the council. These were presented in a second report, Birkenhead Park Restoration Plan, 2001. In 2002, the HLF awarded a grant of £7,423,000 to WMBC. This capital fund, together with resources from the Council itself, SRB 6 and the ERDF, enabled the fabric of the park to be fully restored between 2004 and 2007. Additional revenue funding has also been provided for the park and its facilities over the next 10 years. Further funding of £451,300 has been given by HLF to the Friends of Birkenhead Park for the Birkenhead Park Heritage Education and Community Involvement Project which seeks to support the restoration scheme by encouraging local use, research and involvement in the park. 1.1 Purpose and Scope of the Plan The prime purpose of this Management Plan is to ensure that the future upkeep and management of the park will sustain, and continue to improve on, the quality of the park and the facilities it offers. This Plan covers the period from 2007-2017. It will be applied on completion of the construction phase, in 2007. The Management Plan will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. 5 The Plan is prepared for all those who use, manage or who might have an interest in the park, either now or in the future. Specifically, it will continue to be subject to discussion and review with: • the Birkenhead Park Advisory Committee • the Friends of Birkenhead Park • organisations using the park, including the Association of Wirral Angling Clubs, Birkenhead Park Cricket Club, Birkenhead St. Mary’s Cricket Club, and Birkenhead Park Rugby Club; • interest groups, including, Birkenhead Park Stakeholders Group and local Residents’ Associations • Merseyside Police Crime Reduction Officer • representatives of the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the Garden History Society, English Nature and similar national bodies 1.2 Content and Structure of the Plan The Management Plan (MMP Vol1) summarises the historical significance of Birkenhead Park, its current status and condition and the restoration proposals. The Plan establishes the vision for the park over the 10 year period and sets out the management proposals to achieve that vision, concluding with the cycle and methods of review. A separate Maintenance Plan (MMP Vol. 2) describes, in table form, the practical work required to achieve the key proposals set out in MMP Vol. 1. and includes maintenance specifications for: grounds maintenance, horticulture, arboriculture, hard landscape, soft landscape and historic buildings and structures. The content and structure of the Management Plan has been informed by the following guidelines: • Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Draft Guidelines Version 4 for completing 10 year management and maintenance plans for the Heritage Lottery Fund awards under the public parks initiative (May 2002). • A Guide to Producing Park and Green Space Management Plans: Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE Space 2004). • Raising the Standard: the Green Flag Park Awards Guidance Manual, Civic Trust • Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM) Parks and Green Space Quality Scheme, Issue 1: ILAM (October 2000) 1.3 Preparation of the Plan The Working Group which prepared this plan comprises Hilary Taylor and representatives from Hilary Taylor Landscape Associates Ltd., the Birkenhead 6 Park Manager and fellow officers of Wirral Council’s departments of: Regeneration; Technical Services; Children and Young People’s Services. Key stakeholder groups have also greatly informed the content of the management plan and particular assistance and support has been received from the following: • Birkenhead Park Advisory Committee • Friends of Birkenhead Park • Birkenhead Park Stakeholders Group • University of Liverpool • Association of Wirral Angling Clubs • Environment Agency • The Parks Agency • English Heritage Much of the background information found in this plan has been extracted directly from key reports and documents that made up the Restoration Project Stage 2 Bid and in particular Birkenhead Park Restoration and Management Plan 1999. Extracts have been notated as such in the text. Additional advice and information was sought from English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Nature, the Environment Agency and a number of other organisations and individuals acknowledged in the text. In addition, several Local Authority Parks Departments have kindly supplied examples of management plans and management advice during the preparation of this plan and the authors would like to thank in particular Newcastle City Council, Knowsley Council, Halton Borough Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Derby City Council and Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, for their assistance and advice. 7 2.0 The Existing Park ‘Birkenhead Park is a magnificent landscape.