Celebrating the improvement works at Beckenham Place Park

This work has been funded by Lewisham Council, the Environment Agency and the Mayor of London’s Green and Resilient Spaces Fund. Improvements to the river channel and support volunteering are being delivered in partnership with environmental charity Thames21.

Brenda Dacres, the Mayor of Lewisham, was joined by local children from Downderry School to celebrate the improvement works at Beckenham Place Park. They were joined by Mete Coban MBE, London’s Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Deputy Mayor Louise Krupski, Janet Daby MP, local councillors and our project partners: the Environment Agency, environmental charity Thames21, contractors T Loughman & Co and BDP Landscape Architects.

Improvements to the River Ravensbourne are a key part of this recent work and the main aims of this are to reduce flood risk, improve water quality and increase biodiversity habitats for wildlife. Thames21 is working to encourage the involvement of local people to learn more and actively enjoy contributing to their park and local river. The children were shown what’s alive in the water by examining trays of riverfly with magnifying glasses. Riverflies are invertebrates that spend most of their life cycle in a river, stream, pond or lake. The presence or absence of invertebrates can be used as an indicator for the water health of the river.

Then the rubber duck races commenced down the river, cheered on by mascot, Daphne Duck, and expertly hosted by Lead Ranger James Allen and Thames21’s Catriona Ross. The celebrations continued to the brand new playground so that the children could properly test out the new range of exciting play equipment.

Works in Beckenham Place Park started in November 2023 and less than 12 months later are now coming to completion. The wider project has included:

• extensive new landscaping, new planting and rewilding of the east side of the park with lowland meadows and wildlife-rich ponds with space to accommodate stormwater to reduce flood risk
• new playground and multi-use game area
• new / improved footpaths and wayfinding improvements to the river corridor and increased community volunteering opportunities

The off-road cycling trail and outdoor gym will be finished soon and there will be an improved welcoming main entrance from Old Bromley Road. The new park café planned will have publicly accessible toilets.

T Loughman & Co Ltd are the main contractors delivering the park works and have a proven track record of successfully delivering park and river regeneration and restoration schemes. Landscape architects from BDP have been involved from the initial conceptual design stage and are taking the project through to completion.

Brenda Dacres, Mayor of Lewisham said:

“It was fantastic to be at Beckenham Place Park with so many of our brilliant volunteers and partners. Thank you for everything that you do to protect and enhance our green spaces and wetlands in the borough. I’m excited to see these improvement works at Beckenham Place Park in person!

“Working in partnership with communities helps to foster the sense of community ownership and stewardship necessary to make these river improvements sustainable longer term and that was firmly in evidence. The transformation of Beckenham Place Park on the east side will help to ensure that all our residents have access to even better green spaces whilst tackling the risks caused by the climate crisis.”

Mete Coban, London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy said:

“This outstanding project showcases how improvements to green space can help Londoners to access and enjoy nature, improve biodiversity and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Sadiq has pledged to turbo-charge restoring nature to London’s rivers and waterways and this transformation of the River Ravensbourne is a great example of what can be achieved. We are proud to support this project through the Mayor’s Green and Resilient Spaces Programme, as we create a greener London for all.”

Cllr Louise Krupski, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action said:

“The climate emergency has increased the frequency and intensity of more extreme weather events and protecting our urban rivers is a key priority for the Council. The flood mitigation project is fantastic, protecting 822 homes from flooding in the immediate vicinity as well as giving significant flood protection to homes and businesses downstream and to the road and rail network. We saw these measure kick into action very successfully during a heavy rainfall event last month, when the park absorbed the excess flood water.

“Thank you to all our excellent partners who have worked so hard with us to turn our plans for the park into reality, providing beautiful and vital green space for our residents.”

Chris Coode, CEO at Thames21, said:

“London rivers are often beautiful spaces for nature, but they face a number of challenges. This can include plastic pollution, run off from road networks and sewage pollution. It’s been excellent to work with dedicated local volunteers, Lewisham Council and our partners to take this opportunity to transform the River Ravensbourne for wildlife and for people.”

Jack Hayes, Area Business Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

‘We are very pleased to be supporting this partnership project which will benefit the local community for recreation while improving flood risk protection. Following recent heavy rainfall, water which would otherwise have passed into residential areas downstream, spilled into the storage area as intended, protecting properties, and demonstrating successful reconnection of the river to its natural floodplain.

“The planned wider planting and river enhancement work will be a great step towards improving the health of the river and habitat and enhancing the local environment.”