PLANS to build luxury houses on Sefton Park's meadows have been halted until at least next summer.
The controversial land deal will now have to await the outcome of an independent review into the city's green spaces before it can progress.
The move will be seen as a partial victory, but this is almost certain to be denied by Liverpool's Labour rulers.
Details of the review emerged during a Liverpool City Council select committee meeting, last night, when questions were asked about the proposed flogging of green and open spaces across the city.
Regeneration chief Nick Kavanagh said the future of various sites would now depend on what is said in an independent review, and this will not produce its report until next summer.
He said all green space development plans are now on hold until a Green Space Review is carried out. This includes Sefton Park Meadows, Newsham Park and Walton Hall Park but not Woolton Woods.
Tonight it was not clear whether the council's preferred developer, Redrow, will continue with the expensive task of drawing up its formal planning application.
The delay comes just days after a public spat over the meadows between Mayor Joe Anderson and Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall. That story spilled over into the national press, and appeared in news media across the world.
Ken Aspinall, chairman of the campaign group Save Sefton Park Meadows, welcomed the move but asked if the emotive issue was being "kicked into the long grass" until after next May's council elections.
Tonight a spokesman for Liverpool City Council confirmed no decisions will be made about the Meadows until after the review is studied next year.
The Mayor and director of regeneration will decide on an independent chairman for the Green Space Review committee, who will then decide the make-up of its members. It is intended that the review will then inform the Liverpool Local Plan.
It was announced at the meeting that Harthill Allotments will be taken out of the list for development but council intends to go ahead to take five percent of Woolton Woods Park for St Julies School development.
"Are they are kicking the matter into the long grass (of the Meadows) until after the May 2015 elections? Time will tell."
