Ground investigations and site surveys are to be carried out ahead of construction starting on a £700 million riverside suburb in Liverpool.

The city council has approved a £1m schedule of enabling works to take place on the former International Festival Gardens and Southern Grasslands zones, which will help establish how the multi-million pound Festival Park development can be taken forward.

Designed by K2 Architects, the strategic 'masterplan' contains a number of proposals including delivering up to 2,500 new homes, up to 350,000 sq ft of commercial/leisure floor-space and a new ferry terminal.

In addition, the Festival Park Liverpool Masterplan has set out the site into distinct 'Places':-

• Dingle Bank – The residential zone – featuring a new primary school, medical centre and community hub to facilitate the mixed-use housing

• Jericho Wharf – Social heart of the residential zone with hotels, bars and restaurants

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• Jericho Shore – The beachfront neighbourhood with residential apartments, pavement cafes, restaurants and bars, designed around an ‘Amsterdam' styled canal frontage

• Festival Gardens – Retention of and enhancement of the existing gardens

• The Southern Grasslands – To be remodelled into a natural habitat for wildlife and leisure activities

Other key aims include creating a 5km long green corridor to the city centre, a remodelled coastal path as well as a new cultural ‘landmark' venue. There is also a current outline planning consent for a 1,380 unit residential development on part of the 90-acre site, valid until December 2022.

A report to go before the council this week also recommends a further £232,000 be spent on repairing the former Festival Garden dome base so it can be used to support the city's programme of events as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations as European Capital of Culture. These works will be carried out by Willmott Dixon.

So far, site investigations have established a remediation strategy on the northern development zone and the council are currently in talks with leisure and attraction operator Heritage Great Britain to develop a business case for an attraction.

The land surveys and environmental assessments will take two months to complete and will require phased closure to certain parts of the gardens.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: "Festival Park Liverpool has the potential to be a huge game changer for this city's economy.

"I'm encouraged by the work to date and the proposals Heritage Great Britain are developing for a major leisure attraction and we will soon be in a position to share these with the public.

"There is much work to be done but these site surveys will provide us with a roadmap to making this vision a reality over the coming decade."

(LM)