There is growing anger about the state that Liverpool's parks, beauty spots, and other public spaces are being left in after periods of hot weather. Another heatwave weekend resulted in areas of the city being strewn with litter, food, barbecues, and other rubbish, prompting calls for stronger action.
Newsham Park Left in Grim State
In Newsham Park on Monday morning, there were grim scenes of widespread rubbish dumping, including trash being scattered around a children's play area. Local councillor Steve Radford, who documented the appalling mess, told the ECHO: "I was absolutely furious to see this. The worst thing is not only that the park is trashed but the play area as well, which could be dangerous for kids playing."
Radford added: "We raised this as an issue last week with the council, we have been asking where are the enforcement officers? The park is totally trashed. I went there first thing this morning and it looks horrendous. Litter in the play area itself, that's not safe for kids running around."
Calls for Enforcement Action
Radford said there were similarly unpleasant scenes in the same park on the previous weekend, asking: "When is the council going to start reacting?" A local resident also sent in their own images of the mess in Newsham Park, with a one-word caption: "Disrespect."
Radford emphasised: "We know some people are careless, that's why we think enforcement needs to be in local communities and parks and not just in the city centre. It looks like a bomb site but worse than that it is actually unsafe, particularly for children."
Otterspool and Garden Festival Concerns
Residents also continue to report issues in the popular Otterspool and Garden Festival sites in south Liverpool, where the ongoing use of barbecues is causing continued concern. One concerned resident told the ECHO: "Barbecues are central to anti-social behaviour in the parks, specifically Otterspool, which has become a safeguarding issue. Structures are being vandalised for bricks to help build fires. Trees are being hacked at and branches cut down for firewood. Vehicles are being parked on open grassy areas to facilitate cooking gatherings. Coals are being left on grass leaving grass dead and scorched."
The resident added: "There is an increasing anger in south Liverpool that the parks are no longer a safe place for our grandchildren to enjoy like our own children once did."
Sefton Park Battle
The ECHO also recently spoke to the Friends of Sefton Park about the ongoing battle they face as they fight against the rising tide of rubbish and careless dumping which comes after bouts of good weather in the city's most popular park. A spokesperson for the friends group told us: "People think, 'oh it goes away, someone will pick it up, a litter picker will get it, the council will get it', but most of the time it doesn't go away. Barbecues come out and all the stuff that comes with that. It also seems to be that more people start smoking over summer as well, you see loads of cigarette ends everywhere. But also packaging of stuff, plastic, wrappers, paper and cardboard and loads of different things, it seems to be relentless. It's not just packaging of like crisps or sweets, but like big boxes."
Council Response
In response to the shared images and growing concerns, a Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “Liverpool is home to more than 100 parks and greenspaces, enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors every day. Our cleansing teams work extremely hard to keep these spaces clean, and we have hundreds of public bins across the city which are emptied regularly. Despite this, we continue to see litter and large amounts of rubbish being left behind by a minority of irresponsible individuals. In the past six months, we have invested in 86 new jobs across our street care services to maintain high standards across Liverpool including our greenspaces, but litter and excess rubbish should never be left on our streets in the first place. We are urging everyone to take responsibility for their own waste and to respect our shared spaces. If a bin is full or there isn’t one nearby, people must take their waste home. Our enforcement officers regularly patrol our parks and greenspaces and spend a great deal of time educating the public about environmental offences and the harm they cause to our wildlife and other visitors. Anyone found littering or fly‑tipping may be issued with a fixed penalty notice.”
