Knowsley
Background and analysis
Knowsley spans four landscape regions. It has a north-south orientation and crosses from the Lancashire Plain to the Mersey Valley. Superimposed on these in the middle of the borough are the eastern edge of the Liverpool conurbation and the western edge of the St. Helens coalfield. Before the Second World War, Knowsley had a rural character, containing only the small town of Prescot and villages of Huyton and Knowsley. Since then, there has been rapid urban growth and infrastructure developments, reaching a peak in the 1960s and early 1970s. Latterly, the pace of development has slowed down and population decline and loss of employment opportunities have had a severe impact.
The most significant landscape change occurred in the north of the borough with the development of Kirkby and the Knowsley Industrial Park on the Lancashire Plain. This urban area is separated from the Liverpool conurbation by a narrow strip of open land along the M57 corridor. Kirkby has few mature trees or woodlands, but does have some large areas of public open space and areas of valuable younger amenity planting and important street trees. The industrial estate is one of the largest in Europe, recognition of the problems of unfilled sites and lack of a landscape structure led to the development of the NUVIL project to plant woodland and biomass on the empty sites.
To the north and east of Kirkby is the flat open farmland of the Lancashire Plain, consisting of large arable fields and scattered woodlands. Most of the mossland areas have been drained for agriculture, but Simonswood Moss, lying outside the boundary of the Forest, is being worked for peat.
To the south of this area lies Knowsley Park, it is on the edge of the Lancashire Plain, but has a very different landscape character from the Plain. The park is heavily wooded and the extensive planting around the perimeter wall gives the impression of a large area of Forest.
The boundary between the Lancashire Plain and Mersey Valley regions is overlain by the towns of Huyton and Prescot. These two towns are the edges of larger urban areas: Liverpool in the west and St. Helens coalfield in the east. A small area of open land along the M57 corridor provides a break between the two areas and is an important strategic link between the north and south of the borough.
The town of Prescot is characterised by its historic core and mature treescape. It lies on a low hill which is one of a series of north-south ripples running through the coalfield area and ending at Childwall. The hill dips down to the M62 and from here land slopes gently down to the Mersey Estuary through the Tarbock agricultural area. The former Cronton Colliery is the most visible westward extent of the coalfield area. Adjacent is the M57/M62/A5080 interchange.
An area of open land extends along the M62 towards Liverpool, ending at Bowring Park. It has a variety of urban-fringe uses, but provides an important green wedge into the urban fringe. A smaller but similar area occurs between Netherley and Halewood.
The agricultural area around Tarbock, extends to Cronton and south of the A561 towards Hale. It is virtually surrounded by urban development and is crossed by road and rail routes and pylon lines. The urban influence combined with agricultural change has led to a loss of landscape structure, but some hedges, hedgerows trees and small woodlands remain. There are many small conservation areas based on the historic farming settlements.
Halewood lies to the west of the open agricultural area. It is typical of much of the overspill housing areas constructed on the edge of Liverpool and exhibits many of the common urban-rural conflicts. Halewood Country Park, whose woodland has arisen through natural regeneration on disused railway land, is an example of buffer woodland and parkland that could be created on the urban edge.
Guiding principles
- Create a major woodland corridor along the M57 and M62 motorways. This is the key woodland area in Merseyside as it has the heavily wooded Knowsley Park at its centre and links to woodland planting in Sefton, Liverpool and St. Helens.
- Provide a woodland buffer around the urban edge and create a well-wooded landscape within the fingers of open land enclosed by the urban area.
- Provide a new woodland structure for Kirkby and the Knowsley Industrial Park.
- Reconstruct and enhance the agricultural landscapes in the Cronton/Tarbock/Hale area.
- Transform urban green space into woodland where appropriate and as opportunities arise.
Policies and opportunities
Numbers refer to the 'Knowsley planting strategy' map.
CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE LARGE SCALE MAP
K1 Carry out woodland planting on the periphery of the Knowsley Industrial Park. Where appropriate, plant copses and small woodlands and restore hedges in the surrounding agricultural landscape. It is not appropriate to plant new woodland on the mossland areas.
K2 Continue to support the NUVIL project on the Knowsley Industrial Park and extend to other industrial areas. Continue to support the development of the Landlife Wildflower Project.
K3 Plant trees on open land within Kirkby to provide a new landscape structure and woodland setting for the built environment.
K4 Work with Liverpool City Council and Sefton MBC to create a well-wooded area at the Borough boundary from the M57 along the canal and railway corridor at Aintree.
K5 Create an 'in the Forest' landscape for the M57 motorway from the A580 junction north to the borough boundary. Extend planting into the urban area along the Bank Brook and Kirkby Brook Valley. Work with Liverpool City Council to develop a wooded setting for development, should any take place at Gilmoss.
K6 Create a well-wooded appearance to the land adjacent to the M57 towards Croxteth and at Knowsley Village whilst maintaining views out from the motorway.
K7 Create an 'in the Forest' landscape for the M57 from the M62 junction northwards to Littlewood. Connect planting into the adjacent urban area and Knowsley Park.
K8 Protect woodland assets within Knowsley Park.
K9 Continue to support the creation of wooded parkland on either side of the M57 in and around Stadt Moers Park.
K10 Create a well-wooded landscape around the M62-M57 junction and establish a woodland setting for any development at Cronton Colliery.
K11 Extend woodland planting northwards up the hill to Whiston. Pay special regard to the historic Halsnead parkland.
K12 Create a well-wooded area and 'in the Forest landscape' for the M62 corridor west of the junction with the M57.
K13 Create a well-wooded area around the periphery of Netherley and Halewood, extending to the loop line at Gateacre.
K14 Carry out structural tree planting to further integrate the Knowsley Expressway into the surrounding landscape.
K15 Plant small to medium-scale woodlands and restore the hedgerow structure to the agricultural area around Tarbock and Cronton, especially around Pex Hill Country Park.
K16 Create a well-wooded area at the A5300-A562 intersection and extend north and south along the borough boundary.
K17 Support the Alt 2000 project to enhance the River Alt catchment.
K18 Target the rail corridors cutting across Knowsley for tree planting.
