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London
SAUL / SAUL Plus in London
London has two SAUL Partners, Groundwork
London (the Lead Partner) and the Greater
London Authority (GLA). Pilot projects during the original SAUL
project were developed by the seven Groundwork Trusts across the
London region, as shown on the map and described below. They took
place within the umbrella concept of the London
Parks and Green Spaces Forum.
Groundwork Trusts across London Region
London Parks and Green Spaces Forum
Earlier work by the SAUL partnership recommended that London needed
a Parks and Green Spaces Forum to join together the many statutory,
NGO and voluntary players concerned with open space issues. This
was incorporated into the London
Plan (the Mayor’s Spatial Development Strategy), which
provided the context for the SAUL projects. The GLA has used this
mechanism and its partnership to develop the Strategic
Parks Project, an initiative to tackle London’s deficiencies
in regional and metropolitan parks for the future. SAUL has facilitated
both the development of the Forum as an inclusive partnership and
the Strategic Parks Project.
Colne Valley Regional Park
The development of the Colne
Valley Park on the western edge of London is impeded by its
position within the Heathrow Corridor, and cutting across three
government regions and ten local authorities. A regional planning
approach is therefore significant. SAUL has enabled the Groundwork
trust that manages the park to set up a virtual reality landscape
design and visioning pilot project. This has contributed to a 3D
visualisation of the whole park to assist in cross-boundary spatial
planning, promotion and community participation.
Wandle Valley Country Park
Groundwork has worked on the development of a new large scale urban
landscape, the Wandle Valley Country Park. Part of this is currently
a waste landfill site, now approaching completion with subsequent
restoration of the land as a public amenity. This 485 hectare area
has the potential to become a significant public and environmental
resource for the whole of the sub-region. But this opportunity has
not so far been well understood by the local communities. SAUL projects
concentrated on raising the parks profile and engaging citizens
in planning and development. One method was to produce an innovative
film showing the past, present and future of the park using animated
characters, aerial photography, and interviews with a wide range
of the local people, including children and young people. The video
also demonstrates the special characteristics of the park through
the eyes of its users. It has been widely distributed to local groups
and organisations and a number of public screenings have taken place.
Work in the Wandle Valley is continuing through the SAUL
2 EXT project.
Burgess Park
Burgess Park, South London is a large inner city space created from post-war clearance, surrounded by high density social housing. It is now being regenerated, with strong involvement from local communities, to create a new metropolitan park that can offer a wider diversity of attractions for many more people. SAUL has enabled the project to develop new sport and recreation facilities with, for example, an energy efficient, ecologically sound building. Local people have been key players in landscape improvements and a model has been prepared for a community trust - a consortium of NGOs and the local Friends of Burgess Park organisation - to take full responsibility for developing and managing the park in the future in partnership with the borough council.
Burgess Park sports facility
Youth Ambassadors
Through SAUL, a joint project was developed with teenagers living around Burgess Park and from Noorderpark, Amsterdam. The project compared how young people are engaged in decision making in relation to their neighbourhoods, estates and open spaces. The young people were at the heart of the project’s design and development, which incorporated video-making and music events in order to attract and maintain commitment to the project.
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway sub region is a high priority area, not just for London and the South East, but also in a national context as the UK Government has now designated it as one of the key areas for new development.
The Inner Thames Marshes is a large area of open space, nestled in the Thames Gateway. It is an ecologically sensitive area rich in natural habitats. It is also under threat from urban pressures, with the Thames Gateway developments likely to absorb much of the predicted growth in housing for South East England. The SAUL project has helped to identify and demonstrate acceptable ways to make the marshes more accessible and better understood by the public, while respecting its important roles in biodiversity. Walking and cycling routes have been developed, habitats restored, and spatial planning improved with costed management plans.
Leamouth and Bow Creek is situated at the confluence of the River
Lea and the Thames, opposite the Millennium Dome and down river
from Canary Wharf. The area suffers one of the highest deprivation
rates in the UK and is part of the massive regeneration programme
planned for the Lower Lea Valley, the main site for the 2012 London
Olympics. Originally formed by the loss of traditional manufacturing
industries, in past decades, it has seen the arrival of new immigrant
communities, now living alongside employees of the new financial
district of Canary Wharf. The SAUL project sought to tackle breakdowns
in social cohesion by involving local people in community building
events, focusing on engaging young people through a schools visiting
programme. A video was also been made by them which has been shown
at public events and a photography competition, wildlife and arts
activities held.
Bow Creek Ecology Park
Urban Forestry
The Urban Forestry project was developed to increase public awareness of forestry issues with a beneficial impact on the local environment and sustainability of local communities. A range of projects were implemented across the London region ranging from, for example, the introduction of coppicing programmes and physical access improvements in the south, through research into using Geographical Information Systems to deliver a community driven urban forestry strategy in the west, to the creation of a landscape trainee position in the north. An ‘urban tree zone’ at London’s Green Fair promoted awareness amongst Londoners and visitors about the importance of trees and woodlands in the Capital.
Further information about the outcomes of the above SAUL projects can be found in the partnerships Final Report.
TEMS (Training, Employment, Maintenance and Sustainability)
This region also participated in the transnational TEMS project.
Current Project - SAUL 2 EXT
As a result of the Strategic Parks Project, a proposal was put
forward for developing a new Regional Park incorporating the area
known as the Wandle Valley Country Park in South West London. Led
by Groundwork
London and the Greater
London Authority, SAUL 2 EXT will facilitate the next stage
of this process, developing a spatial vision and implementation
plan shared by all stakeholders. Consultation and an analysis of
industrial estate partnership models, based on previous SAUL work
in Saarland
and Amsterdam,
will be carried out. Physical projects such as flood control and
river habitat improvements will also be carried out to feed into
an evaluation of the potential impact of the proposed interventions.
This will be key to integrating plans for the new regional park
into wider regeneration objectives for the Valley.
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