Less than half of Liverpool has good access to green space. How can we fix it?

Dear readers — over the summer, parks across the city have been full of folk wanting to kick back and unwind, play a game of football or catch some unpredictable sunshine. Yet for some of us, enjoying green spaces is easier than for others. The Post’s data reporter Daniel Timms has been looking into the dispersal of green spaces in Liverpool, and has discovered that less than half of all residents here have what is described as “good access” to parks and nature. 

This is especially prominent in more economically deprived areas of the city, where residents often have to travel outside of their local area to reach an adequate green space to rest, exercise or play in. As one local councillor stressed to us: “It’s working class people that are affected most by our lack of green space”. 

In today’s piece Daniel and Abi dig into the data and look to other cities across the UK — and the world — for solutions. 

But first, your regularly scheduled Post briefing.

Your Post briefing

An update for those of you following our Big Help investigation: Knowsley Foodbank, one of the charities previously central to the Big Help empire, is now also being investigated by The Charity Commission over concerns about the use of funds. The organisation was established to relieve poverty in the borough through a foodbank service and community store, but contacted the Charity Commission in June 2025 after allegations made by one of its grant providers. The commission will now investigate the charity’s management and administration. These matters will include potential conflicts of interest, whether funds have been properly expended, and whether the charity has sufficient trustees willing and capable of managing it in accordance with its governing document. Know any more about this story? As always, email abi@livpost.co.uk. 

Liverpool has once again stood in for Gotham City. Streets around the Pier Head and Derby Square have been made over for DC Studios’ latest project, Clayface. Previously, The Batman (2022) also made use of Liverpool (and Glasgow) as the setting for Gotham, the notoriously corrupt and crime-ridden home of the Dark Knight, described by one Batman writer as resembling "Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November." The mayor’s office were quick to tout the honour, posting on social media that the spotlight had once again fallen on the city region as “the Hollywood of the North.”

And from one superhero to another: actor Philip Oliver is “surprised and delighted” to learn he will reprise his role as Brookside’s character Tinhead when the soap returns for a one-off Hollyoaks crossover episode later this year. Saying he remembered his time on Brookside “with great affection”, the Liverpool-born Oliver admitted he never thought people “would still be calling me Tinhead" 30 years after accepting the role aged 15. As Tinhead — the nickname of the character Timothy O’Leary — Oliver will join other returning cast members Suzanne Collins (Nikki Shadwick), Sue Johnston (Sheila Grant, later Corkhill), John McArdle (Billy Corkhill) and Paul Usher (Barry Grant). Filming is due to begin this month for a November release.

In today’s edition of Answers in The Post, we dig into the city’s green spaces, and how we could improve our access to them.