Consultation on the future of Wanstead Park

Since 2005 the Wanstead Parklands Community Project (WPCP) has been working to raise awareness of the history of Wanstead Park and to campaign for its preservation and improvement.The Project includes people with an interest and knowledge of the history, archaeology, ecological and social aspects of the Park.

As a result of a long campaign by the Project, in 2009 Wanstead Park was included by English Heritage on its register listing those parks and gardens "At Risk" from neglect, decay or pressure from development. (see here)

On 6th February 2010 - perhaps due to the pressure now being exerted - the City of London Corporation held a public meeting at the Club House of Wanstead Golf Club. It was perhaps a surprise to everybody that 180 people attended the meeting! A fuller report is available here.

Recently, the City of London Corporation has hired planning consultants Chris Blandford Associates to help develop plans for the future of the Park, and a public consultation will take place between February 14th and 28th. An article was published in the December 23rd issue of the Wanstead & Woodford Guardian - a copy of which may be viewed as a PDF file here.

The two week period for official consultation in February is a very tight window, so on Thursday 13th January - at the Churchill Room in Wanstead Library from 7.30pm - the Wanstead Parklands Community Project hosted a meeting to discuss these issues.

The guest speaker was Peter Wilkinson, the consultant appointed by City of London Corporation to work towards a "Conservation Statement" for the Park. The idea of the meeting on 13th January was to set the ball rolling as soon as possible, to allow maximum time for ideas and suggestions to crystalize before the official period of consultation in February. With luck, ideas put forward may find their way into the official consultation in February. The meeting was, therefore, much of a "working" session, to allow as many people as possible to "get in" as early as possible. Ultimately the Conservation Statement will lead to a major grant application later in 2011.

More details may be obtained from the Friends of Wanstead Park.