We write urgently from the Friends of Gellings for your assistance in helping us save Croxteth Park Riding Centre, a key community asset in Croxteth Country Park. We are part of a group of avid local equestrians (many who learnt to ride at Croxteth Park) who have been lobbying for the re-opening of Croxteth Park Riding Centre. In October 2024, it seemed as though the council may have finally listened to our requests, as the riding centre was placed on to the market to be leased.  

Since then, the Friends of Gellings Riding School (FOG) has been trying its hardest to get a lease from Liverpool City Council, to reopen Croxteth Park Riding Centre, for the past nine months. I have written a clear timeline below of the actions taken by the Friends of Gellings, for your reference, all adhered to within a timely manner by us, the Friends of Gellings:

9th October 2024: Date of first marketing of Riding Centre by Liverpool City Council appointed agents Fisher German.

31st October 2024: Date of Open Day and first site visit to Riding Centre for all interested parties. Twelve parties registered to attend, and eight parties attended.

31st October 2024: Date when FOG first registered an Expression of Interest with the LCC appointed agents to lease the Riding Centre.

21st November 2024: Date when LCC appointed agents requested written submissions from all interested parties - including Business Plan, capital cost estimates and proposed Heads of Terms for Lease.

29th November 2024: Date when FOG submits its formal Expression of Interest - including Business Plan, capital cost estimates (including circa. £30,00 repairs due to vandalism to property) and Heads of Terms.

21st January 2025: LCC agents confirm that FOG is one of two remaining interested parties. LCC agents request proof of funds, and more detailed capital repair costs including estimates for the works required from both parties.

22nd January 2025: FOG requests access to the properties again - notably to the houses again, and to parts of the stable block inaccessible on the previous Open Day.

7th February 2025: FOG submits first of two proofs of funds to LCC agent.

17th February 2025: FOG submits second of two proofs of funds to LCC agent.

25th February 2025: LCC re-opens properties for second site visit to enable detailed surveys and cost estimates to be made. Only one interested party attends - FOG.

10th March 2025: FOG submits detailed capital cost estimates and specific quotes for work packages to Agents appointed by LCC. A further £10,000 damages are noted, since the previous Open Day on 31st October 2024. Damages through vandalism then stand at £40,000.

6th April 2025: Two youths reported via Facebook setting fire to fields in Croxteth Park. Group of youths seen by members of public and report to FOG inside the stable block at Croxteth Park Riding Centre.

Since the Friends of Gelllings put our expression of interest into the council on 31st October, we are yet to hear anything clear from the council about the progress of our application. We have asked for several opportunities to meet face to face to discuss, but these have been denied. We have been working closely with the agents from Fisher German, who have done their best to keep us updated. We were made aware by these agents in February 2025 that FOG was the only remaining interested party and the only applicant that had submitted their capital costings within the given timeframe. Unfortunately, despite this, we now find ourselves in a situation where we have still had no feedback from our costings sent on 10th March 2025. 

Due to this, at the start of April 2025, we asked our supporters to start to lobby their own councillors on this matter. One of our supporters has received a response from the Chief Executive's office. As you can imagine, it is incredibly worrying that our supporter has received this, yet FOG has had no information back from Liverpool City Council. The response to our supporter suggests that the council are concerned with FOG's application for two reasons:

That the amount of money FOG is willing to invest is not enough to properly restore the old and damaged/vandalised buildings
That FOG will be relying on volunteers in parts to make the riding centre functional again

We have again asked for a face to face meeting with the council, so that FOG can provide answers to the concerns above. We do not believe that the council has fully read and understood our application IF these are the concerns that have been found. We emailed the council immediately yesterday following the response that our supporter received. We asked that the council get back to us by 5pm today. As this has not happened, this is why we are now emailing you for your help. 

As the last interest left, we should now have moved to this lease negotiation - and it is in the context of these negotiations that a landlord raises issues about repair requirements, specifications and the processes for signing off of work, who pays for what work / rent free periods etc.

The Friends of Gellings group is made up of very experienced horse owners and lovers from across the Liverpool City Region including the successful and longstanding business owners of Gellings Riding School, a number of initial founding directors of Park Palace Ponies from 2017-2023 (completing most of the capital building works as 'volunteers' themselves), a number of people who successfully ran a learn to ride summer programme at Aintree Racecourse for 3 years, from 2021-2023, and who set up a pilot programme to bring equine wellbeing sessions to children in a secure mental health unit at Alder Hey. 

As a community group and local equine activists, we have worked tirelessly to make horse riding more accessible for our city region. We understand the benefits that horses and ponies can have on a community, and we want to desperately bring this back to Croxteth Park. At the moment, all that the council is currently doing is blocking another generation of future horse riders and lovers and allowing a beautiful asset in our city to be left to ruin. As part of our work at Gellings Riding School, we have worked hard to rid our greenways of antisocial behaviours. Unfortunately, the council cannot say they are doing the same for their residents, as the damage to Croxteth Park Riding Centre is worsening each week. 

Our next step is a public petition and speaking with the local and national media as well as local and national politicians, including members of the House of Lords.