Headlines and reports on this page = 3 news items.    Page - 4.

Festival Gardens plan set to move forward

THE 1st Phase of work to transform the former International Festival Gardens in Liverpool is set to be approved. The City Council took control of the site last year, with the aim of making it a major visitor and cultural destination together with a limited amount of residential development. The Council wants the site; which is already open to the public as gardens; to become an extension of the City's Current Cultural, Leisure and Residential Offers.  A report to the Cabinet, on Friday, 10 June 2016, reveals that architects have been appointed to develop a master plan for the site.  Now the Cabinet is being asked to give the go ahead to remediation work on nine acres of land adjacent to the Britannia Inn, 7 acres of which could then be sold for a residential development.  It is estimated that the sale of the land for housing would generate a net profit to the City Council, when allowing for the cost of treating the ground. Surveys of the Gardens and southern grasslands are also getting underway to give a comprehensive understanding of the ground conditions across the whole site, which will inform the master plan. Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet member for regeneration, said:- "The International Festival Gardens site has huge potential and had languished for too long without being properly developed.  By taking ownership of the site we are now in a position to develop a comprehensive plan for its future as a great visitor and cultural destination also incorporating a limited amount of housing. We have already seen a glimpse of its potential as a location for cultural events when we held the Luminous Landscapes festival on the site, which attracted more than 10,000 people. This is just the start of a long term process to carefully develop a site which is hugely important to the City and which many people are very fond of."

Contractors are also working on clearing overgrown vegetation on part of the site with a view to using it as events space during the summer months, ahead of remediation starting in the autumn.

Anfield man arrested on suspicion of double murder

MERSEYSIDE Police have confirmed that enquiries are continuing to formally identify 2 women who have been found dead at a house in Cathedral Road, Anfield, Liverpool, on 13 June 2016. Although formal identification of the bodies is yet to take place, the occupants' next of kin have been informed and specially trained detectives are providing the family with support at this difficult time. A 42 year old man, from Anfield remains in custody where he is being interviewed by detectives from Liverpool CID on suspicion of murder. He was arrested shortly before 11am, in Liverpool, on 13 June 2016. Home Office post mortem examinations will be carried out in the coming days to establish a cause of death for both women. Officers had been deployed to the house, in Cathedral Road, at 9.50am, after Merseyside Police received a call from someone concerned for the wellbeing of the 2 women living in the house. On arrival patrols forced entry and found both women deceased having been assaulted. A dog was also found dead inside the property. Detectives are initially treating the incident as domestic related, but extensive enquiries remain on going to establish the full circumstances of what happened. Anyone with information which could help the Police investigation is asked to call Liverpool CID on:- 0151 777 4027 or Crimestoppers anonymously on:- 0800 555 111.