Consultation and Engagement 24 August to 23 October 2023 – Report now available
The City of London carried out a consultation and engagement process on QPARA’s proposals for expanding and restoring the Woodland Walk and on some other aspects of Park use.
This included two opportunities to discuss it with their consultants Arkwood, and an online survey.
The survey report has been produced and the City of London has given us permission to share it.
Note:
- Some of it is readable in the browser, but the size and contrast of some text means that you will probably need to download it to read it all.
- It isn’t easy to read on a phone because of the size of the pages.
- I have reduced the PDF file from the original 36Mb size to 7Mb to aid downloading. There is minor loss of sharpness, but it’s quite readable.
Wildlife Garden at Paddington Recreation Ground
There are some pictures of the Wildlife Garden at Paddington Recreation Ground: https://www.qpark.org.uk/visit-to-the-wildlife-garden-at-paddington-rec/ .
Background on the Woodland Walk
When the park was first opened it had a continuous, figure of eight, path. In the 1960s, the pitch and putt course cut off the northern part of this path.
In 2000 the Woodland Walk was opened to encourage wildlife and to restore a circular path around the Park. As use grew, including by joggers and even cyclists, the soft path spread and new tracks appeared, resulting in compacting of the soil and mostly brambles and nettles as vegetation. Birdlife deteriorated. The condition worsened during lockdown.
In 2021 and early 2022 a Woodland Walk group of QPARA members met on a number of occasions to discuss possibilities and concluded that wildlife diversity could be restored if the area became self-contained and the circular path moved to its original position round the edge of the pitch and putt course. After some delays these proposals were discussed with the City of London’s conservation officers and the Queen’s Park Consultative Group.
The link to the consultants’ questionnaire is here and this includes a further link to the QPARA proposals for the future of the Walk. The City have indicated that the level of interest will be material to what happens next. There is also a chance to give your views on the features of the Park you value.
The City of London have a web page here with a brief history and a plan of the proposals. This plan is the same as came out of the QPARA group in 2021. The copy on the website is a bit difficult to read, there is a clearer version below.
Click on the plan to enlarge to full screen. Go <Back> to return to this page.