Why are the paths in Chavasse Park falling apart?
If you've walked through Chavasse Park recently you probably won't have failed to notice the poor state of the paths.
Originally they had been covered in a light coloured small gravel type surface that is now full of pot holes.
Owners Grosvenor seem to have taken some action on the One Park West side on the park with asphalt having been laid.
And there has been some patching up work done on the other paths.
Grosvenor spent ã1bn on Liverpool One, so it's a shame to see the paths in such a state.
Any way, it's nice to see that deck chairs have been introduced to the park - pity about the weather.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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These potholes are indentations caused by people walking on the paths. As the foot lands, it exerts pressure on the subsoil causing it to crumble. The subsoil of Chavasse Park is exceptionally crumbly; and Scousers' feet are very heavy. Steps are being taken to prevent further damage to the paths. Security staff have been instructed to turn away people with heavy feet. And shoppers are being asked in future only to walk on tiptoe. Grosvenor has spent millions, nay squillions, to ensure a state-of-the-art shopping experience. It hopes that people will treat its property with respect.
'Structural Engineer' may have his tongue firmly in his cheek. But he speaks of a widespread suspicion that the Grosvenor development is going to look pretty fly-blown in a few years time. The fabric looks vulnerable to the elements, and the site is exposed to plenty of them. Presumably the architects and designers took this into account from the start. But we have to take that on trust - it depends whether the development was costed to last, or merely costed for the short-term. If the latter, we'll have another St. Johns disaster on our hands by 2020. But worse! Because, by then, Church St & Lord St will have tumbleweed blowing along them.
To this story we can add another from the Daily Post this Saturday - the defacement of William Brown Street where the stone cobbles have been dug up by Enterprise and replaced with tarmac. There's no doubt the uneven surface can be difficult to walk on, made worse by the cobble stones themselves. But simply slapping black stuff everywhere cannot be the answer in a quality public space.
Thank goodness someone is taking seriously the problem of wobbly granite sets in William Brown Street. They were only laid in recent years, and badly. They wobble like milk teeth, and readers put themselves in jeopardy to reach the library. They are spaced too far apart, so that they are not mutually supportive, and the mortar between them has cracked and crumbled. And who's idea was it to lay our good york stone slabs in the turning circle for vehicles? Long fractured beyond safety.
Wonderful craftsmanship is shown in the arrangement and laying of small square granite sets in Queen Square - closely set and laid in a decorative "fan" pattern. It gives me pleasure each time I walk over them to admire this work, and sometimes get off the bus early, just to do so.
There are a few streets in the city with the very first cobbles - water-worn stones. In the streets by Wavertree Library, for instance. And I have seen them in Dingle too.
By the Hahneman Hospital the road was originally laid with wooden "cobbles" to muffle the sound of traffic for the sick, and occasionally these are revealed when the utilities have to dig down.