Campaigners have vowed to fight for a town's green spaces, arguing that children deserve a park.
With hundreds of houses being built in Halewood, concerns were previously raised that services in the town are 'not up to scratch', with fears these will be "forgotten". The town was recently awarded additional funding to improve the area as Knowsley Council confirmed it will receive over £30m of investment in the coming years.
This will be spent on things like improving Finch Woods and improving outdoor sports facilities. But concerns have been raised that for the improvements to be made, the town will lose the green spaces it has.
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Town councillors discussed a draft green spaces strategy at their monthly meeting where Cllr Joanne Harvey pledged to 'fight' for the town's green spaces. Joanne, who campaigned against potential green space plans several years ago, added: "Our kids deserve a Victoria Park.
"By all means have a new shopping centre but a park would bring people in on the train, they'd use our park like Victoria Park. This council needs to sit here today and say it won't allow the borough to take it unless it benefits the people of Halewood and the kids."
Cllr Allan Harvey echoed: "These green spaces, I grew up on, I want to improve. We've got enough housing, we don't need any of them, go away."
The meeting heard however that the draft green space strategy was to discuss the improvements that could be made to the town council land, which is leased out, and would include things like improvements for people's mental and physical health as well as sorting drainage problems.
When asked by a member of the public if the green spaces were safe, Mayor Iain Hamilton "guaranteed" the green spaces are not for sale. He said: "We have no plans to give up any green spaces."
However, resident Dawn Corrie expressed her concerns over the funding pot and "where the improvements will go" such as new shopping facilities. She added: "Money talks".
Cllr Joanne Harvey said: "The public don't like the green spaces being touched. It got very nasty (five years ago) no-one wants go down that road however, if there's a fight on, guarantee we will fight."
Knowsley Council confirmed to the ECHO that Halewood residents will have a say in where the investment will be placed. A consultation was carried out in November where support was given for a retail expansion. Green spaces also came out high on the top priorities list.
Cllr Tony Brennan, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: "Halewood residents are indeed deciding where investment is going in their area. In November last year, we carried out a consultation exercise so that we could gather the views of local residents and businesses about future development plans for Halewood.
"70% of the people who engaged in that exercise supported the expansion of the retail offer and the priority issues were local green spaces, children’s play areas, and activities for young people. These views are being used to help to shape the future development plans for Halewood.
"Halewood is going to benefit from £30m of investment over the coming years which is great for the local community. A large proportion will be invested in green spaces and sports facilities. Over £6.7m will be invested in open space and leisure facilities, which includes the public open space at Wood Road.
"Up to £1m has been earmarked for Finch Woods. Given that there haven’t been any detailed proposals set out as yet, I can only suggest that any concerns about the future of green spaces are being fuelled by the usual “experts” who spread unfounded rumours on social media."
He added: "With regard to housing, people who already have a roof over their head often say that there is no need for more housing. The Council is well aware that building new housing can be unpopular for those who already live in the Borough, and that we need to make sure that local services can deal with any increase in population.
"But the fact is that waiting lists for housing in Knowsley are very long, with people having to wait years to get to the top. We also know that new housing is being sold almost as quickly as it is built. So there clearly is a need for new housing, and the issue is where it should be built.
"Our Housing Strategy is aimed at providing sufficient choice for both existing and new residents in terms of size, budget and location. To be clear, there are no plans for developing on woodland sites.
"The local community is pivotal in shaping our plans, and this exactly why we asked for their views last November. Once we have plans to share, we will once again invite the local community to share their views.
"Further updates about Halewood will be shared on www.knowsleynews.co.uk. I would encourage local people to look at plans as and when they are shared by the Council and to resist the temptation to believe what might be said on local media, sometimes by people who have a particular agenda."
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