CONSULTATION STARTS HERE - THE REPORT, THE RESULTS
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 |
Crystal Palace Park is
most famous for having been the site of the Crystal Palace,
Sir Joseph Paxton's seminal masterpiece in glass and iron.
The Palace stood at the head of the Park, known as the Top
Site, from 1854 until it burned down in 1936. The continued
neglect of the Top Site is the most obvious manifestation of
the neglect and decline of the Park, which has continued
over most of the last century. |
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1.2 |
Much of the historic
fabric of the Park, however, remains. The listed terracing
spans the Park, and accentuates the stepped conception of
Paxton's landscaping. The terracing is still the home of the
sphinxes, one of the most famous symbols of the Park's
former glories. The dinosaurs have recently been restored,
together with the geological time trail which was their
original setting. There is a vaulted subway, which connected
the Palace to the upper level railway station (demolished to
make way for a housing estate). The base of one of Brunel's
water towers remains, alongside the former School of
Engineering (the only original building left in the Park)
which is now a small museum of the history of the Crystal
Palace. |
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1.3 |
The open, historic
character of the Park is reflected in its three-fold
designations. It is one of only 19 local-authority owned
Grade II* listed historic parks in the country. It is also
Metropolitan Open Land. Finally, most of the Park lies
within a Conservation Area. |
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1.4 |
Some parts of the Park
have been lost to other uses. A portion of the northern
perimeter was used for housing. A TV transmitter, a caravan
park, a covered reservoir and a bus terminus have taken up
much of the western side. |
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1.5 |
A number of modern
features jar with the Victorian landscaping of the Park. A
recently constructed concert platform built deliberately in
rusting metal has received a national design award but has
proved unpopular with the public. New farm buildings, partly
constructed of gabion (boulders in wire mesh), strike a
somewhat dissonant note, while the animals previously housed
in the farm have gone, with no apparent prospect of
returning. In 1964, the then owners of the Park, the London
County Council, built the National Sports Centre in the
heart of the Park across Paxton's central axis. The Sports
Centre provides a much-needed facility, but its utilitarian
1960's architecture together with unattractive ancillary
buildings, parking areas, wire fencing and hardstand areas,
are discordant features in the Park. The fabric of the
Sports Centre, like much of what surrounds it, has fallen
into serious decline. |
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1.6 |
The London Borough of
Bromley inherited the Park from the Greater London Council
in 1986. Bromley proposed successive hotel and commercial
leisure schemes for the Top Site. Both collapsed for
economic reasons. |
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1.7 |
In 1996, Bromley published
new proposals for the Top Site, including a 20 screen
multiplex cinema, with a substantial rooftop car park, and a
series of restaurants, bars and "leisure boxes". This was to
anchor a composite bid for the restoration of the National
Sports Centre and the modernisation of the Park. In the
event, the National Sports Centre bid was rejected by the
Sports Lottery Fund and the Park bid was rejected by the
Heritage Lottery Fund, save for the restoration of the
dinosaurs and certain other Victorian features. |
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1.8 |
In the meantime, the
multiplex cinema scheme was widely opposed, and the Crystal
Palace Campaign was formed. The Campaign conducted a
vigorous attack on the scheme, through lawful protest,
litigation, widely distributed newsletters, public meetings,
and political lobbying. This is not the place for a full
description of the activities of the Campaign, which can be
found on its website, www.crystal.dircon.co.uk. Suffice to
say that over 40,000 people signed its petition opposing the
scheme. |
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1.9 |
At an early stage, it
became apparent that while there was broad opposition to the
multiplex scheme, there were disparate aspirations for the
Top Site. For example, some believed passionately that the
ecological value of the Top Site, its open character and its
green aspect on the London skyline, were such that it should
never be developed. Others believed that the history of the
site demanded a homage to, or even replica of, the Crystal
Palace, and that not to build in that way was to leave the
Park incomplete. |
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1.10 |
The Campaign thought it
important to unite, rather than fracture, opposition to the
scheme. Therefore, it never campaigned for a particular form
of development of the Top Site. Instead, it argued that
there should be a democratic process of consultation of
stakeholders leading to agreement in the community about the
future of the Top Site and the rest of the Park. It also
argued that no scheme should be approved until its
environmental effects were fully understood. |
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1.11 |
These considerations led the Campaign to adopt the following Core Principles: |
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Figure 1 : Crystal Palace Campaign - Core Principles |
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1.12 |
The Core Principles were
sufficiently robust to enable individuals to decide whether
or not they wished to subscribe to the Campaign's aims and
ethos. The Principles also acknowledged the various
sensitivities of the site, namely, its historic and
ecological value, together with its residential environs.
However, the Principles could act as no more than a broad
starting position if there was ever a debate as to how the
Top Site should be used in the future. Clearly, an infinite
number of schemes could satisfy the Core Principles. Until
the multiplex was defeated, there was no point in taking the
debate any further. |
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1.13 |
In May 2001, the London
Borough of Bromley announced that the developer, London
& Regional Properties Limited, had reneged on its
obligations, and that the Council had terminated its
agreement with the company. At that time, it was apparent,
and the London Borough of Bromley have since stated, that no
commercial developer would be interested in reviving the
multiplex proposal. The time had come to move the debate
on. |
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1.14 |
Consistent with its
previous stance, the steering group of the Campaign did not
believe that it had the right or the authority of its
supporters to campaign for a particular scheme on the site.
Rather, its role is to try, so far as possible, to
facilitate a genuine consultation with the public,
stimulating debate and, ideally, bringing the community to
consensus. For that reason, the Campaign has deliberately
avoided proposing specific schemes and has not responded to
specific schemes proposed by others. Thus, in this
consultation exercise, we have set out a broad spectrum of
uses for each area within the Park, asking respondents to
indicate their preference. |
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1.15 |
We regard this as a broad,
initial survey of opinion. Future consultation should build
on the responses to this consultation, by asking more
specific questions, so as to bring the community's view into
sharper focus. Ultimately, it will be necessary to move
towards a series of outline proposals upon which the
community may express views, so that a consensus, or at
least a majority, view emerges. |
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1.16 |
The Campaign has offered
to help build, in partnership with the London Borough of
Bromley, a collaborative body consisting of Bromley itself,
members of the community and other interested public sector
organisations, in order to bring the community's aspirations
for this Park to fruition. Should Bromley agree, then the
collaborative body would be responsible for future
consultation. |
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1.17 |
We do not believe that the road ahead will be short, or free of potholes. But we do believe that it is only through a patient process of dialogue, both within the community itself, and between the community and its political representatives, that Crystal Palace Park will be sensitively regenerated for those who follow us. For 150 years, local people have not been asked their views as to the future of the Park. Consultation starts here. |