Next March the London Development Agency takes over the lease of the National Sports Centre. By 2009 the LDA will take a 125 year lease on Crystal Palace Park - an English Heritage Grade ll* - only 28 such graded parks in the country.
Over the past few years the park has suffered from a shortage of funding and poor management by Bromley Council. There was also a long and successful campaign to stop a Multiplex cinema being built on the "top site".
The London Development Agency, as part of a wide consultation with the communities in the five boroughs which surround the park, is inviting local residents interested in the future of this historic park to meetings to tell them what they want to see in this park.
Tonight, Monday 18 July, there is a meeting at the Grove Centre, Jews Walk from 6.45 - 9pm open to all residents of Sydenham - our opportunity to have our say. See you there!
Crystal Palace Park and NSC
LDA are sensitive to the furore over the multiplex and appear desperate to not go there again. They are obviously looking for something that is, at least, revenue neutral. They clearly hope something in the public sector (museums & galleries were mentioned) could step in here and supporting commercial activity would be one way of achieving it.Weeble wrote:The write-up of this meeting is very interesting, but I'm surprised there is no mention of any commercial development in the park - is this what is meant by a 'good big idea' for the top site?
I guess whatever they do will have detractors. Because there is not an obvious project and the rest of the Park needs sorting I have the feeling the LDA want to earn their spurs with a successful NSC redevelopment which may create trust, time and make the top site more attractive. The big commercial problem with the big idea is that if it generates a lot more traffic it will get canned.
But there are people much closer to the LDA who may be able to comment more authoritively....