Kate Hoey MP and Neil Coyle MP are formally reopening the flower garden in Kennington Park on SATURDAY 18 JULY.
Queries to Stephen Lawlor (stephen@kenningtonpark.org)
Gordon Johnston
PRESS RELEASE
Kennington Park’s Flower Garden reopens after £500k redesign
MP’s Kate Hoey and Neil Coyle will officially reopen the
Flower Garden in Kennington Park on 18th July following extensive
renovations and redesign costing £500,000.
The work, lasting 5 months and made possible by grants from
the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lambeth council and the Friends of Kennington Park, has
transformed this part of the park. Formerly a neglected space which was a
magnet for antisocial behaviour and crime, the Flower Garden is once again the
lush, quiet oasis it was originally meant to be when it was first created in
the 1930s.
The garden now boasts newly landscaped formal beds stocked
with a wide range of plants, new and more numerous benches and completely re-laid,
level pathways. An extra entrance has been created and the defunct lily pond
reinstated.
Another new addition to the garden is the sundial which
replaces one destroyed by vandalism. Designed and made by Sam Flintham, a
recent graduate from City and Guilds School of Art, the sundial was commissioned
by the Friends following a competition with other students.
Once the Flower Garden is reopened, it will host a whole
range of activities and events to encourage people to use and explore this new
part of their park.
Led by Activities Manager Stephen Lawlor, the events will
include a seasonal activities programme for children and families, walking
tours of the garden, chances to explore wild life and projects in music, arts, creative
writing and oral history. The annual
programme, to be launched at the garden’s reopening celebrations, will
culminate in the inaugural Kennington Park Flower Festival during summer
2016. There will also be a number of
educational activities that will be offered to local schools from September
2015.
Gordon Johnston, Chairman of the Friends of Kennington Park,
says “it is very exciting to see this long held ambition to renovate the Flower
Garden finally come to fruition. It’s on time and on budget and has reclaimed
this wonderful part of the park for everyone to enjoy. We hope people will get
involved with the various activities we’ve got planned and that they love the
new garden as much as park users loved the 1930s original.”
Cllr Jane Edbrooke, Lambeth’s cabinet member for Neighbourhoods,
says “We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery fund for their generous grant
which enabled Lambeth to embark on the project. I would also particularly like
to thank the project manager and the professional team, led by Land Use
Consultants, and the contractors, Gavin Jones Ltd, who carried out the work
with such skill.”
Kate Hoey and Neil Coyle have both praised the initiation of
the project by the Friends and the wide support it has enjoyed from the
community in both Lambeth and Southwark.
“Now it is restored we hope to see the
garden used by a wider range of people from the local community. An ambitious activity plan has been devised
by the Friends to achieve this over the next 12 months, with participation from
schools in Lambeth and Southwark and input from a range of volunteers.
We hope this leads to the creation of a body of volunteers
who know the garden and will work to safeguard its future welfare”.
THE FLOWER GARDEN REOPENS
WITH AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY
at 3PM on SATURDAY 18
JULY
Friends of Kennington Park
friends@kenningtonpark.org
friends@kenningtonpark.org
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The Heritage Lottery
Fund gave an initial grant of £21,000 to plan the restoration and carry out
public consultation. Following a joint application with the plans by Lambeth
Council and the Friends of Kennington Park, the Fund gave a further grant of
£374,600 to implement the project.
Total cost. In
addition to the HLF grant, Lambeth Council contributed £80,000 in cash. The
Friends have contributed £3,000 in cash to cover the cost of the sundial and
its installation and pledged £50,000 of volunteer time. Total cost exceeds
£500,000.
The professional team
was led by Shaffique Manson-Visram, Lambeth’s project manager. Land Use
Consultants (LUC) were the designers; the landscape contractor was Gavin Jones
Ltd. Ongoing maintenance of the park, including the garden, is carried out by
Veolia.
Kennington Park now covers some 38 acres, and was created in
1854. It includes many historic features, and is heavily used by local people
from Lambeth and Southwark. It is owned
and maintained by Lambeth Council. The original flower garden was opened in
1931; many original features have been retained.
The ‘Friends of
Kennington Park’ was formed in 2002. Since then it has raised external
funds from the Lottery and other institutions, as well as their own members and
supporters to enable over £1m of improvements to be undertaken. The Friends’
work is entirely based on volunteers. They have over 400 members and
supporters.
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