Will victoria Park be taken for good

[said]

No-one was told about the leasing off or sale of Victoria Park, a popular park and the only one to the South of the town. We were all given to understand that the people who own the adjacent Caravan Park had undertaken to landscape the area and to maintain it - we were not told that this was for their own benefit.

The park is closed for the Flower Show - it always was. Then the Woodvale Rally was moved to the park - it is now closed for this. Not happy with taking over the archery field area the park is closed on several occasions for the use of caravans - even though there are no electric hook ups available in the park. Now due to many complaints from the public the park is half closed - the public area has been reduced by barriers because it is being used for caravans again!

The public have become so annoyed that they are disregarding the barriers - after all it is a PUBLIC park!

[Alikado]

It is not a Public Park, it was leased by the Council many years ago to the Southport Flowershow Company who must maintain public access for a set number of days per year, I don't know who monitors this but I think they must have gone on holiday!

[salus.populi]

It's not as if it's packed out with people when it's open to the public. It's good that we have somewhere well maintained that is used for events that attract thousands of people. Seems a reasonable balance to me.

[whiplash]

Love the gateway with all the plants around it.

[Little Londoner]

Love the gateway with all the plants around it.

Yes a nicely trimmed bush is always more appealing than an unkempt forest.

[said]

It is not a Public Park, it was leased by the Council many years ago to the Southport Flowershow Company who must maintain public access for a set number of days per year, I don't know who monitors this but I think they must have gone on holiday!

Victoria Park Southport, Merseyside, England, is a public park. It is the venue for Southport Flower Show and musical events. The show is traditionally held in August each year and has attracted both national and international film and TV coverage since the 50's (Wikopedia)

42 reviews Trip Advisor: Reviewed 17 September 2017
Perfect on a sunny day
We took our 2 year old here for a couple of hours last week and it was perfect place to run around and play, with a picnic.

Ask 57charlesf804 about Victoria Park

The Board of Trustee / Directors employ a small, year-round, part-time workforce to co-ordinate and sell the Show. We endeavour to make every Show different from the last by having a theme to inspire our competitors and exhibitors. All profits made are used to achieve our objectives. During the Show, our numbers are increased by many volunteers to whom we extend our sincere thanks.

Trustees
"We manage and maintain Victoria Park for the public benefit A 34 acre park is a large piece of land to maintain. We raise funds to do this by renting the park out to third parties wishing to hold an event. There is a limit on how many days we close the park for events and aim to keep the park open to the public for nine months of the year. A minimum of two Groundsmen are employed to keep the park clean and tidy."

The park closures are in the summer periods when the public are more likely to need to use it. The caravan site has ample space to provide events for their members - the public park should not be used for such events.

The Bandstand in the park is also part of Southport's heritage it was built by the Lion foundry sometime at the beginning of last century. The company closed in 1984 and had provided bandstands for many parks including Victoria Park, Southport, Merseyside; Carmarthen Park, Carmarthen; Peel Park, Kirkintilloch in Lanarkshire; and Lewisvale Park, Musselburgh in Midlothian and many others.

Agreement made with third party re. Archery ground:
"The proposed site has longstanding and at times severe issues with flooding which presently limits the practical usage of the site. If this project were to proceed this would be resolved by the Caravan Club. There are at present no alternative deliverable proposals to resolving the flooding issue."
This has not been kept as the land is constantly flooded towards the public by way through the park.

[Alikado]

It's not as if it's packed out with people when it's open to the public. It's good that we have somewhere well maintained that is used for events that attract thousands of people. Seems a reasonable balance to me.

Even when it is opened to the public you often struggle to find which gates are open, they do everything possible to discourage people from using it.

[said]

Even when it is opened to the public you often struggle to find which gates are open, they do everything possible to discourage people from using it.

People should protest against this - it is a Public Park for the use of the Public - it could be maintained by the people and I am damned sure that the people could make higher profits from any venues than at the present time.

[Kafoozalum]

Caravan events at the park, have nothing whatsoever to do with the adjoining Caravan Club Site. The events are rented out by the Flower Show company. If you want you can hold an event there and pay them a price per unit/caravan/motorhome, but you have to guarantee a minimum number of units. Nearby Pleasureland also run a caravan/motorhome site on their car park. Unfortunately those who want to camp (properly in tents) have nowhere in the Southport area to go.

[salus.populi]

Even when it is opened to the public you often struggle to find which gates are open, they do everything possible to discourage people from using it.

When it's not closed for events the gates by Ho Lee Chow, opposite Morrisons sliproad and by the Esplanade roundabout are always open

[Alikado]

People should protest against this - it is a Public Park for the use of the Public - it could be maintained by the people and I am damned sure that the people could make higher profits from any venues than at the present time.

Not a Public Park, it has been leased to a private company.

[Albion102]

It's not really a private company, it is a charity which operates through a company limited by guarantee. Like all charities, it's board of directors are unpaid trustees, although of course it employs a good few people.

Presumably the long lease between the charity and Sefton Council says something about public access. Remember the reason that this was done was because the council couldn't take the losses on running the flower show and wanted it of its hands.

[grassroots]

How it can be called a public park when it's never open to the public really is beyond me .

[salus.populi]

How it can be called a public park when it's never open to the public really is beyond me .

How you can think that it's never open to the public is beyond me.

[Ceam]

One of the few towns in the country that complains about an area actually being put to good use.