CH6 Birkenhead Park Conservation Area Policy
In relation to Birkenhead Park Conservation Area the principal planning objectives for the area will be to:
(i) preserve the character and appearance of an extensive Victorian public park;
(ii) preserve unifying features of design, such as gate piers, boundary fences and stone walls, and the nature and extent of landscaping throughout the Area; and
(iii) restrict the non-residential use of existing buildings within the Area, unless a primarily domestic setting would be retained.
Notwithstanding designation as Urban Greenspace under Proposal GR2, priority will be given to preserving uninterrupted, tree-lined, open vistas within the "inner park" as delineated by the route of Park Drive.
Reasoned justification :
11.21 Birkenhead Park Conservation Area was designated in June 1977. It is universally acknowledged to be the first publicly-funded park in Britain, and provided the inspiration for the design of Central Park, New York and for the Victorian "Public Parks Movement", which extended a permanent influence throughout this Country and beyond. It currently possesses Grade 1 status within the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
11.22 The character and appearance of the Area principally derives from its wide and varied collection of period buildings and structures set within and around a mature parkland setting, unified by common features of design such as gate piers, boundary railings and substantial landscaping. Policy CH6, therefore, provides for these features to be retained and restricts new uses which would by their nature or design prejudice the landscaped appearance of the area or detract from the primarily domestic character of period buildings. Policy CH6 also restricts new development falling within the area of open land bounded by Park Drive in order to preserve the open landscaped setting of the central parkland area.