The council is set to approve £1m of enabling works on the former International Festival Gardens and Southern Grasslands zones this Friday that could pave the way for a major leisure attraction.

The council has already had drawn up a £700m riverside suburb on part of the 90-acre site to the south of the city, and will commission the land survey to establish how the scheme could be progressed.

This will provide the council with details and costs on the scheme, which could also include delivering up to 2,500 new homes, up to 350,000 sq ft of commercial and leisure floor-space and a new ferry terminal.

Also builder Willmott Dixon is set to carry out a £232,000 package of enabling works to create a 19-acre temporary events space in the area around the former Festival Garden dome, which is earmarked for the bulk of commercial development.

This will support the city’s programme of events as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations as European Capital of Culture.

Other key aims of the masterplan include creating a 5km long green corridor to the city centre, a remodelled coastal path as well as a new cultural ‘landmark’ venue to sit alongside the year-round leisure attraction.

There is also a current outline planning consent for a 1,380 unit residential development on part of the site, valid until December 2022.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “Festival Park Liverpool has the potential to be a huge game changer for this city’s economy.

“I’m encouraged by the work to date and the proposals Heritage Great Britain are developing for a major leisure attraction and we will soon be in a position to share these with the public.

“There is much work to be done but these site surveys will provide us with a roadmap to making this vision a reality over the coming decade.”