AF01 Lee Valley and Finchley Ridge.pdf - Greater London Authority

Forward Strategy – Recommendations
It is now some five years since the original area
framework was produced. Independent evaluation of
the earlier East London Green Grid programme has
confirmed its role in enabling the various partners
and stakeholders to work collectively, to assist in
securing funds, and encourage organisations to think
about how their activities contribute to the collective
benefits across the wider area.
The rationale for this update was to:
- review progress, recognise successes to date
and identify reasons for any projects that have
progressed more slowly than intended
- expand area to the west to take in Finchley Ridge
and the catchments of the tributary streams to the
Lee
- refresh the existing area analysis, project
programme and delivery strategy in light of current -
economic operating environment
- increase the range of partners to deliver the
programme, fund it and champion it to support future
sustainability
- use the refresh process to engage with strategic
private sector partners such as the utility companies
and selected developers etc to steer their future
investments to increase GI delivery
- ensure close alignment with GLA key programmes
such as the Mayor’s Low Carbon agenda plus existing
housing development and regeneration priorities
- continue to embed the GG into local planning policy
to maximise sustainability
- support future exit strategies for the Green Grid to
reflect the current Localism and Big Society agendas
- take on board additional objectives which offer
the capability to support economic development,
such as increasing the value of the visitor economy,
developing social enterprise models to deliver green
space management and maintenance, support the
green skills agenda and enable strategic productive
landscape projects
- support the assimilation of the ELGG programme
into the All London Green Grid
Governance
One of the defining features of the Lea Valley Green
Grid sub area is the complexity and diversity of
landowners, managers and stakeholders, covering
a large geographical area. While this area framework
has been prepared with input from this range of
organisations, it has become increasingly evident
in the five years since the first area framework was
produced that a single partnership steering group is
unlikely to be the optimum governance structure.
As an alternative, it is proposed that governance
of the Green Grid initiative should, where possible,
become the responsibility of existing partnership
groups, which cover smaller geographical areas
within the Lea Valley sub area. In some areas these
partnerships groups are reasonably well established.
In other areas, existing and proposed organisational
structures will be required to take the lead in the
Green Grid initiative, while in others still, a new
partnership structure may well be required.
The role of these groups is to:
- ensure the outcomes from the area framework
refresh are locally embedded and endorsed
-enable groups to be expanded/consolidated where
required to take on board partners in the new areas
and maximise future sustainability
- encourage the project programme to be
underpinned by robust local funding strategies
-maximise partnership processes to assist in delivery
In order to resolve the above issues, we propose to
investigate in greater detail with key partners the
governance proposal below.
In the Lower Lea, the London Thames Gateway
Development Corporation and the Olympic Delivery
Authority are in their final operating phases although
their work is likely to be progressed by new entities
such as the Mayoral Development Corporation and
the Olympic Park Legacy Company. It seems likely
that the latter organisation would be well suited to
provide direction and momentum to a number of
the projects within the framework, and to lead a
partnership approach to delivering the wider Green
Grid programme in the Lower Lea.
In the Upper Lea the concept of the Walthamstow
Wetlands has firmly taken root bringing a number
of stakeholders together to deliver an exciting and
diverse portfolio of projects. It is a natural extension
of that initiative to incorporate the Green Grid
programme for that area.
In the Finchley Ridge area, it seems probable that a
new partnership group will be required, particularly
as this area has a different mix of stakeholder
organisations than the Lea Valley.
All partners however share the aspiration to deliver
an open space network that will fully meet needs
of both the neighbouring local communities, whilst
at the same time developing destinations that are
attractive to local, regional, national and international
visitors.
Programme Overview
In the short term (next 1-2 years) in the Lea Valley
we propose to continue to provide a number of ‘quick
wins’ that will deliver projects to improve connections
into and across the Valley and to enhance the quality
and offer of the existing open spaces. These short
term ambitions continue the earlier framework
priorities to improve access, routes and overcome
barriers to allow people to get to and through the
existing open space resource: helping to better
connect the neighbouring communities to the open
space network and encourage use and a sense of
ownership amongst local residents.
These short term ambitions are exemplified by
completed or ongoing projects such as Fatwalk, the
Olympic walking and cycling routes work. Existing
open space enhancements at Three Mills Green,
Hackney Marsh and Tottenham Marshes will be
followed by similar enhancement projects on other
open space areas.
There will be a focus on taking forward a number
of earlier ELGG supported projects to fruition
particularly those that work to maximise the
landscape quality and visibility of key spaces, and
their potential to operate as visitor destinations.
This will include work to transform the accessibility
of existing areas of operational utility space - such
as the Walthamstow Reservoirs - and exploring the
potential to transform them, where appropriate, into
genuine visitor destinations.
In the Finchley Ridge area we will focus on further
development and feasibility assessment of the major
open spaces such as Trent Country Park.
In the medium term (2-5 years) there will be a focus
of further developing the Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park, establishing new open space areas as part
of Lea River Park, and open space improvements
as component parts of major regeneration projects
(e.g. Meridian Water, Ponders End) alongside
Walthamstow Wetlands, and Finchley Ridge.
Thredding through these ambitions will be a desire
to improve the local park networks across the area
but with a focus on those within the Finchley Ridge
to ensure they have good facilities and connections
to the surrounding urban fabric, as well as links to the
major open spaces of the Lea Valley.
In the longer term (5-10 yrs) there are desires to
link successfully with other key open spaces such
as those within Epping Forest and the proposed
metropolitan park in the Roding Valley. The Green
Grid has always sought to maximise the capacity
for spaces to become better connected and this
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