Exciting improvement works have started at Beckenham Place Park East Side

After extensive consultation with the community, Lewisham Council is committed to improving the quality of play, recreation, health and wellbeing opportunities for residents, particularly those living near this part of the park in Downham and Bellingham. The improvement works will increase biodiversity and rewilding whilst bringing significant flood and climate resilience benefits to the area. There will be increased community volunteering opportunities for local people with the improvements to the river corridor.

The new works to the park will include:

• 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
• an improved welcoming main entrance from Old Bromley Road
• improvements to the river corridor and increased community volunteering opportunities
• new / improved footpaths and wayfinding
• activity trail and off-road cycling trail and outdoor gym to support health and fitness
• new park café opportunity with publicly accessible toilets

The full programme of work will last for around one year, with regular updates published on the Beckenham Place Park web page www.beckenhamplacepark.com

Occasional pathway suspensions and diversions will be required during the works and the playground in this part of the park will be closed for a period of time whilst the new play facilities are being built.

Environmental charity Thames21 is working as part of the project to encourage the involvement of local people to learn more and actively enjoy contributing to their park and local river – the River Ravensbourne. This river is a tributary of the River Thames and runs through part of the park. Although it is a place of beauty, it can suffer from many challenges, including road and plastic pollution.

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.

Beckenham Place Park is the largest green space in the borough, covering 98 hectares. It contains large areas of ancient woodland and is a beautiful and peaceful location providing vital green space and activities for residents, improving both physical and mental health.

Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham said:

“I'm delighted that the work to improve the Bellingham and Downham side of Beckenham Place Park has begun. This is the final part of what's been South London's biggest new park project and it's been an incredible success. Since improvements to the park were made on the west side, we have seen numbers increase from 200,000 to around 1.2 million visitors every year! I look forward to seeing the changes.”

Shirley Rodrigues, London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy said:

“The climate crisis is one of the biggest global threats we face today. In London, the heatwaves, wildfires and flash flooding we’ve experienced in recent years have highlighted the capital’s vulnerability to climate change.

“Through the Mayor’s Green and Resilient Spaces Fund, we’re supporting brilliant projects across London, including the transformation of Beckenham Place Park, which will help ensure all Londoners have access to great green spaces close to where they live.

“Improving green spaces and rivers will strengthen London's climate resilience, increase biodiversity, boost Londoners’ well-being and help build a better, greener London for everyone.”

Cllr Louise Krupski, Lewisham Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate said:

“This is a fantastic project, not only bringing increased facilities for residents to the park but also protecting nearly 200 homes from flooding in the immediate vicinity. The works at Beckenham Place Park will also give significant flooding protection to the areas downstream along the river including homes and businesses in Catford.”

Cllr James-J Walsh, Lewisham Cabinet Member for Communications, Culture and Leisure said:

“We are proud of our fantastic and award-winning parks in the borough and Beckenham Place Park is a special jewel in Lewisham’s crown. Access to beautiful green spaces can significantly improve both physical and mental health for our residents, engender pride in our neighbourhoods and help elevate Lewisham's profile as the best place in London to live, work and learn. It’s exciting to see these works start with the many benefits they will bring local people. Thank you to everybody who took part in the consultation and to our partners for working successfully with us to make these improvements happen.”

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. It will be a great step towards improving the health of the river and habitat and enhancing the local environment.”

Chris Coode, CEO at Thames21, said:

“We are excited to be working in partnership with Lewisham Council to deliver a community engagement volunteer programme of river and wetland activities in the park. We’re keen to enable and empower local people, helping to increase their knowledge about the river and wetlands whilst having fun working together as a community. There are currently two community river events a month and activities will increase and grow in frequency over the months ahead. Our rivers will need to be more resilient to tackle the impacts of climate emergency-related events such as flooding. So, holding these events not only allows the community to appreciate their local river, but to tackle the climate emergency on the ground.”

Mounia Chaoul, Landscape Architect Associate at BDP, said:

“Beckenham Place Park is regarded as one of the finest wildlife sites in Lewisham borough and in an era where biodiversity loss is at an all-time high, its significance to London’s flora and fauna cannot be understated. This project proposes flood alleviation measures and enhances biodiversity by introducing additional species and providing areas and spaces for them to thrive."