landscape matters volume 5 - Flipbook - Page 28
Left: Demolition, reclamation to form a
new park, initially with grass and trees
1952-1980
The implementation of the designs for Mile End Park has
been a fragmented process. The southern end known as King
George's Field to the south was opened in 1952 and the
adjacent East London Stadium in 1966. In 1979 the Greater
London Council reaffirmed its commitment to complete the
park approving a revised landscape development plan. Work
then continued with land purchase and clearance together with
tree planting within the undeveloped northern part of the
designated park. This was completed towards the end of the
1980s. In 1995, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets made
a successful bid for Millennium Commission funding which
enabled the park to be upgraded providing new facilities and
better access. The 'Green Bridge' which takes pedestrians
over Mile End Road, a busy trunk road, was opened in July 1999.
The bridge was designed by Piers Gough. The park was finally
completed in 2004, some 60 years after the Abercrombie Plan,
providing the people of Tower Hamlets with a much need park
which connects Victoria Park and the River Thames.
The clear and profound planning framework set out in County
of London and Greater London Plans is in contrast to the new
London Plan published in March 2021.This document with 542
pages of text and few plans presents a complex approach to
the provision of green spaces for new developmentdevelopment.
Much more needs to be done towards completing the green networks
and need for more public parks. As with many current planning
policy documents there is an emphasis on written statements.
Perhaps there is a need to return to the greater use of physical
plan making as set out in 1943 and 1944.
Revised Landscape
Masterplan 1978
In the Government's document 'Planning for the Future',
published in August 2020, the Prime Minister's forward promised 'Radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the
Second World War'. This being a new planning system for
England. The role of land use plans are to be simplified but
more visual. These, it is proposed, should identify three types
of land: growth areas suitable for substantial development,
Above:
Green Bridge open in 1999
(Image / London Borough
Tower Hamlets)
Above right: Mile End Park 2020
(Image / Alamy)
renewal areas suitable for development, and areas that are to
be protected. There is an emphasis on planning as a tool for
'creating visions of how places can be, engaging communities
in that process and fostering high quality development not just
beautiful buildings, but the gardens, parks and other green
spaces in between, as well as the facilities which are essential
for building a real sense of community. It should generate net
gains for the quality of our built and natural environments'.
Many of these sentiments were stated in the County of London
Plan and Greater London Plan 1944. However, this overly simplistic proposed approach relies on the National Design Guide,
published in 2019 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government, which 'illustrates how well-designed places that are beautiful, enduring and successful can be achieved
in practice'. This is supported by the National Model Design
Code published in 2021 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government which illustrates 'detailed guidance on the production of design codes, guides and policies to
promote successful design. It expands on the ten characteristics of good design set out in the National Design Guide'. Such
a new and proactive design led planning system will require
local authorities to employ highly skilled professionals if these
ambitions are to be realized together with appropriate financial
provision. Unlike those early plans of 1943 and 1944 the funding
for open space provision and maintenance remains an
unanswered question, posing significant challenges ahead.
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