Lottery funding boosts Birkenhead Park's UNESCO bid
Birkenhead Park’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage Site status has been boosted by the award of £177,700 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) – made possible thanks to money raised by players of the National Lottery.
The funding will be spent on work to produce a long‑term development plan for the park that will be put together following comprehensive engagement with and input from sector specialists, stakeholders and – most importantly – visitors and the local community.
Wirral Council has earmarked a further £50,000 to support this work, bringing the total project value to £227,700.
The aim is to create a new vision and ‘masterplan’ to guide the future direction of Birkenhead Park, maximising its potential for the communities it serves by building on its history and significant role it has played in the development of the public parks movement worldwide.
One of our ambitions for the borough is to secure UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition for Birkenhead Park and it is great to see that the application continues to progress positively, supported by the UK Government.
The creation of a robust, long‑term development plan is a significant step in this journey and will help demonstrate the park’s outstanding international importance.
The grant funding will not provide for any structural improvements to take place during this phase, the plan will form the essential foundation for securing future investment to enhance the Park’s facilities, environment and activity programmes.
A major focus will be on a wide‑ranging programme of community engagement. A dedicated project post will be created to put local people and stakeholders at the heart of this process.
Engagement activities will explore how the park can be more used — and more useful — to the community, including opportunities for health and wellbeing activities, environmental education and volunteering.
To better understand how the park is currently used, automated visitor counters will be installed and audience research will be carried out to find out more about the kind of person who visits the park and identify any barriers stopping others from coming.
Running from 2026 to 2027, the project will assess the park’s current condition, identify future challenges and develop options to enhance biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
Expert partners will help update building and landscape surveys, prepare costed schedules of required improvements, and develop an environmental sustainability framework.
The findings from this work, combined with the extensive community engagement, will shape a preferred vision for the park’s future. This will be supported by a detailed business plan exploring ways the park can continue to be fully-funded and developed while remaining freely accessible to visitors.
Specialist consultants and local organisations will support the council in delivering the project.
