By Ours project
By Ours Cowley Hill Liveable Neighbourhood
By Ours Cowley Hill is a joint community project in partnership with Sustrans and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). The project aims to help residents, businesses and schools reimagine our local streets. Together we want to create a vibrant neighbourhood with cleaner air, where more people walk to shops and services, stop and chat to each other, and children can play out safely.
In May 2020, the LCRCA in partnership with Sustrans, secured funding with the Freshfield Foundation, a grant making trust, to develop a Liverpool City Region wide Liveable Neighbourhood programme. St Helens Borough Council was one of the first districts in the Liverpool City Region to trial this approach, securing £500,000 Active Travel Tranche 3 Funding to progress various initiatives within the Cowley Hill area, and £30,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for the 'Pocket Park'.
Community Engagement and Consultation
From 2022 into 2023 a series of consultation workshops were held, alongside a survey asking the community about current issues and what they would like to see in the streets and spaces in the area. People responded that they feel Cowley Hill is a good place to spend time in, both for socialising and for walking but highlighted better maintenance, traffic speed, traffic volume, more dropped kerbs, more seating, places to dwell and better street lighting as key areas of improvement.
The majority of people answering the survey supported all 19 of the design proposals suggested through community consultation workshops. Council officers have reviewed the feedback and prioritised the list of proposed infrastructure improvements requested by the local community against the allocated budget.
You Said, We Listened
The main design proposals the community asked for were:
- Controlled Crossings
- Footway Improvements
- Junction Improvements
- Green Space Improvements
- New Paths through the Park
- Traffic Calming Measures
The council has since reviewed these infrastructure improvements and appraised them against council policies, funding availability and deliverability within the prescribed funding timeframe. The Consultation Feedback Report (PDF, 1 MB) details how we have come to our conclusions and the map below details the scheme proposals within the Cowley Hill area, which includes:
- A signalised puffin crossing on Duke Street, to the west of Hamer Street.
- Footway accessibility improvements across a West-East corridor from Bishop Road to North Road, with the inclusion of dropped kerbs.
- Junction improvements through the provision of raised junction tables incorporating uncontrolled at-level pedestrian crossing facilities. These also act as vertical traffic calming features. The 5 junctions are: Bishop Road/ Wynne Road junction, Wynne Road/ Cowley Hill Lane junction, Cowley Hill Lane/ Windle Street junction, Windle Street/ Stanhope Street/ Morello Close junction, and Windle Street/ North Road/ Lord Street junction.
- A new green space 'Pocket Park' at Cooper Street / Chapel Street that includes a new footway link between Cooper Street and Halefield Street, incorporating tree planting, bin storage, improved lighting, and cycle storage.
- A new 3.5 metre wide active travel route through the park providing a shared use footway and cycleway across Bishop Road Playing Fields, between Bishop Road and Elderflower Road. This will link the community to local primary schools and green amenities, with the incorporation of tree planting, bin storage, improved lighting, and cycle storage.
Final Designs
The final design proposals, as summarised above, were shared through various channels. A drop-in engagement session was also held on Thursday 7 March 2024 between 10am-1pm and 3pm-6:30pm at the Deafness Resource Centre on Dentons Green Road for officers to take questions on the proposals and to listen to any concerns.
As outlined within the consultation note, several comments and suggestions were gathered from the in-person drop-in engagement event, with most of the comments received in relation to the two elements of the scheme that require planning permission i.e., the shared use footway and cycleway across Bishop Road Playing Fields and the 'Pocket Park' at Cooper Street and Chapel Street. To see the full list of recommendations and amendments please read the By Ours Cowley Hill Liveable Neighbourhood Consultation Note (PDF, 1 MB).
Officers have reviewed the responses collected during the latest engagement process, considered the views and concerns of residents and stakeholders, and have amended the By Ours Cowley Hill Liveable Neighbourhood Final Designs (PDF, 9 MB) for construction delivery.
Planning approval for the applications of Bishop Road Playing Fields and Cooper Street 'Pocket Park' schemes were secured by Planning Committee on 16th April 2024.
Scheme Completion
The contractor for the Cowley Hill Liveable Neighbourhood project, George Cox & Sons, started mobilisation 29th April 2024, with the scheme officially opening with a ribbon cutting on 16th September 2024.
Read more about the Bishop Road Playing Fields Opening Launch on our news page: New active travel route opens as part of pioneering By Ours Cowley Hill project - St Helens Borough Council.
The photographs below show the before and after images from this scheme, please click on them to enlarge.
Bishop Road Playing Fields Entrance
Signalised Puffin Crossing
Footway Accessibility Improvements
Junction Improvements
Green Space 'Pocket Park'
New Shared Use Footpath/ Cycleway
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