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Contact

For more information please contact Mike Bray at The Mersey Forest Team
mike.bray@merseyforest.org.uk

Images
Click here for fly throughs of the Newlands sites and the project picture gallery
Fingertip Facts
View facts about Mab Lane
Size:
23 hectares split across three sites: The Backy, The Swings and The Mabby
Investment:
Funding received Total private and public sector investment for Mab Lane is £688,000 (£440,000 from NWDA via Newlands)
Partners:
Liverpool City Council, Forestry Commission, NWDA, Riverside Group, Mersey Forest, Big Lottery Fund, United Utilities
Status:
Completed (May 2010)

  1. Past

    Mab Lane is the name given to three sites of former wasteland in West Derby, Liverpool. Under-utilised and encouraging anti-social behaviour, the sites – also known as The Backy, The Mabby and The Swings – had water-logging problems and desperately needed drains installing to redirect excess water.

    Visible from all roads into the area and on several public transport routes, the site was having a significant negative impact on West Derby’s reputation. Beyond this, the local community needed the space to serve them better.

    Places like the recently redeveloped Mab Lane Youth Centre and the three local schools, as well as local residents and businesses, all wanted an area that they could be proud of and use with confidence.

  2. Present

    To launch the project, 20,000 trees – one for each person who attended the Capital of Culture launch event – were planted at Mab Lane between 2009 and 2010. But it was the aspirations of local people that made the new woodland come alive, with: more trees; artwork; spaces for sport; allotments; and orchards too, creating a site that would genuinely improve the quality of life for locals.

    The site now has new drainage installed, wildflower meadows and networks of native trees, seasonal wetland areas, as well as a community orchard all enhancing its biodiversity and improving perceptions of West Derby.

    Sculptures, designed by local school children working with artist, John Merrill, embellish the site. Footpath repairs now also provide pedestrian access to local amenities.

    The community woodland is now an attractive link between the two local authority borders – Liverpool City Council and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

  3. Future

    Mab Lane is a high quality and well-managed community woodland that provides an appropriate celebration and legacy for Capital of Culture 2008. It is a welcoming place that minimises opportunities for anti-social behaviour and can be used for positive activities including education, health walks and cycling, as well as art trails and community events. There are still plenty of opportunities for Mab Lane to continue to develop, and the site has recently been awarded funding from Natural England, through its Access to Nature programme, and the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces initiative. This funding will enable the Mersey Forest to continue to engage local people in the development of the site.

    Access to Nature funding in particular will help to support this over the next three years, enabling community task days and training sessions to give local people the confidence, new skills and expertise they need to play a more involved role in the site’s future.

    A blog has been established so that local residents can be kept up to date with progress and contribute ideas and opinions. The Mersey Forest also produced a film which detailed the project from start to finish, introducing some of the key local people and organisations involved in the project.

  4. Regeneration

    West Derby is classed as one of the most deprived areas of the country, with high levels of worklessness and anti-social behaviour, as well as a poor health record. The creation of the new community woodland has contributed to a reduction in dereliction in the area and has helped to tackle worklessness by employing local people in the activity onsite.

    The Mab Lane project also involved local people in regeneration projects to ensure that the project met real local need and became community-led.