Wirral Council is developing a brand-new public park on the former Dock Branch railway line in Birkenhead, which is no longer used.
Inspired by The High Line in New York, it aims to bring people together and help local residents get closer to heritage and nature. It will take about 2-3 years to develop, and this is your chance to get involved in the design.
Wirral Council have completed a public consultation, but you can still have a say in the the future of the Park. Just Click here.
Backin’ Birkenhead Community Benefit Society is part of the team that is pushing this project forward, and we would like to have your support, views and suggestions.
Blending Park with Town
This approach promotes and enhances the natural and designed assets of Birkenhead. The celebrated Birkenhead Park, the Mersey Waterfront, the transecting Dock Branch Park, and Hamilton Square together shape the potential for a truly magical and imaginative “garden town” at the heart of Birkenhead. This complements the planned “urban garden village” at Borough Yard.
As this concept develops, it will be vital to ensure that trees are allowed to reach maturity, and that the landscape can be properly maintained and cared for. Beyond its visual and social value, such an approach also has the potential to support urban food growing, bringing the benefits of fresh, local food to the heart of the town.
Dock Branch Park presents an ideal opportunity to bring this vision to life. Designed as a linear park, its landscape can flow into the wider fabric of central Birkenhead, drawing people in to explore and enjoy. This distinctive, partly subterranean park, offers a tantalising opportunity to let biodiversity spill upwards and outwards, seamlessly ‘blending park with town’.
Please contact us on the form below.
Acknowledgements
Original Dock BranchPanel and contributors to the Place Plan 2023-25
For Arthur Lindsay Kerr Acheson 3rd Sep 1949 – 25th March 2024
Arthur was an energetic founding member of the Dock Branch Panel.
He left us with these wise words:
“Be flexible; adapt to change; question and challenge authority; have courage; just do things; and care.”
A tribute from the Bard of Birkenhead, Terry Briscoe:
“It’s sad to hear the news that Arthur.
Has sadly passed away.
I only ever got to meet him twice,
An he had nice words to say.
“He said he liked my poetry.
When we first got to meet.
Yes Arthur he was amazed,
When I shouted in the street.”