3rd Edition March 2007 2nd Public workshop on the future of Crystal Palace Park DATE : Saturday 17th March 2007 TIME: 10:00am – 3:00pm, lunch provided VENUE: Sydenham High School, 19 Westwood Hill, Sydenham, SE26 6BL www.crystalpalacepark.org IT’S YOUR PIT’S YOUR ARKPARK This Easter holiday, the LDA will be hosting a series of activities in the Park. A community marquee will be set up over the holidays, with a display stand explaining the Crystal Palace’s history and showing some of the emerging design ideas for the Park’s future. There will also be a number of workshop sessions where local residents can directly input into the masterplanning process. A number of other events and activities, such as Easter Egg painting, a park tour and adventures with dinosaurs will also take place over the holidays. Look out for further publicity on the timings for the holiday events, including our new look website at www.crystalpalacepark.org! Welcome to the latest edition of ParkNews, the Crystal Palace Park Newsletter. This is a double edition, with 8 pages of news about the Park. The masterplanning process, which is setting out future ideas for the park, is reaching a crucial stage with key proposals beginning to emerge. Latz + Partners, the landscape architects designing the plans, are actively seeking the views of the local community. They will be holding the second Public Workshop on the masterplan on Saturday 17th March, at 10.00 at Sydenham High School. This follows the successful workshop held in January, which over 100 people attended and discussed the proposals. There is an increasing consensus in favour of the majority of proposals for the park and now the consultation is moving on to discuss the remaining issues such as the Transport for London tramlink proposals and residential options. We have also launched our new look website, which you can find at www.crystalpalacepark.org. The site provides background on the history and key features of the park, information on the masterplanning process and also details of official events taking place in the Park over the following weeks. Check it out and tell us what you think of it. Just like Crystal Palace Park itself the website will grow and evolve and we really want your ideas about how best to keep improving it. After the success of the last workshop in January which look at specific areas in the park this second event will focus on wider issues such as funding and security. Childcare facilities will be available. There will also be free transport from the workshop to the Capel Manor exhibition at the old farm site. We hope to see you there. DATE : Saturday 17th March 2007 TIME: 10:00am – 3:00pm, lunch provided VENUE: Sydenham High School, 19 Westwood Hill, Sydenham, SE26 6BL Crystal Palace Park contains habitats of considerable value for wildlife. These include areas of woodland and scrub, the lakes and a number of very old oak trees. The wildlife associated with these areas includes four species of bats, over forty species of breeding birds and a variety of invertebrates including the stag beetle, the UK’s largest beetle. Ecology Consultancy Ltd. is providing ecological expertise to the project including habitat and protected species surveys. The results of this will inform the design process and will be contributing to the Environmental Impact Assessment of the scheme and will produce an Ecological Management Plan for the park to ensure that wildlife habitats are managed correctly. The following principles will help to ensure that the project generally improves the park for wildlife. • Overall ecological value of the Park to be enhanced. • Guard against any loss of ecologically valuable habitat by creating at least an equivalent amount of habitats elsewhere. • No loss of veteran trees, especially oaks. • Recognise certain areas as being managed principally for ecological value. The restoration of Park will involve integrating existing habitat with the improvements of the landscape, access and facilities. It also provides opportunities to create habitats that are appropriate to the area but poorly represented in the park. There will be a range of smaller water bodies designed for amphibians, aquatic plants and invertebrates. New grassland areas will include areas of dry, flower-rich grassland and possible new buildings will include specialist features for species such as bats and swifts. EASTER EVENTS ECOLOGY WELCOME More than 100 people attended the first public workshop held by the masterplanning team. The majority of participants had never been to a public meeting on Crystal Palace Park before. After a talk by Tilman Latz, the lead masterplanner, about the evolving design ideas for the park, participants divided into three groups. The first group examined how best to bring the old Palace site back into public use. The second group looked at the area between the terraces and the National Sports Centre. The final group looked at the entrance sites and proposals for the edge of the park. A full report and executive summary, of the public workshop is available to download online at www.crystalpala- cepark.org. The next public workshop will be held on 17th March, at Sydenham High School and will look at a number of issues for the park’s future such as: • Funding & phasing • Security & lighting • Ecology & wildlife PUBLIC WORKSHOP www.crystalpalacepark.org This magazine is also available in text form. Translation services are available upon request in the following languages: • Polski • Somali • Türkçe • Please contact us on 020 7357 6894. The old Crystal Palace put Sydenham Hill on the map, literally giving its name to the local area. However, since it burnt down in 1936 the site has slowly fallen into disrepair; partially closed off and overgrown, it has lost the grandeur of its heyday. The Crystal Palace Park masterplanners, Latz + Partner, plan to bring the old Palace site fully back into public use by creating a vibrant park promenade, linking the five local Boroughs of Bromley, Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth and Croydon. The grid of newly planted trees echoes the outline of the old Palace, recalling its scale and grandeur. The old Palace outline could be marked out on the ground. Open air ‘rooms’, marked out by the trees, branch off the promenade, and are large enough to hold events and activities. One option also being considered is to allow public access to the old abandoned subway on the hilltop by relocating the museum to sit over it. The subway is one of the few remaining intact historic structures in the park. The best features of the site, as it is today, will be preserved, with good quality trees retained and a large ‘nature garden’ created. The centre of the Palace site will be a tree-lined promenade, spanning the length of the site. Semi- mature trees will create a 5 metre high canopy overhead and provide a perfect, sheltered vantage point for relaxing and viewing the park and beyond. With no permanent structures inside the boundaries of the old Palace, the promenade could be lined by small temporary structures such as kiosks and pavilions, creating a continental style boulevard for South London. UPPER TERRACES PAXTON WATER TOWER BASE BBC TOWER www.crystalpalacepark.org The London Development Agency (LDA) is replacing the aging machinery, pumps and other equipment at the National Sports Centre (NSC) at Crystal Palace. The National Sports Centre opened in 1964 and the equipment is now nearing the end of its life. The LDA has decided to replace this equipment after a study which looked at different ways to keep swimming in Crystal Palace – including the possibility of building a temporary pool nearby. The LDA now plans to replace the existing plant. The work will mean that the NSC will have to close for four to six months between October/November 2007 through to May 2008, re-opening in time for the London Youth Games. The move will ensure that the pool remains open in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics. Norman Edgell, Crystal Palace Swimming Coach said, “It is vital to keep swimming in Crystal Palace in the run up to the Olympics – sporting groups and representatives using the NSC have been heavily involved in this decision and fully support this move” The pool is one of only two 50-metre Olympic sized pools in London. The NSC has recently submitted a bid to become one of the pre-Olympic training camps for national sports squads competing in the Games. The LDA took ownership of the NSC in March 2006 as part of London’s 2012 bid. The building was given Grade II* Listed status in the late 1990’s and the LDA is now proposing to refurbish the building as part of its plans to regenerate the whole of Crystal Palace Park. Plans are moving ahead to re-open the much-loved farm and petting zoo in the Park. Capel Manor, one of the leading national centres of horticulture and animal husbandry is proposing to re-open the farm this year. The proposals would see a range of animals return to the farm from guinea pigs to alpacas to shetland ponies. A new reptile house with snakes, small lizards and amphibians would also be built. Entrance to the farm will be free of charge. The general public will be able to visit each afternoon four to five days a week, with school parties visiting in the mornings. Capel Manor run several other similar facilities around London. Recently a number of local Crystal Palace residents and community activists visited their Enfield centre to see first hand how they have integrated a visitor centre with a busy city farm. Under the current propsoals, the only new building will be a new greenhouse, which would be located on the current site of the fire-damaged buildings. A number of the existing structures on the farm site will be repaired and improved as part of the Capel Manor application. A decision on Capel Manor’s plans will be taken by Bromley Council in mid-April. If the decision is yes, the farm should be up and running again by the Autumn. Capel Manor will be running an afternoon exhibition and Q&A session at the old farm site in the Park from 2pm - 5pm on March 17th. The LDA has been given the go-ahead by Bromley Council to remove the ugly concrete turnstiles and footbridge that currently link the station to the NSC and station. The structures, built in the 1970’s, have now become an eyesore. Work will begin this month to demolish and replace them with a simple landscaped square, providing a friendlier entrance into the Park. The new entrance area will be further improved in the final masterplan proposals. The work should begin shortly after the end of the Easter holidays. The work is the first of a series of initial park improvements planned by the LDA including the removal of much of the unnecessary fencing inside the park, and security work to reduce crime. SWIMMING POOL CAPEL MANOR TURNSTILES Did you know? Situated within Crystal Palace Park, the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre is home to one of only two 50 metre swimming pools in London - operated by GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited) on behalf of the London Development Agency. The momentum for the 2012 Olympics is building and it is vitally important our swimming athletes have a chance to compete in an environment that replicates actual competition. With the Olympics to be held in London it is the perfect time to showcase the talents we have in this country, and GLL in asso- ciation with Crystal Palace National Sports Centre wants the UK to bring home gold! Aspiring Olympians are training hard for London 2012. Every morning at 6.00am and then again at 5.00pm, hundreds of Club swimmers are put through their paces at Crystal Palace. The centre hosts swimming competitions and galas where swimmers come from all over England to participate. Crystal Palace also hosts training camps from countries across the world that come and sample the unique atmosphere at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. But Crystal Palace is not only for aspiring Olympians – there’s something for everyone in our wide programme of activities including award winning courses or simply casual swimming with kids in our family sessions. The ‘London Swim School’ delivers a full range of swimming lessons from aqua tots for babies and beginner lessons, through to improver lessons and adult classes. Swimming is a fantastic exercise for all and is good for the cardiovascular system without impacting too much on the joints. Or if organised water based exercise classes interest you, then why not check out the water workouts and ante and post-natal classes at the NSC. Join as a member of Crystal Palace and enjoy unlimited access to not only swimming but to state-of-the-art fitness centre, group exercise classes, badminton, squash, football and discounts on other leisure activities. If you would like to know more, contact one of our team on 020 8778 0131. Alternatively, visit www.gll.org for more information. NSC AND LONDON 2012 www.crystalpalacepark.org Date Event 6 - 7 March South London Higher Education Conference 10 March London Region ASA - Diving Competition (NSC) Levels 3, 4, 5 10 March London Towers v Solent Stars Basketball (NSC) 14 March High 5 Project Netball Festival Netball (NSC) 17 March Crystal Palace Park Public workshop (Sydenham High School) 20 - 22 March Public Schools Fencing Championships 21 March Playstation Cup School Football Heats 24 March Schools Cross Country Terraces & Park 25 March ASA Level 2 Skills - Diving Competition (NSC) 28 March Lambeth Schools Capoeira Festival 31 March Bexley Schools Competition – 1 April Open Meet Swimming (NSC) DESIGN COMPETITION Masterplanners Latz + Partner want to find out what young people think and feel about Crystal Palace Park. They have launched a creative arts competition for under 19s. Entrants are being asked to submit their impression of the best and worst features about the Park. Entries can take any form, from drawings and collages, to pottery, paintings or photographs. There will be four age brackets, with winners in each category receiving a special prize. • 14 - 19 • 9 - 13 • 5 - 8 • under 5s The competition will be open to anyone under 19. Local schools and youth clubs are being asked to encourage young people to enter. All entrants will have their designs displayed at a public exhibition. The deadline for entries is May 1st and they should be sent free of charge to: CPP Consultation Local Dialogue LLP FREEPOST NAT377 London SE1 2BR PRIZE DRAW WINNER Sydenham resident, Marie Godsell, has won an iPod in our prize draw. Her name was pulled out from hundreds of reply slips to our first newsletter. Marie has lived in the Sydenham and Penge area since the age of six. She is married with two children, Erin (3 1/2) and Keelin (18 months). A regular park user, Marie and her children attend the 1 o'Clock club in the Park each week. Her favourite memories of the Park are the pony rides and the small train that used to run. Nowadays she enjoys taking her daughters to see the dinosaurs and going cycling in the park.