Love Parks

News from Wandsworth Council’s website. Published: Monday 16th July 2018

The awards are a chance to celebrate the innovative work of green space managers, their teams and the stakeholders, in bringing to life a variety of projects.

The Promontory

The Promontory, Battersea Park was shortlisted for the Best Parks Restoration/ Development Project award. The refurbished Promontory was opened to the public in February in a hitherto overlooked and unused area of the park.

Using a generous donation of £30,000 from The Friends of Battersea Park, combined with £70,000 from Wandsworth Council, this formerly closed off area some 50 metres east of Albert Bridge has been transformed into an attractive landscaped garden, brought to life by renowned designer and landscape architect David Keary of Keary Design Associates in partnership with Enable Parks team, part of Enable Leisure and Culture.

The Promontory is a piece of embankment that juts out 12 metres into the Thames. Historical records suggest it has always been fenced off from the main part of the park since its construction in the mid -1850s and closed to the public for many decades.

As well as spectacular views of the Thames, and especially Albert Bridge, David Keary’s design incorporates sculpted mounds, a meandering path around large trees with shade tolerant plants, as well as a colourful array of shrubs, ferns and herbaceous perennials, along with a cluster of Japanese maples occupying the garden’s centrepiece.

Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust CEO Sue Morgan with Kelvin Shewry and Sarah Perry from the Living Wandle Landscape Partnership

The Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust was the winner of the Best Parks Partnership – Third Sector. This is awarded to the project that best demonstrates a successful partnership between multiple public or third sector organisations which aims to champion access to green space services.

The Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust was originally set up as a limited company in 2012 and was granted charitable status the following year. The Wandle Valley Regional Park consists of over 40 green spaces which extend across the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, Sutton, Merton and Croydon.

Achievements include 32 green space projects, six river restorations which have improved habitat for wildlife, more than 60 tonnes of rubbish gathered during 20 clean ups, 1,192 events involving over 39,000 participants, securing agreements with significant landowners for a coordinated approach to dealing with invasive non-native plant species, and the River Wandle being the first London river to be granted Good Ecological Potential status.

The Trust has also received a grant from the HLF Resilient Heritage program and the GLA to assist with developing management structures and financial sustainability to help ensure the continuation of this inspiring work across the Wandle Valley for many years to come.

Wandsworth Council’s cabinet member for community services and open spaces, Steffi Sutters, said: “Congratulations to the many people and organisations that have worked so hard on both these projects.

“We have invested £840,000 in Battersea Park and the Promontory is the latest scheme to have benefited. Battersea Park is very special, and it’s wonderful that people can enjoy this part of it again.

“It’s also fantastic news that the Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust are getting the recognition they deserve. They have worked with multiple boroughs and many other partners to create a new regional park that hundreds of thousands of people can enjoy. It has put the Wandle once again back in the heart of the communities through which it flows.”