Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
ParkDevelopmentFrameworkVision, Aims and Principles
July 2010
Contents
Vision, Aims and Principles
01 Foreword
02 The Park
03 The Park Authority
04 The Park Development Framework
06 Our Vision for the future
08 Aim 1.0 – Visitors
09 Aim 2.0 – Sport and Recreation
10 Aim 3.0 – Biodiversity
11 Aim 4.0 – Community
12 Aim 5.0 – Landscape and heritage
13 Aim 6.0 – Environment
15 Guiding Principles
15 Delivering the Park through partnership
15 Regional Value
17 Multi function
17 Flexibility
19 Environmental Sustainability
19 Engagement
20 Further Information
20 Acknowledgements
1www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Foreword
Lee Valley Regional Park is known and recognised as one
of the nation’s great parks; a place that offers a unique
combination of activities, sights and experiences.
For over 40 years the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
has been working alongside many partner organisations to
transform the post-industrial land along the River Lee into a
place for leisure, recreation, sport and nature.
The Park is now a mosaic of award-winning open spaces,
heritage sites, country parks, farms, golf courses, lakes and
riverside trails, campsites, marinas, angling and boating
locations. All of these attract more than 4 million visitors a year.
In addition, the Park will include a number of new facilities
delivered as part of the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games. These facilities include the Lee Valley
White Water Centre near Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, the
Lee Valley Velodrome and VeloPark, and the Lee Valley Hockey
and Tennis Centres, all within the Olympic Park at Stratford.
Our Park Development Framework is a suite of documents
that will collectively provide the blueprint for our future efforts:
setting out what we want to achieve, how we plan to balance
competing demands, and how we intend to make best use of
the limited resources available.
We hope it will provide inspiration and focus for the future
collective efforts of landowners within the Park, our partners,
stakeholders and everyone with an interest in the Lee Valley
and Lee Valley Regional Park.
ParkDevelopmentFramework
Derrick Ashley Chairman Shaun Dawson Chief Executive
2 www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
The Park
The Lee Valley Regional Park was created on the 1st January
1967, through an Act of Parliament: the Lee Valley Regional
Park Act 1966.
The creators of the Regional Park wanted to provide a
destination for the growing populations of London, Essex
and Hertfordshire to enjoy recreation and leisure activities
unavailable elsewhere. The corridor alongside the River Lee
was at that time a mix of derelict and operational industrial
land, undeveloped marshlands, water supply reservoirs,
farmland, glasshouses and municipal parks. The new
Regional Park was to transform these areas to create
a continuous corridor of open space and built leisure and
sports facilities that would provide a wide range of recreation
and leisure opportunities.
The purpose of the Park is clearly defi ned in the Park Act, as:
“… a place for the occupation of leisure, recreation, sport,
games or amusements or any similar activity, for the provision
of nature reserves and for the provision and enjoyment of
entertainments of any kind.” Section 12(1) Lee Valley Regional
Park Act 1966
Much has been achieved since the Park was created. The
Park now includes 10,000 acres (over 4,000ha) and winds its
way 26 miles: along the banks of the River Lee from Ware in
Hertfordshire, down through Essex, North London, and past
Olympic Park to East India Dock Basin on the River Thames.
The Park is a fantastic mix of sport and leisure venues,
heritage sites, gardens, nature reserves and riverside trails;
offering an endless range of things to do. It is easy to reach
by bike, car, train, or on foot, and visitors can spend anything
from a few hours to a few days enjoying and exploring.
The Park is also one of the homes of the most exciting events
in the world – the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games. The Games will not only provide a great sporting
spectacle, but will deliver a lasting benefi t for the Park; four
world-class sports venues are to be located within the Park
boundary, with the remaining Olympic venues and parklands
situated alongside.
Repro
duced f
rom
the O
rdnance S
urv
ey m
appin
g w
ith the p
erm
issio
n o
f th
e c
ontr
olle
r of H
er
Maje
sty
s S
tationery
Offi c
e. U
nauth
ori
sed r
epro
duction infr
inges C
row
n
Copyri
ght and m
ay lead to p
rosecution o
r civ
il pro
ceedin
gs. ©
Cro
wn C
opyri
ght R
eserv
ed L
icence N
um
ber:
LA
08911L
Hertford
Ware
Hoddesdon
Nazeing
Roydon
WalthamAbbey
Cheshunt
Enfield
Broxbourne
Chingford
Walthamstow
Hackney
Stratford
Edmonton
Poplar
CanningTown
3www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
The Park Authority
The Park Act, which established the Lee Valley Regional Park
Authority, placed a duty on the Authority to develop, improve,
preserve and manage the Park, either directly or through others.
We work towards delivering this duty in three key ways:
As owner and manager of land and facilities within the ParkWe own and manage approximately 3,800 acres (1,500ha) of
the total Park area. It is our duty to use our available resources
to develop and manage that estate. We know we will need
to work closely with a range of partners, and seek additional
resources and expertise in order to deliver the features,
facilities and activities that contribute to our vision and aims
for the Park.
As a champion, leader, facilitator and coordinator of other landowners within the ParkThe remaining 6,200 acres (2,500ha) of the Park is owned
and managed by others. The success of our Park vision is
hugely dependant on other landowners and managers
working together towards a shared aspiration.
A vital part of our future work is working
alongside the land owners to achieve our
vision for the Park; to work collectively
towards Park-wide coordinated and
complementary facilities, attractions and activities, and to
assist each other where appropriate with shared resources,
advice and expertise.
As a statutory planning consulteeThe Act confers on the Authority the role of a statutory
planning consultee. This means that we must be consulted on
any planning applications within, or which impact on, the
Park. We will use this role to continue to champion the Park
and to do everything we can to ensure that local planning
authorities give appropriate regard to our aims and purposes.
We will:
• Oppose in principle any planning applications relating to
land within the Park that include land uses which are not
compliant with the purpose of the Park (as set out in Section
12 of the Park Act).
• Seek to ensure that all planning approvals relating to land
within the Park will lead to a positive contribution to our
vision, aims and objectives.
• Seek to ensure that all planning approvals relating
to land outside the Park boundaries will have
no negative impact on the Park, and where
possible lead to a positive contribution to
our vision, aims and objectives.
I went on a
guided walk and really enjoyed it.
Very informative and interesting.
It was my fi rst guided walk in the
Lee Valley Regional Park and I
can’t wait to go on my next one.”
Bow Creek Ecology Park
4 www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
The Park Development Framework
The Park Development Framework sets out the
Park Authority’s aspirations for future development
and management of the Park.
There are a number of core documents that make up the
Park Development Framework:
• Vision, Aims and Principles - this document
• Objectives and proposals, which will be produced in two
complementary documents. These focus on:
- Thematic proposals, setting out our proposals
throughout the Park for each of our six aims - Visitors,
Sport and Recreation, Biodiversity, Community,
Landscape and Heritage, Environment.
- Area specifi c plans, setting out our proposals for the
Park on a more detailed location basis.
There is also a range of other documents that provide
additional information to support the core documents
identifi ed above. For more information please refer
to the Park Development Scheme
www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
The Park Development Framework refl ects our aspirations
for the whole Park and includes large areas of land over
which we have no direct control. The framework documents
therefore provide two functions: the strategic framework for
our ongoing activities and guidance for others involved in
the development and management of land within the Park.
The Authority is not a planning authority but it has a range
of powers and duties in relation to the statutory planning
process. Section 14(1) of the Park Act requires the Authority
to prepare a plan setting out proposals for the future
management and development of the Regional Park.
Riparian planning authorities are under a mandatory
obligation to include those parts of the plan affecting their
areas within their own relevant planning strategies and
policies. The completed Park Development Framework will
meet the requirements of Section 14 of the Park Act.
We warmly
welcome the way in which
the vision for the Park has
developed during its consultation
with stakeholders over the
last three years.”
PDF Consultation
5www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Policy and Strategy
Documents
Policy ContextThe range of information that informed the content of the Park Development Framework
Park Development FrameworkA suite of documents that collectively describe the Park Authority’s aspirations
for the future development and management of the Park
European and national law
and regulation
National policy and guidance
Lee Valley Regional Park
Act 1966
Regional policy and guidance
Local planning policy
The Policy Context, the Park Authority’s and our stakeholders’ ideas inform the content of the Park Development Framework
The Park Development Framework guides the activities of the Park Authority and other stakeholders
Park Development
Scheme
Baseline Report
Statement of CommunityInvolvement
Sustainability Appraisal
Habitats Regulations Screening
The Park Development Framework will be reviewed regularly, informed by the achievements of the Park Authority and other stakeholders
Business Strategy
Facility Business
Plan
Annual Service
Plan
Site Management
Plans
Business Plan
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
activitiesSetting out how we will work towards delivering
the Park Development Framework
Activities of othersHow the Park Development Framework will
influence the activities of others around the Park
Local Authority Planning Policy
Other owners development & management
Partnership Projects
ParkDevelopmentFramework
Documents formally adopted by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Vision, Aims and Principles
Objectives and Proposals
Thematic Proposals
AreaProposals
Core documents Supporting documents
We thoroughly enjoy
visiting the Park. There is so much
to see and appreciate and we
wanted to say thank you for looking
after it so well and for providing so
much enjoyment.”
River Lee Country Park
Our vision for the future:
Lee Valley Regional Park – A world class leisure destinationThe purpose of the Park as a place for leisure, recreation,
sport and nature remains fi rmly at the heart of our future
aspirations. However, our ambition has grown; we want
the Park to become a truly world-class destination and an
exemplar of the many benefi ts that large-scale parklands
can deliver.
We are already committed to developing and operating
world-class sports facilities as a legacy of the London 2012
Olympic and Paralympic Games. This will see the Park
develop further as a centre of sporting excellence. We
recognise the importance of developing the visitor facilities
within the Park and of balancing the Park’s biodiversity
offer with a range of other leisure and recreation activities.
We also believe the Park offers a vital resource for social
and community wellbeing and for the development of
sustainable communities as a whole. Within our remit
there is a role the Park can play in helping everyone
live in a more sustainable way; to adapt to, and mitigate
future climate change, and to manage the impact of past
land uses.
Visitors
We want the Park to be a great destination. A special
place to visit, somewhere people choose to come
again and again because it provides experiences they
cannot fi nd anywhere else. We believe that to be a
great destination, the Park needs more than just great
activities, sights and experiences: it needs to be well
known and recognised, easy and enjoyable to get to and
move around, and accessible to people of all abilities.
A Park that is a high quality and regionally unique visitor destination
A big thank you to
your team for such a fabulous job
of the path. It is a real pleasure to
cycle through the Park.”
River Lee Country Park
We had a wonderful
time. The staff were welcoming
and very helpful, and the
facilities were excellent.
We were delighted and
everyone had a great party.”
Sport and Recreation
The Park has been conceived and developed over the
past 40 years to be a place for leisure, recreation and
sport. These activities continue to be at the heart of
what the Park is about. We want to ensure the Park is
a place that offers exciting and varied experiences that
attract and are used by as many people as possible -
while at the same time ensuring that what is offered is of
the highest quality.
A Park that delivers a range of high quality opportunities for sport and recreation
Lee Valley Athletics Centre
Biodiversity
The Park is a valuable biodiversity resource. Large areas
of the Park are internationally designated and protected
for their nature conservation value, while other sites
within the Park have similar recognition and protection at
a national, regional and local level. We want to continue
to develop and manage the Park to be an even richer
place for wildlife – a place where plants and animals can
thrive and where people can experience and enjoy the
natural environment.
A Park that delivers a high quality biodiversity resource for the region
Both the staff and
the activities were outstanding
and I thank you sincerely
for a magical experience for
the children.”
The WaterWorks
Nature Reserve
Community
We want a Park which is fi rst and foremost a place
for people – a place where anyone and everyone
is encouraged to visit and get active, creative,
involved, meet others, learn new things or simply
enjoy themselves. It is a place to develop happier and
healthier individuals and in turn happier and healthier
communities. We believe the Park is a fantastic venue for
all sorts of activities and events that will give people the
reason and motivation to come and visit.
A Park that helps people improve their wellbeing
Just wanted to
extend my thanks on behalf
of all the children. The event was
an incredible success.”
River Lee Country Park
Loved my time there,
can’t wait to visit again.”
Three Mills
Landscape and Heritage
We want the Park to be a great landscape: a place that
looks, sounds, smells and feels amazing. We want a
Park landscape that refl ects its river valley character,
yet retains the distinctive personality of each local area.
It should tell the unique story of the Lee Valley and
communicate its rich and historic diversity.
A Park landscape that embraces the physical, cultural and social heritage of the area
Environment
The Park is home to many different activities that support
modern urban life: drinking water supply, disposal of
waste, production of food and energy, sand and gravel
extraction, fl ood water storage, electricity pylons,
waterways, roads and railways.
We want a Park that can provide and accommodate
these important functions, while allowing people to use
and enjoy the facilities on offer, supporting wildlife, and
contributing to a sustainable future for all.
We also believe the Park will play an increasingly
important role in helping to mitigate and adapt to the
impacts of climate change.
A Park that contributes to the environmental sustainability of the region
Lee Valley Park farms
An excellent visit with
lots to see, especially at Holyfi eld
farm – harvesting maize – also
great to see the cows being milked.
Thank you so much.”
Lee Valley Park farms
Instructors at the centre
are dedicated which has helped
me achieve my goal of becoming
a dressage rider.”
Lee Valley Riding Centre
15www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Guiding Principles
There are a number of overarching principles that will guide our
approach to the future development and management of the Park.
Delivering the Park through partnershipOur vision for the Park can only be developed through the
collective efforts of a wide range of partners.
Our partners are many and varied and include national
public bodies, sports governing bodies, national, regional and
local government, commercial and private sector partners,
community and interest groups, other voluntary sector
organisations, as well as individuals within the community.
Our partners bring a mix of resources, expertise, knowledge
and enthusiasm. They help deliver different aspects of the
many component parts that make up the Park as a whole.
Importantly, we want to ensure that all our partners are
working towards a shared vision for the Park.
On our estate, our aim is to intelligently combine our resources
with those of our partners, and collectively deliver much more
than our modest resources alone would allow.
In areas of the Park owned by others we will seek to
build active partnerships with landowners; encouraging
and assisting them wherever possible to ensure that their
management and development decisions are making a
positive contribution to the Park as a whole.
Regional ValueThere will always be competing demands on the resources of
the Park; a particular site might be used for a range of things
and priorities need to be identifi ed for where money and
time are to be spent. Deciding what to do, where and when,
requires a consistent way of evaluating competing options. We
have therefore placed the idea of Regional Value at the heart
of our decision making process.
In simple terms, Regional Value is an assessment of the
range of benefi ts that any particular facility or activity in
the Park delivers to the people of Essex, Hertfordshire
and London (the region that funds most of our activities).
Assessing Regional Value is not a precise science or
mathematical formula and it is not always easy. There
is often a wide range of benefi ts delivered by the Park,
many of them related directly to people who use our
resources (e.g. the personal and community health benefi ts
delivered through Lee Valley Athletics Centre school sports
programmes), or that are less obvious or tangible (e.g.
Olympic medal winning athletes who train at the Lee Valley
Athletics Centre).
Importantly, we do not use Regional Value as a ‘hard and fast’
way of deciding what to do; we do not try to quantify value or
do whatever scores the highest. The idea of Regional Value
simply provides us with a tool to help assess and understand
the relative value of competing demands.
The Park is not only for regional visitors, but is an important
resource for local communities. We welcome and encourage
use by everyone and all facilities and activities will cater for
local communities as a component part of the Regional Value
they are offering.
We also accept that other landowners in the Park may want
to provide features and facilities that meet more specifi c local
Many thanks for
letting us use the ice rink.
We had a fantastic time.
Please pass on our thanks
to all your staff who helped
us on the day they were very
accommodating.”
Lee Valley Ice Centre
17www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
community needs (e.g. local sports clubs or playgrounds).
We will work with those landowners to try to ensure that
their facilities are developed and managed so that they are
accessible to as many people as possible and contribute
positively to the wider Regional Value of the Park.
Multi functionThere are a signifi cant number of things that people believe the
Park could or should provide and there are often competing
(and at times confl icting) demands for the fi nite land, fi nancial
and time resources available. Perhaps the greatest challenge
for the future development and management of the Park is
how to balance these demands and create a destination that
delivers the most benefi ts to the largest number of people.
Our six aims refl ect the range of demands: a visitor
destination, a place for sport and recreation, a biodiversity
resource, a fantastic landscape, a place for activities and
events, and a place that contributes to the environmental
sustainability of the region.
We believe the Park can only meet these demands by
ensuring that all the feature and facilities in the Park are
multifunctional. In other words, everything in the Park needs
to provide for as many uses as possible.
We believe that everything in the Park can, and should,
contribute to all of our aims. For example, a sports facility
building should offer facilities for general Park users (e.g. café
and toilet), provide habitats for wildlife (e.g. brown roofs and
bird / bat boxes), be available as a community resource
(e.g. a venue for learning and events), make a positive
contribution to the Park landscape (e.g. be a beautiful building),
and be highly sustainable (e.g. generate its own energy).
The idea of shared use is an important aspect of multifunction;
path networks may need to be shared by pedestrians and
cyclists, water bodies may need to be shared by fi shermen
and sailors, open spaces may need to be shared by
birdwatchers and walkers. Careful design and management
will be required to ensure that shared use of the Park meets
the needs of all users.
We do recognise that there may be occasions where
competing uses simply cannot be managed together
successfully (e.g. some types of active recreational uses within
sensitive ecological areas). Where necessary we will allocate
different areas of the Park for different types of uses, in order
to resolve confl icts that cannot be otherwise managed.
FlexibilityWe want to ensure that the features and facilities of the
Park, as well as our approach to future development and
management, remain as fl exible as possible. We recognise
that situations can, and do change: demand for specifi c
facilities and features rise and fall, existing priorities shift,
and new development opportunities often present themselves.
So we will ensure that as far as possible the features
and facilities of the Park can adapt and evolve to meet
such changes as they occur. Our proposals for the future
development and management of the Park will be reviewed
routinely and will evolve over time.
Existing facilities may be developed to accommodate different
activities or replaced by facilities that provide entirely new
uses; demand for new and currently unforeseen activities
may lead to changes in the use and management of areas
of the Park.
An excellent
afternoon. The girls loved
stroking and feeding
the calves.”
Lee Valley Park Farms
19www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Importantly, the framework provides a baseline against which
new opportunities and changing priorities can be assessed.
Possible future changes will be evaluated in the context
of Regional Value, as well as synergies with other uses.
This will enable us to assess the relative pros and cons of
accommodating new ideas against the agreed direction for the
future development and management of the Park.
Environmental SustainabilityWe believe the Park has an important role to play to ensure
that the environmental needs of the region can be met in
perpetuity. While this role is recognised within our strategic
aims, we believe the principles of sustainable management
and development must become guiding principles for the
ongoing management and development of the Park.
We will ensure that the planning, design and management
of the Park is undertaken holistically; to maximise available
resources and for proposals to be considered carefully to
achieve their optimal sustainable potential.
Climate change in particular is an overarching issue which
affects many, if not all, of the Authority’s activities - as well as
the future use and development of the Park. An integrated
approach is required by both the Authority and among the
Park’s partners, stakeholders and organisations. Emphasis will
be as follows:
• Mitigation – reducing the carbon dioxide emissions
generated by the facilities and activities that take place within
the Park.
• Adaptation – increasing the Park’s resilience to the impact of
climate change.
• Awareness – highlighting climate change mitigation, and
adaptation within the Park and the wider community.
• Partnership - where appropriate, work together to share
expertise and experience (locally, regionally, nationally
and with other landowners within the Park) with regards to
mitigation and adaptation.
EngagementWe believe engagement with a wide range of organisations,
user groups and community groups is fundamental to the
successful management and development of the Park.
We also know from experience that maintaining effective
relationships can be challenging. The sheer scale of the
Park means that engagement on Park wide issues can
become a huge task; and for very many people such issues
are not of great interest. At a site specifi c level, we need to
ensure that our engagement processes can balance the
needs and desires of local communities with those of our
regional visitors.
We therefore approach engagement at a number of
different levels:
• On a Park wide level, we engage with national public bodies
such as the Environment Agency and Natural England, with
regional government, and with national sports governing
bodies and similar national or regional interest groups.
• At a local level, we engage with other signifi cant landowners
in the Park, with regional and local government including
the Greater London Authority, London Boroughs and County
and District Councils. We also work closely with area based
government agencies such as the Olympic Park Legacy
Company and London Thames Gateway Development
Corporation and with a range of other collective user and
interest groups.
• At a site specifi c level, we actively
foster user forums across the Park,
to act as a primary point of contact
with local communities and help
us to engage with local clubs,
residents associations and other
user groups.
20 www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Further Information
This document sets out our strategic vision, aims and guiding
principles for the future of the Park. It is intended to provide
the overarching framework for the future activities of the Park
Authority and other landowners in the Park.
More detailed proposals for the future development and
management of the Park will be developed and refi ned
following adoption of this document. The process and
timetable for this work is set out in our Park Development
Scheme, which is available from our website
www.leevalleypark.org.uk/parkframework
Acknowledgements
The process of preparing the Park Development Framework
commenced in 2007. Since that time, many individuals and
partner organisations have provided assistance and input
into the process. We would like to acknowledge and thank
everyone who has helped to date, and we hope that we can
maintain continued interest and involvement from a wide range
of people as we continue to develop and refi ne the
Park Development Framework.
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Myddelton House
Bulls Cross
Enfi eld
Middlesex
EN2 9HG
Tel: 08456 770 600
www.leevalleypark.org.uk
