email from Burgess Park Action Group - 31 July deadline for further comments

As mentioned in the earlier email with the Council's letter, here below is the email from the Burgess Park Action Group.
Further information from: Burgess Park Action Group: contact@3acorns.co.uk
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EMAIL FROM BURGESS PARK ACTION GROUP

Dear Southwark Resident
Many thanks to those of you who have helped in so many ways over recent weeks. Following very wide community objections to various aspects of the LDA masterplan produced for Burgess Park 6 weeks ago, the council has modestly revised the plans, dropping some of the proposals.

The revised proposals are on the council's website and the deadline for responses to this new proposal is this Friday, 30th July. The email address is des.waters@southwark.gov.uk

BPAG has drafted a letter that you might like to base your responses on, following consultation on our Facebook Page. Please feel free to adapt or personalise as you see fit. The text is below. If you could get an email in, we would be very grateful.

Many thanks
Donnachadh McCarthy
Spokesperson
Burgess Park Action Group
contact@3acorns.co.uk
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DRAFT OF A POSSIBLE LETTER FOR COMMENTS ON COUNCIL'S REVISED PROPOSALS
To: Southwark Council's Burgess Park Project Board

Dear Des Waters
Re: Consultation on latest proposals for Burgess Park

Thank you for re-opening the consultation period for the proposals for Burgess Park and agreeing already to some modifications following concerns expressed by many local resident and amenity groups.

I would like to express my support for the following:
1/ Improving the Walworth Road entrance but would ask that you do not remove the healthy mature trees in this area.
2/ Proposed removal of derelict roads at New Church Road, Neate Street, Calmington and Longcroft etc
3/ Abandoning the £1 million plan to rip up the canal avenue and move it 3 meters to the north and to save the 180 cherry trees.
4/ The decision not to bulldoze the landscaped area to the north of the Wells Way Library.
5/ The decision not to destroy the western one of the two wooded hills at the western end of the lake.
6/ The decision to preserve the central wildflower meadow following your decision to locate the BMX track elsewhere.
7/ The decision to preserve all of the woodland clumps along St Georges Way.
8/ The decision not to proceed with the massive and expensive expansion of the lake to bisect the park to the south.
9/ The expansion the New Church Road wildlife area.
10/ Planting of new trees
11/ The use of a borehole to use aquifer water to fill the lake rather than tap-water as at present.
12/ The repair of the current lake and installation of nesting islands.

Things I Would NOT like to see in final master plan or Phase 1
1/ I do not want to see you bulldoze a new wide path along a straight line from Old Kent Road to St George's Church through lake and destroying two wooded wildlife areas. I see nothing wrong with the lovely meandering path there currently and fail to see the purpose of spending £200,000 on this pointless proposal.
2/ Oppose completely the proposal to bulldoze all of the existing Old Kent Road entrance and would prefer to instead to see some limited modest refurbishment.
3/ I do not want to see the central playground bulldozed on Wells Way and started from scratch on Albany Road. Please instead refurbish the current playground.
4/ I do not support the bulldozing of the beautiful glade opposite Bath House and the hill adjacent to it.
5/ I do not support your proposal to bulldoze entire mound from Bath House to Lime Kiln to Albany Road, including the woodland and cycle track.
6/ Please do not bulldoze the cycle track.
7/ I do not want the creation of 100,000 (down from 120,000), 60,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 5,000 events areas, now totalling 200,000 instead of 220,000 for largest events, as detailed in the events map in the master-plan.
8/ I would like to see the protection of a pathway from Southampton Way to Portland Street.
9/ I do not want to see removal of between 200- 600 existing trees.
10/ I do not want to see destruction of 3 existing woodland areas (the one adjacent to the cycle track mound, by western border of the lake and by the 3 meter path through the bird nesting lake by the northern lake boundary).

In addition to the above I would like to see the following positive things added to project:
1/ Please refurbish the major play area on Wells Way rather than bulldoze it
2/ Add at least a thousand new trees and improve and expand wildlife areas and links between wildlife areas of the park
3/ Complete the integration of the cleared MOL sites along New Church Road into the park.
4/ install proper entrance at Southampton Way which is a very well used but ignored entrance to the park.
5/ Provide funding to make the park an Eco-park i.e. energy efficiency, renewable heat, renewable electricity, on-site composting, recycling, elimination of pesticide use, rainwater-harvesting, borehole etc
6/ Use the money proposed to be wasted on bulldozing of hills and woodlands and OKR entrance on prioritising in Phase 1, the installation of satellite play for various communities around the park

I look forward to seeing your latest plans further improved and hope the council will continue to work to repair and improve the existing park, rather than as in the original LDA masterplan bulldoze so much of the park and starting again.

Yours sincerely,
A. R. Resident