A proposed road through the middle of a Sefton park which has courted considerable controversy has been removed from a map after backlash by campaigners.
The planned road, going through the heart of Rimrose Valley Country Park, has been at the centre of dispute since it was first proposed as a solution to the area’s traffic problems in 2017.
The government announced earlier this year that a decision on the road, which has been fought against by local residents and the Save Rimrose Valley campaign, would be delayed until after 2025.
A statement by the secretary of state for transport, MP Mark Harper in March cited “a range of challenges including environmental considerations and ongoing scope and design changes” as reasons behind the deferral.
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While progress on the road scheme plans has for the meantime been stalled, this did not stop it being included in the local A-Z.
A copy of the map shown to the Save Rimrose Valley Campaign group and shared with the ECHO shows the outline of the road, which would slice through the country park in an orange dotted line on the mark and labelled “proposed road.”
The publisher of Liverpool's A-Z, Harper Collins, was then contacted by campaigners, pointing out a decision on the progress of the road had been delayed and asking for its removal.
The group also posted on social media about the map, stating on its Facebook page; “Well, this is jumping the gun a bit, isn’t it?! Eagle eyed Eddie, a supporter, spotted this in the latest edition of Liverpool’s A-Z.
“We’ve written to HarperCollins Publishers UK asking what process is followed and who submits this information to them. Seems a little unfair and one way to present the road as a formality… it isn’t,”
After writing to the publisher, the group received a response from Harper Collins saying its inclusion had been an “error” and confirming it had now been removed from the online edition of the map.
A representative of Harper Collins told campaigner Stu Bennett in an email seen by the ECHO: “The information to update A-Z maps comes from a variety of sources including local councils, Ordnance Survey, National Highways and our own research.
“When made are made aware of errors – such as the inclusion of a now-delayed road – we update the maps as soon as possible.
“We are grateful to you for making us aware that the project has been pushed back and are happy to remove the proposed road from the Liverpool Street Atlas at the next available opportunity.”
Speaking on behalf of the campaign group, Stu Bennett said the group was “extremely grateful” to the publisher for updating its map.
He said: “Seeing how the proposed route would carve up this incredibly rare piece of “urban countryside” has galvanised our supporters into wanting to protect it even more, if that were possible. ”
He added he hoped the edition would become a collectors item, saying: “We’ll certainly be fighting to ensure that a dotted line on a map is as far as this disastrous project gets to becoming a reality.”
Harper Collins was contacted for comment.
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