LOTTERY cash is needed to kickstart a £5m dream of turning a rundown park into one of Liverpool’s most popular attractions.

Councillors have agreed a £50,000 bid to the lottery’s Parks For People fund so officials can start drawing up detailed plans for Newsham Park.

If successful, they will develop proposals for the troubled green space, including a children’s splash park with paddling pools and water jets, unveiled by the ECHO last year.

Liverpool council must first convince lottery bosses that the park is valued by the community.

Cllr Berni Turner, executive member for the environment, said: “Officers have been working on this project for some time and a lottery bid is the first major step.

“It would mean some of the early ideas can be worked on properly and we can plan exactly how we want to see Newsham Park’s problems addressed.

“I am passionate about this park because I spent a lot of my youth there, and if you walk from one side to the other, you can see how beautiful it is.

“It is the main park for Old Swan, Tuebrook and Kensington, and if we can get more people using it, the hooligans will leave.”

Newsham Park is one of Liverpool’s three original Victorian parks, created along with Sefton Park and Stanley Park.

It is Grade II-listed and is surrounded by various historic buildings.

But in recent years it has fallen into disrepair, becoming blighted by drug addicts, prostitutes and yobs riding quad bikes.

Some of the picturesque Victorian villas around the park are boarded up or burned out, and residents have demanded action.

Last year, the council revealed it was considering a number of residents’ ideas, including:

A tree-lined boulevard leading to a restored bandstand.

Fishing jetties next to the park’s lake, and relaid football pitches.

A community building, possibly including a cafe, changing rooms, sports equipment hire and toilets.

Liberal group leader Steve Radford, who represents the area, said: “I welcome this step, but it is too little, too late.”

Jonathan Brown, from Friends of Newsham Park, said: “This is only a small step but we would cautiously welcome it.”