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Have you seen the campaign to turn an abandoned plot of land in Hackney into a brand new park? East London Waterworks Park (ELWP) is charity that has been working to buy and transform the former Thames Water depot on Lea Bridge Road (in between Hackney Marshes and Walthamstow Marshes) since 2019.
Right now the 14-acre site is pretty much just one big slab of concrete. ELWP’s vision is for it to become a thriving community-owned biodiverse park complete with wild swimming ponds. And after four years of back and forth with the local community, the charity has revealed its latest ‘inclusive design proposal’.
To ensure that designs would be as inclusive as possible, ELWP carried out a ‘Listening Project’ in which it spoke to locals from historically underrepresented backgrounds, including young offenders, homeless people and women and girls from the orthodox Jewish community.
From that research, the charity identified three main priorities for the park: feeling safe, wellbeing and belonging. Those priorities informed suggested design features like sensitive lighting, infrastructure to promote exercise, park wardens, activities to help people feel a part of nature and planting to make both people and wildlife feel welcome.
Abigail Woodman, chair of ELWP, said: ‘We believe the insights contained within this proposal hold resonance beyond our specific project, offering valuable takeaways for developers, politicians and policymakers at all levels of government.
‘We extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers, community groups and, most importantly, the participants whose voices are captured in the Listening Project report and challenged us to act.’
ELWP managed to crowdfund half a million pounds to purchase the empty site in 2023 but it doesn’t own it yet, and it may never get to. A consortium of London councils decided in January 2024 that the land should be used for a children’s home instead, though a planning application is yet to be submitted.
Nathan Miller, co-chair of ELWP, told Time Out: ‘The site is Metropolitan Open Land and, as such, its only credible future is one involving minimal development and open public access for all, reconnecting the marshes and nature reserves of the Lower Lea Valley. We oppose the planning application for the secure facility for children, but we are unlikely to receive a definitive decision one way or another for some time.
‘We think the only and best use for the site is East London Waterworks Park, a biodiverse park for everyone, which will significantly strengthen the green corridor in the Lea Valley. The land is Metropolitan Open Land, after all, which means it should be protected from all kinds of development, including a secure facility for children. We’ll continue to work on our fight for our dream.’
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