OT: Petition to save Beckenham Place Park public golf course

[alywin]

I realise this isn't exactly *in* Sydenham, but I guess it's the nearest public golf facility, so this might interest some people. Lewisham are trying to close the course down, apparently:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/70912

(Apologies, Mods, if this is in the wrong place: I wasn't sure where best to put it)

[stone-penge]

you make it sound like a bad thing

[Tim Lund]

There's a lot of history to the Beckenham Place Park public golf course, and I think it was once the best used such resource. But this has to be a case where we should plan for the future. The park and its surrounding areas, especially the various light industrial, which should be transformed by the Bakerloo line extension, could be the stuff of whole area planning and architectural competitions which will help the boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley work together to bring in investment, and find a use for this open space which as many people as possible can enjoy.

It really is not likely that golf will a major part of such visions.

[stone-penge]

I think it was in the1920s when it was best used, now it is heavily subsidised by Lewisham council.
I'd love to know from which borough most of its users come from.

[Tim Lund]

I don't mind that much which borough users come from; I'd prefer to see all London boroughs and their citizens, including those of Lewisham and Bromley, acting together in London wide municipal solidarity.

[stone-penge]

The reason the park was established was for the use of the residents of the cottage estates in Bellingham and Downham.I doubt that now very many of those residents use the park south of the railway line that disects it. Indeed for years my perception of the park was always that it was a private facility and I suspect that perception is predominant for very many of the Lewisham tax payers who's hard earned money is used to subsidise the golf faclities. The closure of the Golf is being proposed in conjunction with a multi million pound funding award to make the park more accessible and relevant to the wider community.

[Tim Lund]

The reason the park was established was for the use of the residents of the cottage estates in Bellingham and Downham.I doubt that now very many of those residents use the park south of the railway line that disects it. Indeed for years my perception of the park was always that it was a private facility and I suspect that perception is predominant for very many of the Lewisham tax payers who's hard earned money is used to subsidise the golf faclities. The closure of the Golf is being proposed in conjunction with a multi million pound funding award to make the park more accessible and relevant to the wider community.

Excellent!

[stone-penge]

http://www.landuse.co.uk/news/2014-07-1 ... NdC8fmsW5I

Beckenham Place Park – Round One Pass: £4.9 million grant
Beckenham Place Park is an 18th century designed landscape, forming the setting for the grade II* listed Beckenham Place. Key aspects of the scheme are restoration of the grade II listed Homesteads and enhancement of the setting to the mansion, conservation and enhancement of habitats, plus options including removal of the golf course to restore parkland and reinstate the lake.