a lasting legacy: mab lane community woodland

7/29/2019 A lasting legacy: Mab Lane Community Woodland

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The story of Mab Lane Community Woodland

How a woodland can change a neighbourhood

Photo:AntClausen


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2A lasting legacy Mab Lane Community Woodland

One of the most visible andstriking consequences ofLiverpools year in the limelightas European Capital of Culturein 2008 was the planting of20,000 trees to create the mostcolourful woodland in the UK.

Mab Lane Community Woodland consists

o two large elds on the edge o the West

Derby area, known as the Mabby and the

Backeld. Originally playing elds and

landll, they were plagued with problems

o ooding, neglect and vandalism.

To help oset the carbon ootprint o

the Capital o Culture estivities, the city

council joined orces with the Forestry

Commission, Riverside Housing and The

Mersey Forest, alongside local residents

and schools and with unding rom the

ormer Northwest Development Agency,

to plant a tree or everyone who attended

the Capital o Culture launch.

The new woodland was ofcially opened

in June 2010, ater an investment o

688,000 in ood prevention and

drainage, landscaping, tree planting,

improved security and community

activities.

Two years on, is it possible to know

whether this was money well spent?

Do people want to live here?

As Jane Jacobs observed hal a century

ago, a park or open space only works

when it is used. And it is only used when

people want to live nearby.

There are all sorts o reasons why

people choose to live in or leave a

neighbourhood, and they work together.

A wide open space used or dumping

cars and rubbish, and as an escape

route or burglars, drags down the

area. Abandoned houses, vandalism

and antisocial behaviour turn open

spaces rom a pleasure into somewhere

intimidating.

Conventionally, neighbourhood

parks or park-like open spaces are

considered boons conerred on the

deprived populations o cities. Let

us turn this thought around, and

consider city parks deprived places

that need the boon o lie andappreciation conerred on them.

- Jane Jacobs, The Death and Lie o Great

American Cities, 1960.

Photo:TonyBeyga


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Ive been pleased at how little

vandalism there has been. Oten

new developments like this or

improvements within existing

parks will become a target or

attack, perhaps simply becausethey are new eatures within the

established landscape, but that

hasnt happened here which may

be a result o the real local pride

and sense o ownership there is

or this site.

Brendan Monks, green space development

manager, Liverpool City Council

The Altnch area, at the southern end

o the Mabby, illustrates the issue. Out

o 48 homes in just one road, Altnch

Close, 20 were empty in January 2011.

Some had been vacant or more than ve

years. Crime and antisocial behaviour

were widespread, but ew local residentsthought reporting it would make any

dierence.

The main landlord, Riverside, was

considering demolishing the entire close

and selling the land at a cost o 800,000,

or redeveloping the road itsel an

option that would have cost 4.9m.

In nearby Penshaw Close, most o

the tenants moved out o brand

new houses because o the trouble

associated with just one amily.

Properties were vandalised and layempty or nearly two years.

It takes more than the improvement

o an open space to turn such decline

around, but it has been a key part o

a coordinated eort to improve the

area. Riverside brought neighbourhood

wardens in, created an ofce or a local

residents group, worked closely with

the police to tackle antisocial behaviour,

invested in youth work, and prioritised

repairs and bringing empty properties

back into use.

The creation o the community

woodland helped Riverside decide the

Altnch area was worth investing in, and

enabled it to consider less drastic and

disruptive options than might otherwise

have been necessary (see gure 1).

It also made empty homes easier to

let, saving money on keeping them

boarded up and bringing in nearly

20,000 o rental income over the

course o a year. People were happier

to stay and reported ewer problems. A

survey o residents ound satisaction

levels improved dramatically between

January and December 2011, people

elt a greater sense o belonging to the

neighbourhood, and elt saer both in

their homes and outside (see gure 2).

One result o this newound condence

that can be directly traced to the

improvement o the woodlands is the

Growing Altnch project, initiated by

local residents, unded by LiverpoolPrimary Care Trust and supported by

artists and the citys Everyman and

Playhouse theatres. Residents are now

pressing or their own community

garden, as Riversides neighbourhood

manager, Yvonne Makin, explains:

Many Mab Lane residents believe that the area has improved ollowing the creation o the

community woodland. Watch the video.

Crown Copyright and database right 2013 Ordnance Survey

100031461
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Weve gone rom nobody wanting to

live in Altnch to having three tenants

do a presentation to a participatory

budget day. Theyre very clear they want

a community garden, they want raised

beds, and I think its inspired rom whats

gone on in the woods. Its changing rom

a no-go area into an area where people

want to live.

Are people making connections?

A second test o the success o the

community woodlands is whether

it creates new opportunities and

connections. Does the space bring people

together or keep them apart?

Its opening up acilities

people have on this edge o

Liverpool. Its lie-changing

because they just did not have it

beore.

Barbara Murray, local councillor

The question is particularly relevant in

the case o the Mab Lane woods becausethe Mabby and Backeld lie along the

border between the city o Liverpool and

neighbouring Knowsley. They also orm a

link rom north to south along the course

o the river Alt, connecting with Croxteth

Country Park.

convenient link between the two. Where

once the tracks across the eld were

waterlogged and overgrown, there are

now well maintained paths suitable or

prams, bikes or wheelchairs.

Tom Wright, manager at the youth centre,

explains how the woodland is bringing

communities together. Families rom the

Stockbridge Village side are now bringing

Immediately to the east o the Mabby

is Stockbridge Village, a ormer council

estate that has undergone a multi-million

pound regeneration programme. A new

village centre includes a sports hall,

swimming pool, ca, studios and a youth

club. On the west o the Mabby is the

popular Mab Lane Youth Centre.

People are now using the woodland as a

Im really looking orward to next

year. I just want those trees to be

able to grow quicker!

Claire Harding, teacher, Mab Lane JuniorSchool


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children to activities at the youth centre

when they wouldnt make the journey

previously. We are seeing a lot o people

now, maybe a dozen or 15 amilies, who

now bring their children to the centre

over the eld, he says.

The connections work both ways, with

local residents crossing the Mabby toaccess the new acilities in Stockbridge

Village. Shoppers use the woodlands as

a short cut to the nearby Tesco, while or

others its a quiet and sae commuting

route. This everyday activity makes the

area eel saer people go where they

know other people will go.

Is this a good place or

young people?

A place where young people enjoy

growing up and where theres plenty

or them to do is more likely to have

a positive uture. I young people are

regarded as a nuisance, other people

may be tempted to leave.

Riversides survey shows that concerns

about young people engaging in

antisocial activities have diminished

signicantly over the last year. More

importantly, youngsters are playing a

positive part in the areas improvement.

Young people played a major role in the

tree planting programme, and have been

heavily involved in Growing Altnch.

Local schools are using the woodlands or

a series o Forest School classes, where

pupils learn in a natural setting and

improve their practical skills as well as

their knowledge o the environment.

Two members o sta at Mab LaneCommunity School and St Alberts

Primary School have been trained as

Forest School leaders, and both have

noticed a dierence in childrens attitudes

and concentration when they have been

working outside.

Teacher Claire Harding, who runs the

Forest School sessions at Mab Lane

Community School, says children with

behavioural difculties have been ully

engaged in the activities and other

teachers now want to train to lead similar

classes.

The enthusiasm has spread to parentsand relatives too the nal day o the rst

course o Forest School activities brought

a record turnout o parents and carers.

wanting to see what the kids were so

excited about.

Its a similar story at St Alberts, where site

Figure 2: Improved satisaction in the Altnch area, January 2011 to December 2011Figure 1: Creating a place where people want to stay - costs

4.9m

1.4m

688k 700k

The anticipated cost of demolishing and

redeveloping the area

Cost of the final project

(see breakdown below)

Cost of creating

woodlandCost of

managing the

local area

Concerned about youths

causing damage

Concerned about groups

of youths

Feel safe outside after dark

Feel safe at home after dark

Feel they belong to a

neighbourhood

Very or fairly satised with

their neighbourhood

0% 50% 100%

December 2011

January 2011


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manager Craig Young has seen children

who were quiet and withdrawn gaining

condence and enthusiastically joining in.

There was a similarly delighted reaction

rom parents to the nal open day. Even

the nans and granddads loved it, Craig

says. The granddads loved the den bui lding.

One spin-o rom the Forest School

classes is a plan to plant an orchard in an

unused playing eld behind St Alberts. As

the transormation o the Backeld next

to St Alberts has continued, the school

has added new activities o its own,

entering the Royal Hor ticultural Societys

school gardening awards and becoming

school climate champions or the

borough o Knowsley.

Do people eel better?

A community woodland sounds a great

idea. But there is no guarantee that it will

be adopted by the community. For that to

happen, it has to be a place that people

want to visit and to use.

While the woodland was planned and

planted there was a concerted eort to

draw in local people, and to build on

previous ideas and campaigns. Now

that the planting is done, there are

ewer ormal events. But people have

not stopped using the Mabby and the

Backeld: the no-go reputation has gone.

Dog walkers, parents with prams, cyclists,

tness anatics, picnickers, and children

playing all are spotted regularly, along

with people who just use the woodlands

as a way to get rom A to B.

These ordinary uses dont in themselves

show that the community is healthier,

tter, or more condent. But they do

suggest a change is taking place.The apparently insignicant things

can be the most telling. Theres the

childminder whos able to use the Mabby

when the children she looks ater want

to run around outside. Theres the youth

centre which is now planning to plant an

orchard. Theres the local resident who

saw one o the swales drying up, and

decided to top it up with his garden hose.

As those small signs o change multiply,

bigger changes can start to happen.People may become healthier and less

stressed as they use the green space

on their doorstep more. Children who

are involved in gardening and ood

growing are less likely to be viewed as

troublemakers. Houses that look out onto

woodlands rather than dumped rubbish

will be easier to let to new tenants.

Three years on, it is still too early or

all these benets to show up in ofcial

statistics. But the signs are promising.Where tenants would have previously

jumped at the chance to move, they are

now telling housing ofcers vocierously

that they want to stay. Thats what change

looks like.

I go through a couple o times a day and everyone I speak to is positive.

Everyone speaks highly o it its a antastic place. Its used by walkers,

runners, cyclists, dog walkers, shoppers whereas beore it was just a

barren place.

Tony Beyga, local resident and photographer

Photo:AntClausen


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Julian Dobson is a writer and commentator on regeneration,sustainable communities and social issues.

The Mersey Forest is the largest of Englands 12 community forests.Find out more at www.merseyforest.org.uk

Photo:AntClausen

a lasting legacy: mab lane community woodland

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