CONSULTATION STARTS HERE - THE REPORT, THE RESULTS



CHAPTER 6 - THE TOP SITE

6.1

The most popular response for the Top Site was for ecology uses, followed by managed parkland (see Table 3), which received 70% and 65% of the votes respectively; see Figure 9.

Figure 9 : Top site, all respondents

6.2

We have further analysed these responses. Of the 1,565 people who responded YES for ecology on the Top Site, 1,113 also responded YES for managed parkland there (see Table 5). Conversely, of the 1,457 responding YES for managed parkland, 1,113 responded YES for ecology (see Table 6). Further, a total of 1,909 responded YES for one or other of those options (see Table 7), which might broadly be termed "landscaped" options. This represents 83% of the total number of respondents. Therefore, only 17% of all respondents voted for neither landscaped option.

6.3

The 1,909 respondents who voted for at least one of the landscaped options also showed themselves to be strong supporters of other compatible uses. In all, 68% of them also supported park history, and 61% also supported outdoor arts.

6.4

After the landscaped options, the next most popular answer was park history which received the YES mark of 64% of all respondents. Since that option does not preclude any other use, we analysed what else those respondents voted for. Of the 1,446 respondents voting for park history, 75% voted for ecology, 72% for managed parkland and 68% for outdoor arts (see Table 8).

6.5

The fourth most popular option was outdoor arts, which received the vote of 57% of all respondents. Again, since that does not preclude another use, we analysed those votes, and found that 77% of the outdoor arts proponents also voted for park history, 76% voted for ecology and 73% for managed parkland (see Table 9).

6.6

The fifth most popular option was events, which polled 46% of the overall vote. Of those voting for events (see Table 10), the most popular compatible use was park history, with 74%, closely followed by ecology and managed parkland, with 72% each, and outdoor arts, with 71%.

6.7

In sixth and seventh place were votes for community buildings and arts and cultural buildings (see Table 11), which received the votes of 37% and 41% respectively. 1,194 people, or 52% of all respondents, voted for one or the other of these options.

6.8

It would be possible to amalgamate a community building and a landscaped option on the Top Site. Of those who voted for a community building (see Table 12), 73% also voted for managed parkland and 68% for ecology. The most popular option amongst the supporters of community building was park history, which attracted 74% support.

6.9

The least popular option was commercial/leisure centre. This received 16% of the vote. It also received by far the highest numerical rejection of any choice set out in the questionnaire, with 1,551 people, or 69% of all respondents, voting against it.

6.10

Interestingly, of the 358 people who voted for a commercial leisure centre on the Top Site, 69 also voted against any type of building on the Top Site. This strongly suggests that over 19% of the people voting for a commercial leisure centre on the Top Site may have misunderstood the question.

Satisfaction ratings

6.11

It is instructive to compare the difference between YES and NO votes so as to obtain a "satisfaction rating" for different options; see Figure 10 below.

Question

YES(%)
NO(%)
Satisfaction rating
(YES minus NO) (%)

Ecology

69.6

11.8

+57.8

Managed parkland

64.8

15.7

+49.1

Community buildings

36.7

39.6

-2.9

Arts/cultural buildings

41.3

34.7

+6.6

Park history

64.3

15.4

+48.9

Outdoor arts

57.1

20.1

+37.0

Sports & recreation

17.9

55.2

-37.3

Events

46.4

29.0

+17.4

Commercial/leisure centre

15.9

69.0

-53.1


Figure 10 : Top Site, satisfaction Rating

6.12

As may be seen, the highest positive satisfaction rating was for the ecology option, with a positive value of 58%. This may be contrasted with the commercial/leisure centre, which obtained by far the highest negative value of 53%. This is in fact the highest negative value of any answer in the questionnaire.

Any Building

6.13

Respondents were invited to state whether they did or did not want a building on the Top Site. 42% of all respondents said YES to a building and 45% said NO. In other words, of those answering, there was a small balance in favour of no building on the Top Site. This may be compared with the numbers who said YES to one of the built options in the questionnaire viz. community buildings, arts/cultural buildings and commercial/leisure centre. 57% of all respondents said YES to one of those options (see Table 17). This tends to suggest that a majority of respondents are not averse to some building, provided the type of building is specified. That is, when asked to consider particular types of building, they are more amenable than when asked to consider buildings in general.

6.14

It is possible to subject the answers of those who said YES to a building on the Top Site to some further analysis (see Table 14). The great majority of those who supported some building were averse to a commercial leisure centre option. In fact, only 25% supported such an option, whereas 59% opposed it. The ecology and managed parkland options were supported by 60% and 62% respectively. Community buildings and arts/cultural buildings received votes from 56% and 63% of the sample. Outdoor arts received a 63% endorsement. The most popular option was park history, whichwas supported by 67%.

6.15

These figures suggest that most of those who support a building on the Top Site have in mind a homage to the Crystal Palace and/or a cultural venue. Interestingly, even the proponents of a building on the Top Site seem to want this to stand in a parkland setting. These conclusions are supported by the qualitative comments.

Qualitative Comments

6.16

Overall, 1,280 comments were received, which represented 55% of all responses. A much higher percentage of those voting YES to a building added comments. Of the 944 people who voted YES to a building on the Top Site, 877, or 93%, added remarks. Figure 11 shows some of the more popular answers (see Table 4).

Figure 11 : Qualitative Comments - category counts

6.17

Further analysis shows that the total number of people suggesting a replica or a smaller version of the original Crystal Palace was a modest 144, while 152 stipulated that any building should reflect the original, for example by being made of glass or a landmark building.

6.18

The most frequent comment, made by 201 respondents, was that there should be a restaurant or café. The type of use, which received the greatest support in the comments section, was cultural, although there was no strong preponderance in favour of any particular cultural use within that category. The support appears to be for general cultural uses rather than particular types of use.

6.19

It is noteworthy that of the 944 people who responded YES to a building, 277 (29%) made comments supporting a replica, a smaller version or a reflection of the Crystal Palace (see Table 14, items A1+A2+A3+A6). 291 (or 31%) referred to indoor community uses (see Table 14, items C1+C2+C3+C4+C5) and 379 (or 40%) referred to cultural uses (see Table 14, items D1+D2+D3+D4+D5+D7+D8). These answers support the suggestion that those who want a building have in mind reflections of the Crystal Palace and/or community and/or cultural uses.

Regional Variations

6.20

We have attempted to compare the views of those respondents from the inner and outer zones with each other, and also against the views of all respondents, to see whether there are any discernible regional variations (see Table 3, Table 15, Table 16). This may be seen in Figure 12.

Figure 12 : Top Site, comparison of inner zone, outer zone and all responses

6.21

The results clearly show that, in relation to the Top Site, there are no strong regional variations. In fact, the views of those in the inner zone correlate closely with the views of those in the outer zone, and therefore with the views of the respondents taken as a whole.



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Crystal Palace Campaign March 2002 - Consultation Starts Here
Copyright: Day, Kolvin, Sacks 2002
Last updated: 26 March 2002