MAYOR Joe Anderson has refused to give an assurance more parkland in Liverpool will not be sold off, following backing for the controversial disposal of Sefton Park Meadowlands.
The council’s Regeneration Select Committee met at Liverpool Town Hall last night to hear details of the thousands of objections to the council’s proposed sale.
A small group of protestors gathered outside the Town Hall, but after an often stormy debate in the chamber, the committee backed the sale.
Lib Dem Pat Moloney asked the Mayor if he would give a vow there would be no more sell-offs of city parkland.
But Labour councillor Martin Cummins responded by saying it would be wrong to give such a pledge.
Cllr Moloney said: “It seemed to me the Mayor concurred with that response and he certainly did not give the pledge I asked him for.
"This means none of our parklands are safe, and you can only wonder what will be the next to go. It was a perfectly reasonably question and a sensible pledge to request, but the Mayor’s refusal to give such a pledge speaks volumes.
Picture: John Bradley!“When the Lib Dems took control of the council in 1998 we immediately give a pledge there would be no sell-offs of parkland. We stuck to that pledge. There was the issue of Stanley Park being used for the new stadium but that was on the basis new open space of at least the size of the stadium size would be created.
“In the 1980s we saw Militants flogging playing fields for money, now two decades later we see our parklands being put up for sale.”
Green Party councillor John Coyne also attacked the sale of the Meadowlands.
At the meeting Mayor Anderson said the city was facing bankruptcy in two years and he had the responsibility to manage and balance the budget.
He accused objectors of misleading people by claiming the park was being sold off.
He added the Meadowlands (which the council do not recognize anyway as part of Sefton Park) represents a small part of open space, with 500 acres close by.
The committee's decision will be reported to the Mayoral Cabinet on October 11, but that is expected to be a rubber-stamping formality.
