The Future of Crane Park

6.03.16pm GMT Sat 6th Feb 2010

• CRANE Park is soon to benefit from £400,000 of improvements; Richmond Council has now unveiled its plans for how the areas of the park will be upgraded.

The park came top in London Mayor Boris Johnson's Help a London Park challenge last year. A total of 6,677 people in Richmond and Hounslow boroughs voted for it in the city-wide competition. Along with nine other parks in the capital it was awarded the money by the Mayor from a £6 million fund for parks improvements.

The Crane Park project will be carried out on land in both boroughs, and will focus on:

• Making the park more welcoming

• Improving access

• Creating links between the two sides of the river

• Enhancing the biodiversity value

• Creating an exciting and vibrant identity for the park.

Cllr Geoff Acton, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "We were absolutely delighted to win this money from the Mayor's Help a London Park scheme. Crane Park is one of a number of very special green spaces which we're lucky to have in Richmond upon Thames, and in this case, one we share with Hounslow. This money is going to allow us to brighten up and improve parts of park, which I'm sure will be welcomed by residents on both sides of the river. During the coming months we will be working together with Hounslow to make sure we have the right type features in place to make it an even more pleasant place to visit. Now is the time for people to tell us what they think of our proposals before the project gets underway, so I hope people will visit our web pages to see what is being suggested. I would again like to thank everyone who has committed to this project especially The Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE) who were such willing supporters throughout the voting period."

It is anticipated work will start in late spring 2010 and will continue until around December 2011. The consultation period starts on Monday 25 January and will run for a month. People can view and comment on images which are indicative of the design and general style being suggested on our Crane Park page. There will also be an 'open afternoon' in both boroughs where residents can meet with officers working on the Crane Park improvements and discuss the project with them. The dates of these sessions will be posted on the website and in local newspapers.

A significant amount of consultation has been carried out in Crane Park in recent years, primarily by London Wildlife Trust and Friends of the River Crane Environment. Substantial feedback has already been received which has led to the decision to focus on the six areas listed, where improvement works would have the most impact on the park and its users.

Related Link:

• Crane Park Consultation