Tree management in Beckenham Place Park resulting in the destruction of many mature trees
Beckenham Place Park is Lewisham’s largest park by far. At 95 hectares it is 30% bigger than Greenwich Park. It boasts ancient woodland, meadow, parkland, a river and several historic buildings. In December 2016, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded us £ to redevelop the park. Our vision for the largest park in the borough is to restore its natural heritage features, enhance facilities and activities so that it attracts a wider range of visitors. To achieve this, Mayor and Cabinet made the decision to close the golf course in Beckenham Place Park, which took up a third of the park area. A survey carried out in 2013 to understand how people use Beckenham Place Park concluded that, ‘the park appears to be underused’. The reasons given in the survey for underuse of the park were: lack of attractions and features, presence of unusable and derelict features, a large area is out of bounds, woodlands are difficult to navigate and feel unsafe to some users. However Lewisham Councils Survey only sampled a very small number of people. A separate survey, conducted by regular park users, strongly opposed the planned changes and closure of the Golf course. The Council went with its own small survey and ignored the much larger one. Consequently we now have a plan which many people did and do not want, with mature woodland being destroyed and animal habitats removed.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Beckenham Place Park
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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